Sherlock special mystifies fans

Kiwi fans of Sherlock may have to turn detective to figure out what's going on in the festive special when the show returns to TV tonight.

The new episode, titled The Abominable Bride, has been billed as one of the most anticipated TV events of the year.

But Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, left fans bewildered when it was broadcast in the UK on Friday.

Frequent time jumps between Victorian and modern London, plot twists and the resurrection of dead characters left viewers wondering what was going on, who was real and where the story was going.

It featured a drugged Sherlock trying to solve a mystery by fantasising about an investigation in the 1800s that left fans taking to Twitter to voice their frustration about not knowing what was real and what wasn't.

Fans lurched from calling it "the best episode ever", to "the worst" to a state of general confusion.

However despite the grizzles from viewers, the Guardian newspaper described it as "90 minutes of the fastest, funniest, flashiest, cleverest, most demanding, ridiculous and brilliant drama there is likely to be until well, possibly until the next Sherlock comes along".

Sherlock is on TV One tonight at 8.30 - though some lucky fans got to see it on the big screen at special cinema showings yesterday.