South Hampstead ceramics make cameo alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in BBC Sherlock New Year special trailer

With its quirky British design, Ali Miller’s crockery is an obvious fit for the BBC’s Sherlock reboot, which stars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

So it’s little surprise that one of the South Hampstead designer’s bone china teacups can be spotted in the teaser for the first episode of Sherlock series four, The Six Thatchers, which airs on BBC1 on New Year’s Day.

Miller’s nostalgic designs made their debut appearance on Mark Gatiss’s contemporary re-working of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Victorian detective novels in 2012, when her Home Sweet Home tea set was used in the finale of season two, The Reichenbach Fall.

Keen detectives may deduce that the inclusion of one of the tea cups in the trailer indicates the possible return of Sherlock’s arch-nemesis Moriarty in season four.

Sherlock Holmes’s favourite tea set features an illustration of the British Isles, inspired by a handkerchief that Miller’s grandfather owned.

Other designs are inspired by walks on Hampstead Heath, while some feature Alice in Wonderland motifs.

Catch The Six Thatchers, starring crockery by Ali Miller, on New Year’s Day 2017 at 8.30pm on BBC1.

alimiller.co.uk