After a wobbly start and a second episode so distressing we didn’t even write a blog about it, Sherlock finally gave the fans (apart from those it’s-all-about-the-brolance twerps on Tumblr) what they wanted with last night’s barnstorming episode. We trot across the big/small screen divide to look at some other third instalments that have restored faith in their respective franchises.

Twitter has gone mental at the news that the venerable David Dimbleby has got his first tattoo at the age of 75, and it got us thinking about other tattoos we have known and loved. Not Cameron Diaz’ crappy cat print in the equally crappy The Counselor, mind. Ain’t no way we’re supporting Diaz, unless the tattoo artist gave her blood poisoning.

Everyone loves a time-travel movie. Everyone. It’s the ultimate dream; to be able to flit back through time and tell your younger self to stop after the sixth Jägerbomb; to flit forward in time and find out the lottery numbers; to visit the dinosaurs (ill-advised) or our inevitably dystopian future (iller-advised). Of course, it’s all fantasy, and the fact that it’s impossible causes all sorts of consternation among nerds, who try and puzzle the various internal logics of such films until the wee small hours. Time-travel movies are great; but they’re also bloody confusing.

As the Harry Potter novels devoured increasing chunks of woodland in its pursuit of pages, the film series somehow managed to rein itself in despite the books’ increasingly labyrinthine plot arcs. In an attempt to highlight the best scenes lost in translation (that is, not even filmed as DVD extras), here is a (potentially spoilerific) list of moments you might have missed.

How about ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Dead horse flogged’?

While Scotland has a relatively extensive cinematic history, from movies about Nessie to The Stone Of Destiny, it also has a tendency to crop up in less expected places. Should you ever plan to visit our highlands and lochs, we wouldn’t want you taking Hollywood’s word and expecting a populace of alcoholic gingers, nor any of the following. As such, we celebrate Burns Night with eight of the most random Scottish cameos in cinema history.

Over the last decade, Harry Potter has played a part in a number of our Christmases. A less painful tradition than the Queen’s deceptively short speech, we review The Boy Who Lived’s six Christmases to date. From Christmas in the girls toilets to Yuletide in a burning Burrow, we pose the question: just why is the boy wizard synonymous with Christmas?

With Harry Potter apparating back into screens next weekend with seventh instalment The Deathly Hallows Part I, Best for Film have endeavoured to catch you up to speed in terms of both the onscreen saga to date as well as the recent promotional campaign. Marketed as ‘The Motion Picture Event Of A Generation’, we would hate for anyone to miss out on either this phenomenal cinematic achievement or the expertly orchestrated promotional propaganda which is preceding it. Now, where did I leave my Quick Quotes Quill?