UK screened an episode of BBC TV drama in North Korean capital to show a "different perspective of the outside world"

Can Sherlock Holmes help unlock the mystery of the insular enigma that is North Korea? The British government considers it elementary.

Britain says it used an episode of TV series "Sherlock" to encourage change in the secretive, communist state.

The drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the detective, was shown at the Pyongyang International Film Festival in 2012.

The Foreign Office has revealed the diplomatic drive behind the screening in a document outlining its activities in North Korea. It says it spent £287.33 ($492.36) buying rights to the episode and lists the reason as "encouraging change."

The Foreign Office said Thursday that the screening was "a small part of a cultural exchange program we have with North Korea to show a different perspective of the outside world than they are normally shown."