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Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman go back in time as first teaser for Victorian-era Sherlock special is released

Published: 16:11 EST, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 16:13 EST, 13 July 2015

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By the time a new episode of the BBC's global hit Sherlock airs, fans will have waited nearly two years for their fix of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson.

And so, with five months to go until the Christmas special, the tantalising promo campaign has begun with the release of a first trailer over the weekend at Comic-Con.

While Benedict and Martin had to miss out on this year's panel thanks to their hectic schedules, Sherlock creator Steven Moffat had a surprise for fans as he unveiled the first look at the anticipated new episode.

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A glimpse! Fans of BBC series Sherlock will be delighted to see Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are back in the crime-fighting partnership

Moffat was joined by producer Sue Vertue and star Rupert Graves (DI Lestrade) at California's Comic-Con to promote the new episode which will air in the UK at Christmas.

Fans will already know from previously released photos that the festive special will travel back in time to the Victoria-era of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.

The teaser opens on a snowy Baker Street as Holmes (Cumberbatch) and Watson (Freeman) pull up in a horse-drawn carriage.

First look at Benedict Cumberbatch in trailer for Sherlock

Back in time: The first teaser trailer for the Christmas special opens on a snow, Victorian-era Baker Street

They're greeted at 221B by Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) as Benedict's character declares another impossible case solved.

'Caught the murderer, still looking for the legs think we'll call it a draw,' he says triumphantly.

The teaser is stuffed with meta jokes about Moffat's decision to base the episode in the Victorian time period, with Mrs Hudson stealing much of the best lines as she complains about her poor representation in Watson's stories about the crime-solving duo.

Big entrance: Benedict's Sherlock Holmes wears the traditional deerstalker hat in the teaser

'I never say anything do I, according to you I just show people up the stairs and serve them breakfast,' she points out, only for Sherlock to quip of his lack of billing in The Hound of the Baskervilles: 'Don't feel singled out Mrs Watson, I'm hardly in the dog one.'

'It's still the same sense of humour, it's still very much the show you know… But it's in the 'correct' era, which was unbelievably thrilling,' Moffat told Comic-Con fans of his plans for the episode.

He also pointed out that though there's still countless Holmes stories to draw inspiration from, he and his team wanted to strike out on their own somewhat with the special.

New look: Martin Freeman's John Watson is also looking dapper with his impressive mustache

Scene stealer: Una Stubbs' Mrs Hudson has the best lines in the teaser which is stuffed with meta jokes

'There are 60 stories. There's a whole bunch of things we can do. We can make up new stories. We can combine stories. There are a ton of great ideas, great mysteries, great ideas, great gags for us to use. We won't run out because, frankly, we make this show so incredibly slowly.'

The comments back up Moffat's explanation to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year:

'The special is its own thing. We wouldn't have done the story we're doing, and the way we're doing it, if we didn't have this special,' he said, adding that the fourth series' trio of episodes which will air in 2016 will not follow on from the Christmas special.

This'll take some detective work: So far the storyline for the new episode has been kept firmly under wraps

'It's not part of the run of three episodes. So we had this to do it – as we could hardly conceal – it's Victorian. [Co-creator Mark Gatiss] and me, we wanted to do this, but it had to be a special, it had to be separate entity on its own. It's kind of in its own little bubble.'

It was also announced at Comic-Con that Sherlock's Christmas special will be shown in selected cinemas at the same time as its TV broadcast, following the lead of Doctor Who who put on a simultaneous broadcast for their 50th Anniversary special in 2014.