Again we have twelve broadcasts with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as me (never quite as bumbling as he was in the films) except for one story where Eric Snowden took Bruce’s place as he was ill. The details on the packaging lack the actual broadcast dates but I will fill those in for you.

Disc 1 – Introduced by Ben Wright

The Murder in the Casbah (based on a reference in SCAN and broadcast December 3rd 1945)

The Tankerville Club (based on a reference in FIVE and broadcast April 22nd 1946)

Disk 2 – Introduced by Harry Bartell

The Strange Case of the Murderer in Wax (based on a reference in SECO and broadcast January 7th 1946)

The Man with the Twisted Lip (broadcast May 6th 1946)

Disc 3 – Introduced by BenWright

The Guileless Gypsy (based on a reference in REDC and broadcast February 11th 1946)

The Camberwell Poisoners (based on a reference in FIVE although the disc and the box carry the title incorrectly as ‘The Camberville Poisoners’, and broadcast February 18th 1946)

Disc 4 – Introduced by Harry Bartell

The Terrifying Cats (based on a reference in BLAC and broadcast February 25th 1946. In this episode my part is taken by Eric Snowden as Nigel Bruce was ill. Snowden was later to play me in a later series with Ben Wright as Holmes). These facts are not disclosed on the CD or the box!

The Submarine Caves (based on a reference in BRUV and broadcast March 4th 1946)

Disc 5 – Introduced by Peggy Webber

The Living Doll (based on a reference in COPP and broadcast March 11th 1946)

The Disappearing Scientists (based on a reference in REIG and broadcast April 8th 1946)

Disc 6 -

The Adventure of the Speckled Band (broadcast November 11th 1945)

The Purloined Ruby (based on a reference in SECO and broadcast May 7th 1945)

I am still listening to these recordings and some of the extras are quite fascinating, including an interview with a certain Irene Norton nee Adler! I will provide more details as they come to light.

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.This is one of the lighter of Mary’s adventures.

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 Streetby Charlotte Anne Walters. This, like The House of Silk, which I will list next, attempts to rewrite parts of the Canon and weave into them a completely new story. In my view, Walters makes a better job of this that Horowitz does in The House of Silk. The inclusion of The Blue Carbuncle and the Man with the Twisted Lip, as well as other stories, is very well done and the period setting is mostly correct. Just one quibble though with the text. Holmes tells a bereaved mother that he is “sorry for their loss”. This phrase is entirely recent (an unwelcome American import, in my opinion) and Holmes is more likely to have said “May I offer my condolences?”

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 Silkby Andrew Horowitz. Again this is a very good story but the book is spoiled by the attempt to include too many Canonical references, some of which are wrong, and some of which are entirely unnecessary.

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 Scarletand lets us know that at first he got Holmes and I the wrong way round after looking at one of the pictures. I looked older and he assumed I had to be the clever one. A Study in Scarlet enlivened a weekend with his grandparents. He acknowledges how much they took from the original when producing the BBC series.

Mark Gatiss introduces The Adventures of Sherlock Holmesin a similar way to Moffatt, this time telling us that he can’t quite remember when he became aware of what he calls our “imperishable friendship”.

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 Sherlockfirst series then you’re missing a real treat. On the DVD you get all three episodes plus the pilot version of A Study In Pink and a short film about the making of the series. The pilot version of A Study In Pink has a subtly different plot and is nowhere near as polished as the broadcast version. But there are some memorable shots including one of Holmes on a roof (looking for the pink suitcase I think) in a sort of Batman pose!

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.This is volume 3 and includes Murder in the Casbah, The Tankerville Club, The Strange Case of the Murderer in Wax, The Man With The Twisted Lip, The Guileless Gypsy, The Camberville Poisoners, The Terrifying Cats, The Submarine Cave, The Living Doll, The Disappearing Scientists, and The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Purloined Ruby. This volume is not released until December 6th.

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 reviews are quite short but neatly sum up each story and Walters gives each one a score out of ten. It is interesting to compare these scores with dear Arthur’s own twelve of the best.

According to Walters, Charles Augustus Milverton and The Six Napoleons come out tops followed by Silver Blaze, The Mugrave Ritual, The Norwood Builder, The Dancing Men, The Bruce-Partington Plans, The Dying Detective, The Illustrious Client, The Three Garridebs, The Problem of Thor Bridge, Shoscombe Old Place and The Retired Colourman. That’s thirteen against Arthur’s twelve and there are quite a few differences.

Here are the links to each one of her reviews with her scores.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (average 6.7 out of 10)

• A Scandal In Bohemia 5 out of 10
• A Case of Identity 6 out of 10
• The Red-Headed League 7 out of 10
• The Boscombe Valley Mystery 7 out of 10
• The Five Orange Pips 5 out of 10
• The Man with the Twisted Lip 8 out of 10
• The Blue Carbuncle 8 out of 10
• The Speckled Band 6 out of 10
• The Engineer’s Thumb 7 out of 10
• The Noble Bachelor 8 out of 10
• The Beryl Coronet 7 out of 10
• The Copper Beeches 6 out of 10

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (average 6.8 out of 10)

• Silver Blaze 9 out of 10
• The Yellow Face 8 out of 10
• The Stockbroker’s Clerk 6 out of 10
• The Gloria Scott 5 out of 10
• The Musgave Ritual 9 out of 10
• The Reigate Squire 6 out of 10
• The Crooked Man 8 out of 10
• The Resident Patient 8 out 10
• The Greek Interpreter 8 out of 10
• The Naval Treaty 5 out of 10
• The Final Problem 8.5 out of 10

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (average 7.5 out of 10)

• The Empty House 7 out of 10
• The Norwood Builder 9 out of 10
• The Dancing Men 9 out of 10
• The Solitary Cyclist 6 out of 10
• The Priory School 7 out of 10
• Black Peter 7 out of 10
• Charles Augustus Milverton 10 out of 10
• The Six Napoleons 10 out of 10
• The Three Students 6 out of 10
• The Golden Pince-Nez 6 out of 10
• The Missing Three-Quarter 7 out of 10
• The Abbey Grange 7 out of 10
• The Second Stain 8 out of 10

His Last Bow (average 7.4 out of 10)

• Wisteria Lodge 4 out of 10
• The Cardboard Box 7 out of 10
• The Red Circle 7 out of 10
• The Bruce-Partington Plans 9 out of 10
• The Dying Detective 9 out of 10
• The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax 8 out of 10
• The Devil’s Foot 8 out of 10
• His Last Bow 7 out of 10

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (average 7.7 out of 10)

• The Illustrious Client 9 out of 10
• The Blanched Soldier 7 out of 10
• The Mazarin Stone 6 out of 10
• The Three Gables 7 out of 10
• The Sussex Vampire 6 out of 10
• The Three Garridebs 9 out of 10
• The Problem of Thor Bridge 9 out of 10
• The Creeping Man 8 out of 10
• The Lion’s Mane 8 out of 10
• The Veiled Lodger 5 out of 10
• Shoscombe Old Place 9 out of 10
• The Retired Colourman 9 out of 10

10 out of 10

• RETU: Charles Augustus Milverton, The Six Napoleons

9 out of 10

• MEMO: Silver Blaze, The Mugrave Ritual
• RETU: The Norwood Builder, The Dancing Men
• LAST: The Bruce-Partington Plans, The Dying Detective
• CASE: The Illustrious Client, The Three Garridebs, The Problem of Thor Bridge, Shoscombe Old Place, The Retired Colourman

8.5 out of 10

• MEMO: The Final Problem

8 out of 10

• ADVE: The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Blue Carbuncle, The Noble Bachelor
• MEMO: The Yellow Face, The Crooked Man, The Resident Patient, The Greek Interpreter
• RETU: The Second Stain
• LAST: The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, The Devil’s Foot
• CASE: The Creeping Man, The Lion’s Mane

7 out of 10

• ADVE: The Red-Headed League, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Engineer’s Thumb, The Beryl Coronet
• RETU: The Empty House, The Priory School, Black Peter, The Missing Three-Quarter, The Abbey Grange
• LAST: The Cardboard Box, The Red Circle, His Last Bow
• CASE: The Blanched Soldier, The Three Gables

6 out of 10

• ADVE: A Case of Identity, The Speckled Band, The Copper Beeches
• MEMO: The Stockbroker’s Clerk, The Reigate Squire
• RETU: The Solitary Cyclist, The Three Students, The Golden Pince-Nez
• CASE: The Mazarin Stone, The Sussex Vampire

5 out of 10

• ADVE: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Five Orange Pips
• MEMO: The Gloria Scott, The Naval Treaty
• CASE: The Veiled Lodger

4 out of 10

• LAST: Wisteria Lodge

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.

Each story is introduced by Nick Utechin, former editor of the Journal of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Recordings of four of the stories were supplied by Roger Johnson, also of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as these were missing from the BBC Archives.

The packaging of this second set differs from the first. The six compact disks are stacked together on a spindle rather than in pairs in separate 2CD cases and this may result in some wear over time.

The sleeve notes are minimal (Nick Utechin’s introductions on the discs provide all the information you really need).

One quibble though. The track listings are incorrect. Someone has assumed that each disc contains 20 tracks and that each of the two stories on each disc takes up 10 tracks. This is not the case as my correct track listing below shows. I have also given the full broadcast date.

CD1

• The Copper Beeches (Track 1 Introduction to the Collection, Tracks 2 Story introduction, Tracks 3 to 9 Story) broadcast 11th August 1959
• Thor Bridge (Track 10 Introduction, Tracks 11 to 18 Story) broadcast 1st January 1962

CD2

• The Sussex Vampire (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 9 Story) broadcast 18th September 1964
• The Three Garridebs  (Track 10 Introduction, Tracks 11 to 19 Story) broadcast 4th September 1964

CD3

• The Three Gables (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 10 Story) broadcast 2nd October 1964
• The Retired Colourman  (Track 11 Introduction, Tracks 12 to 18 Story) broadcast 9th October 1964

CD4

• The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 8 Story) broadcast 12th December 1966
• The Crooked Man  (Track 9 Introduction, Tracks 10 to 16 Story) broadcast 19th December 1966

CD5

• The Cardboard Box (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 11 Story) broadcast 19th April 1960
• A Case of Identity (Track 12 Introduction, Tracks 13 to 22 Story) broadcast 26th June 1969

CD6

• The Naval Treaty (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 19 Story) broadcast 22nd March 1960
• The Noble Bachelor (Track 20 Introduction, Tracks 21 to 26 Story) broadcast 18th August 1959

As I usually transfer compact disks to iTunes I also noticed that the track listing have not been uploaded into Gracenote (where iTunes get its track information from) so there is no information downloaded into iTunes to identify each track other than the track number.

So it is quite a shock when I find that he has decided to put the record straight about his first encounter with Russell back in April 1915 when there was a darkness in his own mind that she, quite literally stumbling upon him, extinguished (how can you extinguish darkness?).

He did not realise the danger that was shadowing Russell in those dark months following his own little victory in August the previous year (His Last Bow).

He had, of course, moved to Sussex and taken our housekeeper Mrs Hudson with him away from the dangers of London, and I remember him telling me the story with laughter in his voice. This must have been only a few weeks after the actual meeting as it was shortly before that the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat and Holmes was concerned about my planned trip to America the following day.

It was therefore a while before I met the young lady who did so much to cheer up Holmes and keep him away from his darker moods and even darker practices.

But I am probably rambling on a little too much when you could read this exciting tale for yourself!

You can find this Kindle book here in the UK and here in the USA.

You can find out more about Russell here.

I was unaware until very recently that although bartitsu is derived from Japanese methods it was the invention of an Englishman, Edward William Barton-Wright and it is through his book on the subject which he has thoughtfully entitled “The Sherlock Holmes school of Self-Defence – The Manly Art of Bartitsu as used against Professor Moriarty” that I am able to write these few words.

Barton-Wright was an engineer and his work took him all around the world. He spent a period living in Japan where he became fascinated by jujitsu and took lessons in the art. In his return to London he began to develop his own system of self-defence, publishing two articles in Pearson’s Weekly. He named his system “Bartitsu” this being the first four characters of his name “Bart” and the remainder being the last four characters of  jujitsu “itsu”.

The two articles are entitled “How a Man may Defend Himself against every Form of Attack”. Part I appeared in March1899 and Part II the following month.

He opened his own Bartitsu Club in at 67B Shatftesbury Avenue in London’s Soho in 1899. Amongst its patrons was Herbert Gladstone, the youngest son of William Gladstone, the Prime Minister.

The book is a neat pocket-sized volume (so that you can have it handy at all times) with chapters entitled:

1. How to deal with undesirables
2. How to escape when attacked from then rear
3. How to escape when seized by an item of apparel (such as your belt or the pocket of your coat)
4. Defence against an unarmed opponent
5. Use of the stout stick
6. Use of the short stick or umbrella
7. How to throw and hold a man upon the ground
8. Self-defence from a bicycle

It is available from the publishers and from Amazon in the UK and USA.

One puzzle remains. If Barton-Wright’s system only became widely known in the late 1890s, how did Holmes know about it in the early 1890s?

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 . . .

With the sad passing of one of the best actors to portray me, Edward Hardwicke, in May 2011, I was reminded that he played me alongside Jeremy Brett’s Holmes in the same play when it was originally brought to the stage through a collaboration between Brett and Jeremy Paul who dramatised a number of my stories for the Granada Television Sherlock Holmes series. Jeremy Paul also sadly died in May 2011.

The play itself is very much a story in two parts. Act 1 is a compendium of elements from the Canon, starting from our first meeting and what led up to it and ending with Holmes disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls, somewhat rapidly followed by his startling return, seven years later, causing me to faint. So at the end of the first act I am out for the count!

This first act, except for maybe the closing few minutes, is like nestling down in your favourite armchair with a pipe, a drink and a favourite book. The latter in this case being the whole Canon. I sat there during this first act with my own words flowing from the two actors towards me causing me to smile, laugh, and even shed an occasional tear as the memories also came back to me.

Act 2 is an entirely different matter. I will not spoil your potential enjoyment of the whole play by revealing the detail of what “The Secret” is except to say that it involves Moriarty and who he really is.

The play can be a disappointment to those expecting a classic case consisting of a problem, an investigation and a solution. All three elements are, in fact present, but not in the form you might usually expect.

I do have a concern about the basic tenet of the case, if I can call it that. It is another of those devices that authors, film-makers and playwrights use to extend our relationship and our adventures together into areas where they do not belong and manipulate our characters in a way that at least stretches credulity and at its worst I find distasteful. Although I cannot claim to know all there is to know about Holmes, we have spent a good deal of time together, sometimes under very difficult, not to say dangerous, circumstances and I find suggestions of this sort unpalatable. I have read Michael Dibdins “The Last Sherlock Holmes Story” and found it distasteful for these same reasons.

Back to the play and Peter Egan does a reasonable job portraying Holmes but he is no match for Brett. I suspect that those who were lucky enough to see the Brett/Hardwicke version of the play thought they were seeing Holmes playing Brett rather than the other way round. I have also seen Egan (with Philip Franks) in The Hound of the Baskervilles and in this Egan seemed to cope with this much better. I could believe he was Holmes in The Hound. In The Secret he was less comfortable and therefore less believable. This strain showed but may have benficial in adding to the required characterisation in Act 2.

Robert Daws is perhaps a little more emotional than me but he handles Holmes’ occasional put-down (“It is true that you have missed everything of importance”) very well, and many must wonder why he (or rather I) put up with Holmes for so long given the apparent disdain with which he refers to my attempts at deduction.

Going back to the original Brett/Hardwicke performance, the reviews were at the time much kinder than for the more recent Egan/Daws performance – largely I suspect because Brett had become the definitive Holmes of recent times.

The script of the play was first published in 1989 but is now difficult to find in the UK though it is apparently easily available in the USA (from where obtained my copy). A recording of one of the Brett/Hardwicke performance by a member of the audience has recently come to light but, of course, being recorded from audience is not of very good quality. I am not aware of any recordings of the Egan/Daws presentation. There was also a run of the play in the USA and one of my favourite podcasts, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, interviewed the team responsible in 2007.

Something I learned from Hardwicke is that Brett performed the play at the Mayfair Theatre as a private performance to an invited audience before the full public production. This version had a narrator and some of my words were delivered by a third person so there were three people performing this version.

I envy those who have never heard the story before whose suspicions of everyone but the real villain are aroused by the events as they unfold in my narrative.

Laurence Owen has been working on this new version for four months and he describes it as a labour of love. He says that his parents introduced him to my accounts when he was very young and he has been hooked ever since. It has been something of a life ambition to have a stab at an adaptation himself.  He has assembled his cast (including himself), recorded and edited the performance, adding sound effects (some subtle, some quite startling) and composed and added a musical score. He calls it a “radio film” and he feels that The Hound lends itself particularly well to sound or radio adaptations. Many filmed versions of The Hound have been criticised because of the feeble nature of the actual hound (in one example leading a reviewer to refer to the poor creature as “The dog that did nothing in the night-time”). Owen prefers to create an image in the listener’s imagination using only sound.

In choosing The Hound, he mentions that he is also keen on The Creeping Man, The Speckled Band and in particular The Devil’s Foot, indicating a preference with the gothic, although he thinks that if The Hound is well-received, he might consider The Blue Carbuncle (hardly a gothic story!) as it would give him lots of interesting sound effects to simulate – markets, geese, drunken rows etc. – as well as a nice Christmas-themed soundtrack to compose.

The result of all his labours with The Hound  is a very atmospheric production, true to my original story in almost all respects, that is best listened to, as Owen suggests, in complete darkness, though if you’re holding the glass of brandy as he also suggests, you may lose its entire contents!

I noticed two characters were missing from the plot – I will leave you to work out who they are. One was excluded because of time constraints (see later) - the other to enhance the drama in one of the key scenes near the end.

The recording is available as a stereo podcast and will also be available in 5.1 surround sound that will take “listeners on a chilling and unforgettable sonic journey” and this is where the time constraints mentioned earlier become important.

Owen will eventually play the piece in a theatrical setting, in complete darkness, in surround sound. For this reason its length needs to be reasonably short, since the piece demands quite a lot of attention from its audience.

This surround sound version will be presented as a cinema or theatre style performance, for people to enjoy as a group. The idea is that they come along to a designated venue, as they would with a movie or a play, and experience a radio-style piece together in total darkness. This is very rarely done, and it is hoped that it will encourage the audience’s imaginations to really come into their own. This version of the piece is still in development, and we await further information about these performances. The current plan is to present them in Fringe theatre style environments, and as such will be ticketed events. Look out for The Hound of the Baskervilles at next year’s Brighton and Edinburgh festivals.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is available from Corporate Records, which provides  a new way for performers (mainly musicians) to share, sell and promote their work. Performers can sell single tracks or group them into multiple albums, set minimum prices or use a pay-what-you-like system, embed their tracks in blogs and share static download links on Twitter and Facebook.

The album version of The Hound of the Baskervilles is now available.

More information about Laurence Owen’s The Hound of the Baskervilles can be found at www.facebook.com/thehoundofthebaskervilles and Owen is on Twitter at @laurenceowen

A promotional video can also be found on You Tube at The Hound is Released!