Ratings for the latest series of Sherlock have confirmed its status as one the UK’s most-watched TV shows.

More than 11 million viewers saw the episode broadcast on New Year’s Day: the biggest audience of the festive period.

A similar number tuned in for the episode on January 1 2016, which was also the most-watched TV drama of the year.

Sherlock (BBC)
Sherlock (BBC)

With another large audience expected for the series finale on Sunday night, the BBC will be hoping Sherlock’s creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are not about to walk away from the show for good.

Steven said this week that another series was “possible”, and that he and Mark were not currently planning Sunday’s episode to be Sherlock’s farewell.

After a modest start in the summer of 2010, Sherlock topped 10 million viewers in 2012 and 12 million in 2014.

The highest ratings to date have been for the episode broadcast on New Year’s Day 2014, when almost 13 million people tuned in to discover how Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock survived an apparently fatal fall from the top of a high building.

Sherlock (BBC/Hartswood Films/Todd Antony)
Sherlock (BBC/Hartswood Films/Todd Antony)

Though some fans and TV critics have criticised the current series for the way it has depicted its characters – such as an extended fight scene in a swimming pool between Sherlock and an assassin – the high ratings so far suggest it continues to command a huge following among the general public.