Bit of a mismatch episode but I thoroughly enjoyed it, I did get lost half way through, but as the episode rolled on, it came good in the end very scary and creepy.

 

The waterfall scene is based on one of the books The Final Problem where Moriarty was killed off. Somehow I thought they were going down that route, when the waterfall scene was used.

I have mixed thoughts on it :(

 

I had assumed it was a "one-off" (was that ever specifically said somewhere or did I make that up?) so when it flicked back to where S3 had left off... I don't know I just felt a bit disappointed. I was enjoying the episode enough without it having to be relevant to the current storyline. I wish it had just focused on the abominable bride case.

erm, not really sure what to think of that episode. I kinda wish Steven Moffatt would stop flitting between time frames so often within an episode/overall though. I do often enjoy it but it becomes very tiring when it occurs so often in his writing. It starting to becoming more refreshing to have a linear storyline with no sudden jump cuts to a different point in time. I got annoyed when it cut back to the waterfall.

 

So that whole things ties in with my biggest thought which was explained by Dandy:

I really enjoyed the first half of this, I thought we were finally getting back to having stories and mysteries that you could try and solve as the viewer... but then it all went a bit weird in the second half and whilst I do agree with John that it was an inventive way to try and deal with the open questions about Moriarty and his death, I do feel it was at the expense of having a fully fleshed out mystery story.

It was a major concern of mine throughout Series 3 that the actual mysteries didn't have the right focus on them and that's what I was enjoying for the first half of the episode here. Then it was spoiled for me by forcing it within the overarching storyline. For a series that barely has any episodes, has such a long time span in between them, I don't get the need to have such an overarching story. Yes, there needs to be character developments and such but I think the show has really suffered for me with this special and the whole of Series 3 in that we haven't had a full-blown mystery episode and so that is basically spanning FOUR years.

 

I wasn't the biggest fan of having a Victorian special but the way it was handled with inserting the modern day bits ruined what could have been a really great, spooky special for me.

I had low expectations going into this episode - I expected it would only be a light-hearted stand alone episode. The fact that it moved the story of the main show along a little as well was a bonus. I was really enjoying the Victorian side of the episode and it's a shame the entire episode wasn't set in that period.