The pair starred in A Bit of Fry and Laurie in the 1980s and 90s

The pair met at Cambridge University in the 1980s and have co-starred in TV shows including Jeeves and Wooster and A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

Fry, who is known to be a keen Sherlock fan, will play the Victorian detective, with Laurie as his loyal sidekick.

ITV has yet to confirm the project but the duo are believed to be on board.

"Stephen is absolutely passionate about Sherlock Holmes and Hugh will make a superb Watson," ITV1's Nick Elliott told The Daily Mirror.

The channel hopes to screen the �2m film in 2005, but has yet to finalise contractual details.

Literary hero

Actors who have recently played Sherlock Holmes include Richard Roxburgh in BBC One's film adaptation of the Hound of the Baskervilles, and Jeremy Brett, who starred in ITV's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Brett's interpretation of Holmes proved popular with the British public and he returned to the role through the 1980s. He last played Conan Doyle's literary hero in 1994's The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Fry, who hosted the Bafta film awards in February, made his directorial debut last year with Bright Young Things - an adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel, Vile Bodies.

His recent acting work includes the BBC Two series Absolute Power and the forthcoming film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, starring Geoffrey Rush.