It has been nearly 17 long months since the first season of the Steven Moffat/Mark Gatiss-penned reboot of Sherlock left us with a literally explosive cliffhanger as Holmes faced off against his evil alter ego Jim Moriarty for the first time. As this new three-part second season begins we return to the scene of this climactic showdown to see its resolution, before launching into a story of sex, scandal and a mind-bending mystery which pits Sherlock and John Watson against a female foe who proves to be their equal at every turn: ‘The Woman’, dominatrix Irene Adler.

Spoilers from here on in, naturally …