Sign up to FREE email alerts from Mirror - celebs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Sherlock will be a slightly nicer person in the Victorian Christmas special, Steven Moffat has revealed.

The showrunner of the BBC's megahit was speaking at the TCA press tour about the upcoming special when he teased the episode and promised the same Sherlock, just more 'polished'.

"Sherlock is a little more polished," said Moffat. "He operates like a Victorian gentleman instead of a posh, rude man. He's a lot less brattish."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

But, while Sherlock is nicer, Dr Watson will be worse as Moffat describes: "More uptight."

The writer also teased whether or not the episode will explain why modern-day Sherlock and Watson have suddenly arrived in Victorian London.

"We never bothered explaining what they were doing in modern London," he said. "So why bother explaining what they're doing in Victorian London, when that's where they're supposed to be?"

(Image: Getty)

The first look to the new series was recently revealed and fans were really rather excited.

The BBC's latest version of Arthur Conan Doyle's hero, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Dr Watson, updates the story to modern-day London.

But the new clip, unveiled to fans at Comic-Con in the United States, shows the pair back on familiar ground in what seems to be Victorian London complete with horse-drawn hansom cabs clattering over the cobbles in Baker Street.

It shows Cumberbatch, complete with trademark pipe and deerstalker, explaining to his landlady Mrs Hudson ( Una Stubbs ) why he is late coming home, saying: "That's the trouble with dismembered country squires. They are notoriously difficult to schedule."

Asked if he caught the killer, he says: "Caught the murderer, still looking for the legs, think we'll call it a draw."

The hit BBC show, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat , is inspired by the original stories created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

We're testing a new site: This content is coming soon

It regularly pulls in huge audiences and has been a worldwide hit, propelling its two leading men to Hollywood and in Cumberbatch's case an Oscar nomination.

The third series bowed out last year with Holmes appearing to shoot villain Charles Augustus Magnussen, and teased viewers that Andrew Scott's criminal mastermind Moriarty may have cheated death and be set for a return.

Check out some of the best fan reactions to the trailer below.