Moffat told Vulture: “People are worried so much about that! Have we forgotten that John shot someone in the back in Episode 1? And then had a giggle about it? Do you know what? I would have shot Magnussen.”

He added: “I think people who behave like that should get shot. I don’t have a problem with it. If someone treated my family like that I would kill them and I’d spend absolutely no time worrying about it beyond thinking, ‘It was really messy, wasn’t it? It’s a bit icky when he was bleeding all over there.’ But fuck it, if you behave that way, what do you think is gonna happen to you?”

On the subject of how it will affect Sherlock in Series 4, the writer commented: “I don’t think that will change Sherlock. He certainly won’t be haunted by guilt. He’s way in control of his emotions enough to say, ‘It’s time to switch that man off.’ And again, he’s friends with John, who was laughing after he shot a guy minutes after he did it. C’mon! These are dangerous boys.”

> Find out everything we know so far about Series 4 in our news summary.

How do you feel about Sherlock killing Magnussen? Let us know below…