Watson’s Christmas List 2011
4th December, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
As Holmes never seems to want of anything, this is my Christmas List instead of his!
Most of what you see here I already have but some of the items only become available just before Christmas so I don’t have them yet.
Let me start off by recommending to you A Study In Sherlock.
This is the ideal gift for that person who has the whole Canon but wants something a bit different. This is a wonderful compendium of stories inspired by the Canon. The sort of book you want to curl up with in your favourite armchair in front of a blazing fire on a cold winter’s evening.
Here you will find sixteen stories plus a fascinating introduction by Laurie King (known to my readers as Mary Russell’s literary agent) and Leslie Klinger (author of the Sherlock Holmes Reference Library and the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes). Holmes crops up in some of the stories, as do I, but other characters employ Holmes methods, with varying success.
As the cover says this is a “perfect tribute” in a “collection of twisty, clever, and enthralling studies of a timeless icon”. I hope the book is a great success and if it is perhaps King and Klinger will consider making this an annual event producing a new collection at the end of each year.
You can find out more at their website.
In mentioning Mary Russell, Laurie King has published Mary’s latest memoir The Pirate King.
In England’s young silent-film industry, the megalomaniacal Randolph Fflytte is king. Nevertheless, at the request of Scotland Yard, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate rumors of criminal activities that swirl around Fflytte’s popular movie studio. So Russell is traveling undercover to Portugal, along with the film crew that is gearing up to shoot a cinematic extravaganza, Pirate King. Based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the project will either set the standard for moviemaking for a generation . . . or sink a boatload of careers.
Nothing seems amiss until the enormous company starts rehearsals in Lisbon, where the thirteen blond-haired, blue-eyed actresses whom Mary is bemusedly chaperoning meet the swarm of real buccaneers Fflytte has recruited to provide authenticity. But when the crew embarks for Morocco and the actual filming, Russell feels a building storm of trouble: a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance—and now the pirates are ignoring Fflytte and answering only to their dangerous outlaw leader. Plus, there’s a spy on board. Where can Sherlock Holmes be? As movie make-believe becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout.
Two notable pastiches appeared late this year, the first that I wish to mention is Barefoot on Baker Street
Some may have concerns about Red, the heroine of the adventures, and her liaisons with the three main male characters which I won’t go into detail about here to avoid spoiling the plot. One of these liaisons is quite ridiculous and doesn’t really work but is, I think necessary for the plot.
But all that said it is still an excellent story from a new author. As part of the publicity for her book and as a build up to the Great Holmes Debate, Walters read and reviewed all 56 of the short stories and gave each one a score out of ten. These provide an excellent guide to the stories and I hope she will consider doing the same for my four long stories.
The other pastiche is The House of Silk
I have already written a more detailed review but if you can ignore these inaccuracies then it is still a good read.
Following on from the success of the BBC Sherlock, the creators, Steven Moffatt and Mark Gattis, have provided introductions to the novels and the collected editions of the short stories, published by BBC Books.
Moffatt introduces A Study In Scarlet
Mark Gatiss introduces The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
They both envy anyone reading my stories for the first time. Even if you have all the stories already, find your local bookshop (whilst it’s still in business) and read these introductions even if you don’t buy the books. I know that not really helping keeping the bookshop in business but you could buy something else whilst you were there and what about buying these editions for someone you know who enjoyed the BBC series but has never read my original stories on which the series was based?
If you don’t yet have this DVD of the marvellous BBC Sherlock
I have reviewed the first set of The Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Holmes Collection and earlier this year The Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Hobbs Further Collection was released. This new collection of dramas, starring Carleton Hobbs is from the BBC Radio Archive. In this these twelve classic stories, Carleton Hobbs established the ‘sound’ of Sherlock Holmes, with Norman Shelley as his superb Watson. Collected together on CD for the first time, with a specially commissioned introduction by Nicholas Utechin, former Editor of “The Sherlock Holmes Journal”. This collection includes: “The Copper Beeches”, “Thor Bridge”, “The Sussex Vampire”, “The Three Garridebs”, “The Three Gables”, “The Retired Colourman”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, “The Crooked Man”, “The Cardboard Box”, “A Case of Identity”, “The Naval Treaty”, and “The Noble Bachelor”. I understand from one of my contacts that more have been “cleaned up” so more may be released next year.
I have just received a copy of Alistair Duncan’s latest book An Entirely New Country.
This new book covers the period in Arthur’s life when he returned to England after several years abroad. His new house, named Undershaw, represented a fresh start but it was also the beginning of a dramatic decade that saw him fall in love, stand for parliament, fight injustice and be awarded a knighthood. However, for his many admirers, the most important event of that decade was the return of Sherlock Holmes – whom he felt had cast a shadow over his life.
Finally, for now, the latest collection of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Another bumper year for Holmes fans and with a new film and a new series of Sherlock coming soon there must be more to come!
The House of Silk
10th November, 3 Comments
By The Good Doctor
This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel written by Anthony Horowitz.
It has been endorsed by the Conan Doyle Estate which has led some reviewers to suggest that it somehow more “authentic” that might otherwise be the case. One review I read said that it had been “commissioned by the Conan Doyle Estate”. The dust jacket claims it to be “utterly true to the spirit of the original Conan Doyle books” but this is, in my view questionable. Horowitz appears keen to ensure his story is as “authentic” as he can make it and to this end there are frequent references to detail from the Canon including many of the familiar names (Mrs Hudson, Lestrade, Wiggins, Mycroft and Moriarty), familiar locations (221B and the Diogenes Club) and some of the related cases (The Dying Detective, The Copper Beeches, The Red Headed League, The Resident Patient, and The Final Problem). I started to wonder, seeing all these references to my original stories, if Horowitz is hoping that this book could be the first of a new television series after his plans to take Foyle’s War into the post-war era were turned down by ITV? That would raise the interesting possibility of another screen Holmes!
Alistair Duncan has already published a review of the book and as usual this is an admirably balanced critique. He points out a glaring chronological error and, as I have noted above, the many Canonical references, some of which work better than others. For me, one of the strangest examples of this is the introduction of Professor Moriarty, who has nothing to do with the main plot, who promptly disappears again after making me promise to pretend I have never met him when I do eventually get a glimpse of him (at Victoria Station when Holmes and I are heading for the continent a year later in The Final Problem). Horowitz also chooses to rewrite the sequence of events concerning my first meeting with Holmes.
He does get himself into a knot by using all these references to other cases. Given this case starts in November 1890, he says it is shortly after The Dying Detective when that was two years earlier in 1888 but correctly positions The Red-Headed League in October 1890 and The Resident Patient in October 1881 (but gets the name of the Resident Patient wrong – it was “Blessington” and not “Blessingdon”). Our client from Resident Patient has a small part in this new plot but he says he has been reading my stories in the Cornhill Magazine. I was not aware they had been published in this magazine although some of Arthur’s own stories have been.
None of this is important to anyone but a “hardcore fan” as Duncan calls them and, getting back to the date of the this adventure, Horowitz has added a couple of contemporary references to secure the case in the correct timeframe. The first of these is the mention of the Norton Fitzwarren rail crash that occurred on 11 November 1890 south-west of Taunton, Somerset in which ten people were killed. The second is the mention of the murder “two years before” of Mary Ann Nichols at the end of August 1888 and attributed to Jack the Ripper.
Believe it or not, the story is a good one and although the crime is not one I would have been able to write about in my own time, I found that two-thirds of the way through I couldn’t put it down! I learned a few new words too including “tatterdemalion”, “gallipot” and “magsman” though I puzzled over the use of “liquid cocaine” over the more memorable “seven percent solution”. Something else that was missing was those pithy statements from Holmes that have become some of his best known quotations – except for “when you have eliminated the impossible . . .” which Horowitz does include. I concur with Duncan’s view that if you can get past the errors and the books publicity, it is better than most pastiches.
The House of Silk, read by Derek Jacobi, is the current “Book at Bedtime” on BBC Radio 4. Episodes 1-5 were broadcast Monday November 7th to Friday November 11th . Episodes 6-10 are being broadcast Monday November 14th to Friday November 18th at 22:45 and will be available on the BBC iPlayer for a week after transmission.
I have my plans [ILLU]
27th June, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
Looking forward to later in the year . . .
August
4th – The Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Holmes Further Collection with Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley (with introductions by Nicholas Utechin)
A further collection of Sherlock Holmes dramas, starring Carleton Hobbs, from the BBC Radio Archive. In this these twelve classic stories, Carleton Hobbs established the ‘sound’ of Sherlock Holmes, with Norman Shelley as his superb Watson. Collected together on CD for the first time, with a specially commissioned introduction by Nicholas Utechin, former Editor of “The Sherlock Holmes Journal”. This collection includes: “The Copper Beeches”, “Thor Bridge”, “The Sussex Vampire”, “The Three Garridebs”, “The Three Gables”, “The Retired Colourman”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, “The Crooked Man”, “The Cardboard Box”, “A Case of Identity”, “The Naval Treaty”, and “The Noble Bachelor”.
September
1st – A Brief History of Sherlock Holmes by Nigel Cawthorne
Sherlock Holmes continues to have a perennial allure as the ultimate sleuth. As Holmes is being re-introduced to a new audience through TV and film, Cawthorne introduces the general reader to Holmes including his resurrection following his unlikely death at the hands of arch enemy, Moriarty. Cawthorne also surveys the world of Holmes, looking at Victorian crime, myself and Inspector Lestrade, as well as the world on the doorstep of 221B Baker Street.
6th – Pirate King: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie King
In England’s young silent-film industry, the megalomaniacal Randolph Fflytte is king. Nevertheless, at the request of Scotland Yard, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate rumors of criminal activities that swirl around Fflytte’s popular movie studio. So Russell is traveling undercover to Portugal, along with the film crew that is gearing up to shoot a cinematic extravaganza, Pirate King. Based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the project will either set the standard for moviemaking for a generation . . . or sink a boatload of careers.
Nothing seems amiss until the enormous company starts rehearsals in Lisbon, where the thirteen blond-haired, blue-eyed actresses whom Mary is bemusedly chaperoning meet the swarm of real buccaneers Fflytte has recruited to provide authenticity. But when the crew embarks for Morocco and the actual filming, Russell feels a building storm of trouble: a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance—and now the pirates are ignoring Fflytte and answering only to their dangerous outlaw leader. Plus, there’s a spy on board. Where can Sherlock Holmes be? As movie make-believe becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout.
November
1st – The House of Silk - by Andrew Horowitz
The book is set in 1890, but as written by me in a retirement home (Mrs Hudson may have something to say about that), a year after the death of Holmes. The story opens with a train robbery in Boston, and moves to the innocuous setting of Wimbledon – but, Holmes says, the tale was too monstrous, too appalling to reveal until now. “It is no exaggeration to say it could tear apart the very fabric of society”, he writes in the prologue.
24th – Study In Sherlock edited by Laurie King and Leslie Klinger
Neil Gaiman, Laura Lippman and Lee Child are just three of 18 superstar authors who provide fascinating, thrilling and utterly original perspectives on Sherlock Holmes in this one-of-a-kind book. These modern masters place the sleuth in suspenseful new situations, create characters that solve Holmesian mysteries, contemplate Holmes in his later years, fill gaps in the Sherlock Holmes canon and reveal their own personal obsessions with the infamous detective. It is the perfect tribute and a collection of twisting, clever studies of a timeless icon.
December
5th – An Entirely New Country – Arthur Conan Doyle, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes by Alistair Duncan
The late 1890s saw Arthur Conan Doyle return to England after several years abroad. His new house, named Undershaw, represented a fresh start but it was also the beginning of a dramatic decade that saw him fall in love, stand for parliament, fight injustice and be awarded a knighthood. However, for his many admirers, the most important event of that decade was the return of Sherlock Holmes – the character that he felt had cast a shadow over his life.
6th – The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Volume 3 by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green
More radio adventures with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
I will add to the list as I become aware of new releases that I may want to add to my collection . . .
The Official Papers Into The Matter Known As – “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
12th March, 2 Comments
By The Good Doctor
Over Christmas I amassed a pile of books to review and one of these is this set of official documents, published by MX Publishing on behalf of Detective Inspector Kieron Freeburn (retd.) of New Scotland Yard. Freeburn discovered a dusty folio at an auction in Exeter. As a result of his examination of the contents he believes that they are the original police case files that detail the investigation by Scotland Yard represented by our good friend, Inspector Lestrade and various members of the Devon County Constabulary into the story that I recalled under the title “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.
This is the first time I have seen the witness statements, medical files and original police reports that chronicle the police view of the case covering the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, the killing of the hound and the tragic aftermath.
At the outset, I must state that I have not seen the original documents although I understand that the publishers have received a request from the USA to purchase the originals. The set I have been provided with (which you can obtain for yourselves here) are facsimilies of the originals which are said to be in a delicate condition. The author, possibly on the advice of the publisher, has decided to type up many of the documents in a copperplate script to make them easier to reproduce and read than the original handwritten and typed versions.
However, there do appear to be some discrepancies between these documents and my own records of the case. I am, in this repect, grateful to Roger Johnson of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, pointing out to me that the post mortem report on Sir Charles gives Sir Henry’s name; Selden’s name changes from Arthur to Albert; Mrs Lyons is referred to as Miss Lyons, and Barrymore once refers to his wife as his sister! Some of these errors may have occurred in the transcription from the orginals. In the original publication of my version of the events in the Strand, the death of Sir Charles were stated as occurring at the beginning of May. This was later changed to June when the account was published in book form but the police records still refer to these events as occurring in May rather than June. The “tone” of some of the police reports has, I think, something to do with the resentment that the police felt about Holmes becoming involved in the investigation.
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes and the volume on The Hound of the Baskervilles from the Sherlock Holmes Reference Library are useful aids in checking the validity of these documents. My own view is that whilst they do not shed any further light on the events they do provide a useful background to Holmes’ investigation and an insight into the official police view at the time.
Posted in Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Books, The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries
24th February, 3 Comments
By The Good Doctor
Some pastiches are better than others and John Taylor’s first set of stories, The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, was quite good but they had a slightly bizarre and comic element that some Sherlockians may not have liked. Taylor’s original stories appeared on the radio before being released on CD, but these new stories, The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries, have not been broadcast and appear on CD and download. They are much more realistic and have the benefit of being read by the latest incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch, though he is, of course, narrating the stories as myself.
For once the stories are not from one of the many tin boxes that seem to materialise whenever anyone needs to find a Holmes case to relate but from a wooden chest in my bureau. Yet another “archive of notes referring to some of Holmes’ cases that, for one reason or another, never saw the light of day.”
The first story “An Inscrutable Masquerade” appears not to have an obvious railway connection until very near the end but the byline in the title of the set of stories is “and other stories” so I suppose that is fine. It is nevertheless an intriguing story of how I appear to be leading a double life. It nicely follows my usual style of narration where I give nothing away until all is revealed towards the end.
The second story “The Conundrum of Coach 13” is firmly placed on the rails and is a ”closed room problem” although in this case it is a carriage rather than a room, locked from the outside, from which a large quantity of gold bullion has completely vanished without trace.
The third story “The Trinity Vicarage Larceny” again has no railway connection that I could remember. It concerns a robbery (now who can say why this was a larceny rather than a burglary?) where a set of boots provides the main clues that lead to the case being solved.
The fourth story “The 10.59 Assassin” is a very ingenious story involving a very unlikely murderer. Here there is a clear railway connection in a murder and as the suspicion grows there comes an unusual twist. In some ways it reminds me of Silver Blaze. The murderer is the least suspicious of all the possibilities!
Cumberbatch’s reading of the stories is excellent despite the fact that his BBC Sherlock persona that kept popping into my head, especially when he is speaking as Holmes. He also does a very good job of helping the listener distinguish between Holmes, myself and the other characters in the stories and he switches between voices and accents with consumate ease.
These are very accomplished pastiches by John Taylor and, in my view, a much more serious attempt to emulate my style of narration. I hope he is encouraged to write more and that Cumberbatch can be persuaded to narrate again. A complete set of the Canon, read by Cumberbatch, would be a large undertaking but would, I am sure give a fresh take on my stories.
The Rediscovered Railways Mysteries are available on CD and by download here in England and in the USA (CD and download).
The railways are mentioned in many of our cases together, but mainly just as a means of travel. Alistair Duncan’s “Close to Holmes” contains details of many of the stations we used in and around London.
Posted in Books, Media, Other Stories, Pastiches
You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive [STUD]
15th February, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
In “A Study in Scarlet”, I told about my being attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers which was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was the Fifth Regiment of Foot when it was formed in 1674 but was renamed in the reorganisation of 1881 so that when I wrote up the story I used its new name.
Before I could join the regiment, the second Afghan war broke out and I began my duties in Kandahar. I was removed from my brigade and attached to the Royal Berkshire Regiment and I served with them at the battle of Maiwand on July 27th, 1880. Our brigade of 2,500 men were massacred by ten times that number of savage Afghan tribesmen. I was badly wounded right at the start of the battle whilst tending the first man who was hit. I was eventually sent back to England, ending up in London, and eventually meeting Holmes and residing in 221B Baker Street for many years.
It is rare for anyone to attempt to fill in the apparent gaps in my lifeas attention is more frequently directed at Holmes but in Watson’s Afghan Adventure I attempt to explain to Holmes how I became an army doctor, served with the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers and how a treasure map and the death of a close friend brought me to the battle of Maiwand and on to 221B Baker Street.
Kieran McMullen’s account starts one April when Holmes had concluded two cases that I have yet to chronicle and I had returned to Baker Street just missing Murray, my orderly, who had called with a box containing some items recalling our time together in Afghanistan. This led to me to explain to Holmes what really happened.
McMullen’s account continues with a summary of my early life, my qualification as a doctor, and my decision to join the Army. Then the mystery of my wounds and what is contained in the box that Murray left for me in Baker Street begins to unfold.
The fateful battle of Maiwand rounds off the story and McMullen has clearly carried out some detailed research here. Many of my fellow officers, including Surgeon Major Preston, are mentioned here. It was Preston who decided that I should return to England. My own recent research into the battle of Maiwand on a recent visit to Berkshire corroborates most of McMullen’s detail though I suspect few would understand the geography of the area and the frequent use of arabic terms for weapons, soldiers and tribes. The actual battle was far more bloody than even Mc Mullen’s account relates and perhaps I should write my own account of what happened that terrible day.
I will leave you to find out how the mystery of Murray’s box resolves itself.
Posted in Books, John Watson
The Lost and Forgotten Stories of Sherlock Holmes
28th January, 3 Comments
By The Good Doctor
In relating the details of the New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as released on CD and their orginal broadcasts on American radio, it is worth noting that amongst those written by Denis Green and Anthony Boucher, several of these broadcasts have been written up as stories and these stories can be found in two volumes.
The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Ken Greewald, includes the following stories. Greenwald mentions on the flyleaf that each story is based on an incident in one of my original stories and I have appended these to each title as the usual abbreviation. I have also given the Volume number if the story appears in the CD collection and the date of the orginal radio broadcast.
- The Adventure of the Second Generation [SCAN, 17th December 1945, V2]
- The April Fool’s Adventure [STUD, 1st April 1946, V1]
- The Case of the Amateur Medicants [FIVE, 2nd April 1945, V1]
- The Adventure of the Out-of-Date Murder [WIST, 9th September 1945, V2]
- The Case of the Demon Barber [YELL, 28th January 1946, V1]
- Murder Byond the Mountains [EMPT, 15th January 1946]
- The Case of the Uneasy Easy Chair [MUSG, 13th May 1946, V1]
- The Case of the Baconian Cipher [ SIGN, 27th May 1946]
- The Adventure of the Headless Monk [DEVI, 15th April 1945, V1]
- The Case of the Camberwell Poisoners [FIVE, 18th February 1946]
- The Adventure of the Iron Box [SILV, 31st December 1945, V2]
- The Case of the Girl with Gazelle [FINA, 25th May 1946, V1]
- The Adventure of the Notorious Canary Trainer [WIST, 23rd April 1945]
The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by H Paul Jeffers, includes the following stories.
Again I have the Volume number if the story appears in the CD collection (only the first two in this case) and the date of the orginal radio broadcast.
Where there is a link to the original stories I have mentioned these.
- In Flanders Fields [14th May 1945, V2]
- The Paradol Chamber [FIVE, 21st May 1945,V1]
- The Accidental Murderess [26th November 1945]
- The Adventure of the Blarney Stone [18th March 1946]
- The Book of Tobit [26th March 1945]
- The Haunting of Sherlock Holmes [20th May 1946]
- The Adventure of the Stuttering Ghost [12th October 1946]
- The Clue of the Hungry Cat [26th October 1946]
- The Singular Affair of the Dying Schoolboys [9th November 1946]
- The Adventure of the Sally Martin [23rd November 1946]
- The Adventure of the Grand Old Man [21st December 1946]
- The Darlington Substitution [SCAN, 4th January 1947]
- The Adventure of Maltree Abbey [31st May 1947]
Both of the books are out of print but there are second-hand copies available at reasonable prices.
Most of these broadcasts are available from the Sherlock Holmes Adventures Podcast and elsewhere on the Internet.
It is interesting to compare these written stories with their radio counterparts. The authors of these collections have done an excellent job, particulary Jeffers, in maintaining the style of my original stories.
On the fourth day of the New Year [FIVE]
4th January, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
As we enter 2011, I thought I would share with you my plans for the coming year.
I have several books to review. These include Mr Holmes and Dr Watson – Their Strangest Cases by Edith Meiser, The Official Papers Into The Matter Known As The Hound of the Baskervilles (DCC/1435/89 refers) by Kieron Freeburn, The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes edited by Tony Reynolds, a series of books by Molly Carr including The Sign of Fear, A Study In Crimson and In Search of Doctor Watson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon, a tour guide by Brian Pugh, Paul Spiring and Sadru Bhanji. There is also the audiobook, The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries by John Taylor read by Benedict Cumberbatch that I have yet to review.
New books expected this year include Watson’s Afghan Adventure – How Sherlock Holmes’ Dr.Watson Became an Army Doctor due January 24th, Reasoning Backwards: Sherlock Holmes’ Guide to Effective Problem Solving due March 1st, The Sherlock Holmes School of Self-Defence: The Manly Art of Bartitsu: as Used Against Professor Moriarty, due April 27th, and The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes due any day now.
Finally, in the books section, I will be looking at a series of children’s reading books based on the Sherlock Holmes stories from Lerner Books.
I have also received a DVD of Robert Stephens in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The BBC Sherlock Holmes Collection (which includes Peter Cushing in A Study in Scarlet, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sign of Four and the Blue Carbuncle, Richard Roxburgh in another version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Rupert Everett in The Case of the Silk Stocking, and Douglas Henshall in The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle) and Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes.
I plan to follow up the popular articles about Holmes on the radio (in the UK, parts 1 and 2, and in the USA, parts 1 and 2) with Holmes on television and on film.
We can expect a new series of BBC Sherlock in the autumn and a new Robert Downey Jr Sherlock Holmes film at the end of the year.
So, all in all, it looks like a busy year for all those who admire the best and wisest man whom I have ever known.
Posted in Books, Films, News, Radio, Television
Close to Holmes
5th November, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
This is Alistair Duncan’s second Sherlockian (or Holmesian if you prefer) book and it is my favourite so far of all the books Alistair has written (mainly because I am, by nature, more interested in Holmes than I am in Conan Doyle).
Close to Holmes, as Roger Johnson of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London says in the foreword, is one of the three books on Holmes’ London that he would recommend. The other two being Hot on the Scent (which is now difficult to find) and Finding Sherlock’s London (a new edition of which was published last year).
Throughout the book, Alistair’s research has thrown up some interesting and intriguing facts. To whet your appetite here are a few puzzles for you to solve as you read the book.
- Which of Professor Moriarty’s businesses was put out of action by London Transport?
- In which street, connecting Harley Street with Wimpole Street, did I once have my medical practices?
- The Sherlock Holmes Memorabilia Company occupied which canonical premises across from 221B?
- Why is the picture of Holmes and I following Stapleton’s cab down Regent Street in The Hound of the Baskervilles usually shown the wrong way round?
- When I bumped into Stamford in the Criterion Bar in 1881, which famous London landmark nearby had not yet been erected?
- Where could you find a meal named after one of Holmes’ adventures?
- Which of my favourite restaurants in still in business on The Strand?
- Which theatre was burnt down twice, was where William Gillette played Holmes for the first time in London where Holmes and I accompanied my future wife on our way to meet Thaddeus Sholto?
- How is the word “bedlam” historically related to Liverpool Street Station?
- The first recorded performance of a Punch and Judy Show in England occurred where?
- William Wallace (Braveheart) was executed near the site of which hospital?
- Which musical legends lived (at different times) in the same street as The Resident Patient?
I hope you will get from this set of questions an idea, literally, of how much ground this book covers and the amount of detail.
Even if you were not interested in Holmes or Conan Doyle (I believe that such people exist) then this is an amazing guide to London and some of the changes that have occured over the last hundred and thirty years. For me this is summed up in the three pictures of Euston Station, two before what Alistair describes as “an act of historical and architectural vandalism” reduced it to what we see in the third picture, complete with sculptures that look like something out of one of my friend, HG Wells’ novels. Fortunately, some have now come to their senses and restored St Pancras Station to more or less its former glory (despite having no documented Holmesian connection).
As usual, Alistair Duncan has been careful and painstaking in his research and his photographs of the old and the new will help you explore London and recognise the Sherlockian and Doylean landmarks.
I found myself picking up my maps of London and the surrounding districts as I was reading this book. I suspect that someone who does not know London as well as I do would struggle to understand where are the places mentioned are in relation to each other. A good A-Z of London or possibly access to Google Maps would help you find your way around.
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, Books, Locations, Media
Holmes Christmas List 2010
31st October, 1 Comment
By The Good Doctor
As happened last year, with the case of the Blue Carbuncle just chronologically around the corner again and people beginning to think about gifts, Holmes has compiled his Christmas list.
He did not get everything that was on last year’s list but this year’s list is completely new. I have provided links to amazon.co.uk and amazon.com where possible.
1. Top of the list this year is the DVD of the BBC Sherlockwith a contemporary take on the classic stories set in present-day London. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as me, his loyal friend. We couldn’t be more different, but Sherlock’s inspired leaps of intellect coupled with my pragmatism forges an unbreakable alliance.
Across three, 90-minute, thrilling, scary, action-packed and highly entertaining television movies, Sherlock and I navigate a maze of cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth. Holmes has come out of the fog. With sparkling scripts and unforgettable performances from the two leads, this is Sherlock for a new generation. The DVD contains all 3 episodes and the original Pilot.
Amazon UK: Sherlock [DVD] and Sherlock [Blu-ray] , Amazon USA: Sherlock [DVD] and Sherlock [Blu-ray]
2. Linked to the BBC Sherlock is this neat, compact magnifying glass that every modern Sherlock needs. Watch Sherlock in A Study In Pink to see how he uses it. All you now need is the scarf, the coat and his endearing manner with all those about him and you’re set to go sleuthing this Christmas!
Amazon UK: Eschenbach Magnifying Glass
3. The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries, which I mentioned in Part 2 of Holmes on British Radio , has just been released. These are four new Holmes stories with a railway theme written by John Taylor who wrote The Undiscovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. These new stories are ”An Inscrutable Masquerade”, “The Conundrum of Coach 13″, “The Trinity Vicarage Larceny” and “The 10.59 Assassin”.
According to Taylor, in a drawer in my desk, I have a locked cedarwood chest containing notes referring to some of Holmes’ cases that, for one reason or another, never saw the light of day. Now, for the first time, I have decided to reveal the truth to the world. In these four thrilling stories, Holmes experiments with the science of ballistics, locates some missing gold bullion, investigates the theft of a large amount of money and solves the baffling mystery of the Stovey murder.
If all that wasn’t enough then the stories are read by the newest Sherlock – Benedict Cumberbatch. Just one question then. Why is Sherlock (Cumberbatch) reading these stories rather than me (Martin Freeman)?
Amazon UK: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries, Amazon USA: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries (sorry but not available in the USA in time for Christmas but you could try The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes instead).
4. I have already reviewed this digitally-restored collection of the 14 films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes.
The multi-million pound restoration is discussed in a 5 minute featurette with Robert Gitt, Head Preservation Officer at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Along with the beautifully restored films are audio commentaries by Sherlock Holmes Expert David Stuart Davies (author of numerous books on Holmes and Rathbone) on The Scarlet Claw, The Woman In Green, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death and The Hound of the Baskervilles. There is also an audio commentary by another Holmes Expert Richard Valley (acclaimed author and publisher of Scarlet Street Mystery Magazine who in Amazon’s review is said to be currently penning a book on Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes although he sadly died in 2007) on The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes.
Richard Valley has also provided production notes and the films are accompanied by photo galleries, movie posters and theatrical trailers.
Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes – The Definitive Collection, Amazon USA: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (different packaging in the USA)
5. Again I have already reviewed Sherlock Holmes for Dummies and despite its American bias and a couple of errors (my wife becoming Mary Marston instead of Morstan and mistaking the blue plaque above the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street for a legitimate historical plaque) it is still a handy guide to the stories, Britain as it was at that time, the characters in the stories, our portrayals in films, on television and on the stage, etc.
Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (paperback), Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (Kindle edition), Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (paperback), Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (Kindle edition)
6. Continuing with the guides, I have now reviewed Close to Holmes – Alistair Duncan’s popular guide to Holmes and Conan Doyle’s London.
I have already reviewed his two other books, Eliminate the Impossible and The Norwood Author.
Close to Holmes is a handy guide that will just about fit in your pocket as you explore London as it is today and how it looked in the late nineteenth century to us and to my literary agent Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Alistair Duncan’s research is carefully done, as usual, and he treats us to pictures of many of the locations as they were and as they are now.
Amazon UK: Close to Holmes (paperback), Close to Holmes (Kindle edition), Amazon USA: Close to Holmes (paperback), Close to Holmes (Kindle edition)
7. The second edition of Christopher Redmond’s Sherlock Holmes Handbook sums up this Canadian scholar’s lifetime expertise about Holmes. The first edition appeared in 1993 and this new edition catches up on new films and books and the advent of the Internet.
It is still one of my favourite guides providing a summary of each story in the Canon, the characters in the stories, the cases I chose not to publish, our rooms at 221B, Holmes’s methods and so on. In the section on Crime and Punishment, as well as a summary of British law (and law enforcement) as it was then, there is a summary of other detectives’ work before, during and after Holmes’ career.
Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes Handbook, Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes Handbook
8. The exhaustively annotated, ten-volume edition of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Edgar Award winner Leslie S. Klinger ends with The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes.
As is well known, Holmes’ adventures have inspired a vast body of literature. Since the 1920s these “writings about The Writings” have contributed fascinating new insights into the stories, enhancing the pleasure of reading them.
This final volume of The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library covers more “adventures” of Sherlock Holmes than those that are contained in the sixty tales. This deposit of extra-Canonical material is known by Sherlockian scholars as The Apocrypha.
Amazon UK: This volume is not yet listed by amazon.co.uk, Amazon USA: The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes
9. Until Benedict Cumberbatch came along most people hailed Jeremy Brett’s portrayal of Holmes as the best ever.
Bending the Willow, David Stuart Davies wonderful tribute to Jeremy who said that he wanted his interpretation of Holmes to “bend the willow, but not break it.”
Apparently a second edition of this fascinating and perceptive study is available but I have not yet seen it. The second hand copies listed on Amazon are quite expensive so it may be worth contacting the publishers direct.
Amazon UK: Bending the Willow, Amazon USA: Bending the Willow
10. Finally the Sherlock Holmes film. This was originally top of the list but I am now undecided about this as my initial enthusiasm for it has dissipated in the wake of the BBC Sherlock. I now wonder if anyone will really be able to capture what Holmes and I were up to in Victorian times. Some of the liberties taken with the Canon now begin to jar - such as Holmes appearing never to have met my future wife when in reality we both met her at the same time in 221B at the start of The Sign of The Four. Still, it is a very enjoyable film and the new one in production has Leslie Klinger advising them and with the addition of Stephen Fry as Mycroft this should help to ensure greater fidelity.
Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes [DVD], Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray], Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes [DVD], Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray]
This was, as I predicted, a bumper year of Holmes books and other paraphernalia following the Sherlock Holmes film and Sherlock TV series and with follow-ups to both in production yet another bumper year may be soon upon us.
Posted in Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Books, Films, Sherlock, Television