London: Benedict Cumberbatch made his long-awaited comeback as Sherlock Holmes.
The hit BBC series still left fans scratching their heads over how the super-sleuth managed to cheat death.
The show's creators teased fans by depicting some of the more far-fetched ways Holmes may have survived, in a nod to the speculation that has swept the Internet since he leapt from a rooftop a year ago in an apparent suicide bid.
The BBC series, starring Cumberbatch as a modern-day version of the 19th century British detective, has been broadcast in more than 200 countries since 2010.
When British Prime Minister David Cameron set up a page on China's Twitter-like website Weibo in November, one of the most popular questions he was asked was, “When is the third series of 'Sherlock' due for release?
But some viewers complained that the storyline, centering on a terrorist plot to blow up the British parliament, was difficult to follow.
Fans delighted and disappointed alike flooded the Internet with comments and reactions.
The series has helped both Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who plays his loyal sidekick Doctor Watson, to Hollywood stardom.
Freeman plays the eponymous “Hobbit” in the new movie trilogy.
Cumberbatch starred last year as the villain in the latest “Star Trek” film and as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in “The Fifth Estate”. He also features in the latest installment of “The Hobbit” as the voice of the dragon Smaug.
