There was a treat for the crowd at Empire Presents… Big Screen this morning. Guy Ritchie popped down to The 02 to share some nuggets on Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows. “We’re close to finishing,” he told the crowd. “I’m mopping up a few details at the moment. We completely wrap in a couple of weeks, but on every film I’ve ever done I always leave at least a week for reshoots.”

Big Screen was also treated to a world-first look at the new sizzle reel for the Sherlock sequel. Moriarty (Jared Harris) and Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) face off across a chess board. There’s a mysterious hankie embroidered with an ‘A’ deposited on it by a gloved Moriarty. But what does the ‘A’ stand for? Anarchy? Arson? Arsene? All will be concealed.

Judging from this snippet, Harris seems to have mastered the sinister smarts than make the criminal mastermind one of the great literary villains. “Moriarty is the most infamous villain in literature,” stressed Ritchie, “I hope we’ve succeeded in presenting that, and I hope you can’t see him coming too conspiciously.”

Ritchie also expanded on what drew him about the sequel. “I wanted to make another one for all sorts of reason, but in no small part [it was] because of the chemistry between these two lads (Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law). That’s the engine that drives the narrative. Plus, it’s fun watching them." And what of the expanded scale of the sequel? "You have to pinch yourself when you’re involved with these movies: to have a Hollywood budget and a really English movie… it’s such a privilege to stay here and make movies on this scale.”

There was a brief but brilliant sight, too, of Stephen Fry as Mycroft, Sherlock’s quip-ready brother. “Everyone likes Fry no matter what he does,” laughed Ritchie. “He takes his clothes off in this film, and people seem to like that too.”

Sherlock Holmes: Game Of Shadows is out in the UK on December 16.