I hope you will forgive the (by now, totally abused) pun, but this is the Nth case of a special...which was actually
*nothing special* at all! On the contrary, it was actually a *huge* let down, given how the original series, so brilliant as it was, had set of course the expectations bar pretty high. Unfortunately, it couldn't live up to that.
The script was but a pale shadow of what it used to be during the series: the once complex machinations became an idiotic and dull plan, and the once hilarious comedy relief scenes became ridiculous, embarrassing and not-funny-in-the-least moments; "cherry" on top, the usual (and oh-so-satisfying) final retribution to the villain lacked almost completely here.
The acting was also negatively influenced by the poor script, resulting in a barely ok performance.
The music is the only thing that remained at the top-notch level of the original series.
All in all, this doesn't bode well at all for the second season...>____<