'Lot No. 249' First Images Promise Creepy Crawlies for Christmas

When the BBC announced that screenwriter Mark Gatiss would return to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time since he and Steven Moffat walked away from their popular Sherlock adaptation, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before one of the American streamers swooped in to pick up the special. Despite Christmas ghost stories not really being an American tradition (other than A Christmas Carol), the combination of Gatiss and Doyle seemed irresistible. Add in that the cast had both Game of Thrones' Kit Harington and Slow Horses' Freddie Fox (of the Fox family that includes British stars Emilia, Jack, and Laurence, among others) attached to star, and it wasn't if, but when.

Unsurprisingly, it was BritBox that laid claim to Lot No. 249, as part of its overall Christmas package of specials that the streamer will bring to the U.S. this season. Starting December 12, BritBox will begin debuting several holiday titles, including its own hits, Sister Boniface Mysteries and Beyond Paradise, both of which will be celebrating their first-ever Festive specials. The streaming service also landed Vera Season 12's holiday special this year and will be bringing all four Gardeners' World Winter Specials with U.K. national treasure Monty Don.

The BBC has now released the first look photos for the Christmas Ghost Tale, along with Gatiss's own description of Doyle's story. For an end-of-Empire period piece, this looks like it'll be a hot tale for a cold night.