It doesn’t screen until 2017, but the return of Twin Peaks is one of the most hotly anticipated TV events of the decade. Directed and co-written by David Lynch, the surreal show, which first aired in 1990, anticipated the current vogue for “prestige television” by decades, and was also a commercial as well as a critical hit when it first aired. The mystery of who killed Laura Palmer, bizarre characters like the Log Lady, and Agent Dale Cooper and his penchant for damn fine coffee briefly fascinated the world.

Twin Peaks is generally regarded to have lost its way in the second season, when Lynch handed over the director’s reins to others, while a brutal concluding film, Fire Walk With Me, was critically reviled at the time – though it has since been reappraised. There was an air of unfinished business about Twin Peaks, so the news that Lynch was returning to direct a new season for Showtime caused a stir.

The new Twin Peaks is set 25 years after the show ended, but continues the story. Mysteriously, Sheryl Lee, who played the deceased Laura Palmer, is back in the cast and will be joined by other actors including Sherilyn Fenn, who plays Audrey, and Kyle MacLachlan as Cooper, in their original roles. Composer Angelo Badalamenti is also back on board – his original music for the show became famous.

The teaser trailer opens with the sound of howling wind and a voiceover by Michael Horse, who plays Deputy Hawk, talking about the beauty of the Pacific northwest, where the series is set and filmed. There’s a spectacular overhead shot of a waterfall before we see two men pulling a large board into position and then unveiling it; it’s the famous sign that says Welcome to Twin Peaks. Badalamenti’s soaring Twin Peaks theme kicks in, before there’s a sudden disruption – a shocking fuzz of static and a blurred man looming into the camera. Fade to black. In other words, not much is given away – but we can be sure that the new series will feature Lynch’s signature mix of the gorgeous and the sinister.