His Last Vow

Episode aired Feb 2, 2014
1h 29m

IMDb RATING

9.2/10

32K

YOUR RATING

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

Sherlock goes up against Charles Augustus Magnussen, media tycoon and a notorious blackmailer.Sherlock goes up against Charles Augustus Magnussen, media tycoon and a notorious blackmailer.Sherlock goes up against Charles Augustus Magnussen, media tycoon and a notorious blackmailer.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

9.2/10

32K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Sherlock's parents are played by actor Timothy Carlton and actress Wanda Ventham, Benedict Cumberbatch's real-life parents.

Goofs
The helicopter that Sherlock and John use to go to Magnussen's house is the same (same registry number) that Mycroft uses when the Police raids the house.

Quotes
Sherlock Holmes: Oh, do your research. I'm not a hero, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Merry Christmas!

Crazy credits
During the credits, certain letters of people's names are red instead of white - I will indicate via parentheses where the red letter is: "Location Managers . . . Ben Mangha(m)" "Production Accountant . . . Dav(i)d Jones" "Production Manager . . . Claire Hi(l)dred" "Unit Managers . . . Da(v)id Gunkle" "Assistant Grip . . . Ow(e)n Charnley" "Production Buyer . . . Blaanid Madd(r)ell" "Construction Manager . . . Mark Pain(t)er" "Dubbing Mixer . . . H(o)ward Bargroff" "Executive Producer for MASTERPIECE . . . Rebecca Eato(n)" The red letters spell out MILVERTON, a reference to the Sherlock Holmes Adventure "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," which is a significant source of inspiration for this episode.

Connections
Featured in The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards (2014)

Soundtracks
Opening Titles
(uncredited)
Written by David Arnold and Michael Price

User reviews66

Review

Featured review

8/10

Enjoyable episode with strong character development

Sherlock is recruited to help stop a media mogul from blackmailing a member of the House of Lords.

This is an amusing and compelling episode with some surprise character moments and the usual strong banter.

There is little I can say about the plot without spoilers so I will just say that it periodically throws dramatic twists and revelations at the audience and ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger.

The character development is probably the strongest aspect of the writing. Poor Dr Watson is caught in the middle of everything as usual and is put through the wringer once more. Martin Freeman shows excellent range in portraying this character. Benedict Cumberbatch is great as always, likewise Mark Gatiss.

Lars Mikkelson is hideously creepy as the primary antagonist, but the character is written as a fairly one dimensional villain in my opinion.

The cinematography, editing and general visuals are up the usual high standards of the show.