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ABOUT THIS BOOK

PUBLISHER: BBC Audio, A Division Of Random House

ISBN: 9781529902785

RRP: £16.00

PUBLICATION DATE:
September 7, 2023

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Sherlock Holmes: The Complete BBC Collection: 60 Full-Cast Dramatisations

Arthur Conan Doyle

Bert Coules

Clive Merrison

Michael Williams

Brian Blessed

Fully-dramatised adaptations of all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories, brought to life with a full cast of actors, sound effects and music

‘A remarkable undertaking… applauding them, and particularly Clive Merrison’s Holmes, made my hands sore’ The Times

Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his dear friend Dr Watson are among the most enduringly popular fictional characters ever created. Their adventures have been dramatised countless times on radio, TV and film, but until BBC Radio 4 took on the challenge in 1989, no-one had ever attempted to adapt all sixty stories.Beginning with A Study in Scarlet and concluding with The Hound of the Baskervilles, their epic project took over 8 years to complete – and this landmark collection contains the extraordinary result of their labours. Here is the world’s first ever fully-dramatised Sherlock Holmes canon: 56 short stories and 4 novels, all made by the same team of directors, producers, dramatists and leading actors, and packed with the high production qualities of a film or TV drama that set it apart.Starring one of radio’s great double acts, Clive Merrison and Michael Williams, as Holmes and Watson, and with guest stars including Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Maurice Denham, Andrew Sachs, Peter Davison, Robert Glenister and Harriet Walter, this definitive collection contains over 48 hours of enthralling listening.

Also included is a bonus interview with Adrian Conan Doyle about his father, Sir Arthur, and some fascinating behind-the-scenes revelations from the series’ head writer, Bert Coules, about the making of the radio adaptations.

Cast

Sherlock Holmes – Clive Merrison

Dr John Watson – Michael Williams

Mrs Hudson – Anna Cropper/Mary Allen/Joan Matheson/Judi Dench/

Inspector Gregson – John Moffatt

Inspector Lestrade – Donald Gee/Stephen Thorne

Mary Morstan/Mary Watson – Moir Leslie/Elizabeth Mansfield/Hannah Gordon

Irene Adler – Sarah Badel

Inspector Jones – Nigel Carrington

Colonel Moran – Fraser Kerr/Frederick Treves

Mycroft Holmes – John Hartley

Professor Moriarty – Michael Pennington

Production credits

Written by Arthur Conan Doyle

Dramatised by Bert Coules with David Ashton, Michael Bakewell, Roger Danes, Robert Forrest, Denys Hawthorne, Gerry Jones, Peter Ling, Vincent McInerney and Peter Mackie

Produced and directed by Ian Cotterell, David Johnston, Patrick Rayner and Enyd Williams

Musicians: Alexander Balanescu, Leonard Friedman, Richard Friedman, Michael Haslam, Ian Humphries and Abigail Young

Contents

A Study in Scarlet

The Sign of the Four

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Valley of Fear

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

A Scandal in Bohemia

The Red-Headed League

A Case of Identity

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

The Five Orange Pips

The Man with the Twisted Lip

The Blue Carbuncle

The Speckled Band

The Engineer’s Thumb

The Noble Bachelor

The Beryl Coronet

The Copper Beeches

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Silver Blaze

The Yellow Face

The Stockbroker’s Clerk

The Gloria Scott

The Musgrave Ritual

The Reigate Squires

The Crooked Man

The Resident Patient

The Greek Interpreter

The Naval Treaty

The Final Problem

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Empty House

The Norwood Builder

The Dancing Men

The Solitary Cyclist

The Priory School

Black Peter

Charles Augustus Milverton

The Six Napoleons

The Three Students

The Golden Pince-Nez

The Missing Three-Quarter

The Abbey Grange

The Second Stain

His Last Bow

Wisteria Lodge

The Cardboard Box

The Red Circle

The Bruce-Partington Plans

The Dying Detective

The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

The Devil’s Foot

His Last Bow

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

The Illustrious Client

The Blanched Soldier

The Mazarin Stone

The Three Gables

The Sussex Vampire

The Three Garridebs

The Problem of Thor Bridge

The Creeping Man

The Lion’s Mane

The Veiled Lodger

Shoscombe Old Place

The Retired Colourman

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between November 1989 and March 1995© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Reviews of Sherlock Holmes: The Complete BBC Collection: 60 Full-Cast Dramatisations

A remarkable undertaking… applauding them, and particularly Clive Merrison's Holmes, made my hands sore * The Times *

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Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer travelling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing.Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study of Scarlet, published in ‘Beeton’s Christmas Annual’ in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including The Lost World and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain’s involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism.Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.