Writer(s): Charles Kindinger
Narrator/Holmes & Watson: Phil LaMarr/Adam Godley (with Dominic Monaghan as Moriarty and Billy Boyd as Moran)
Summary: Turning one of literature’s most famous rivalries on its head, recasting Professor James Moriarty as a desperate fugitive framed for murder–and hunted by dark forces who will stop at nothing to exploit his brilliance, this audio finds the Professor on the heels of an earth-shattering mathematical breakthrough–a formula so powerful, it can predict the future–and at the scene of a gruesome murder he must solve to prove his innocence. With London’s sprawling underworld as their battleground, Moriarty and Holmes match their peerless intellects to gain the ever-shifting upper hand. But as their duel escalates, so does the deadly cost of pursuing the truth. In ten parts, free to Audible members.
Review: At last a Sherlockian Audible Original that I enjoyed (see my previous reviews of 'The Voice of Treason' and ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’). Although it went on for over five hours I didn’t feel that the story was being padded out. This is certainly not one for Sherlockian purists, but I enjoyed the switch to Moriarty being a man more sinned against than sinning, even if this meant that he was up against a very non-canonical Holmes. The script by Charles Kindinger showed good canonical knowledge (particularly of the three stories in which the Professor appears directly or indirectly), but I found myself being annoyed by several Americanisms in the dialogue such as tuxedo and Math (the latter being the most annoying as the Professor’s area of expertise is Maths). I also found Mary Watson calling her husband Jonathan (when his name is John) grating (though she does have a history of calling him by the wrong name) and in particular her calling her husband’s professional partner, ‘Mr Sherlock’ (rather than Mr. Holmes), something which seemed to be catching as Mrs Hudson and the Scotland Yarders began doing so too.
Dominic Monaghan played a wonderfully gravelly Moriarty, backed up by fellow Hobbit and podcast co-host, Billy Boyd as Colonel Sebastian Moran. Phil LaMarr’s Holmes was also excellent, even if his American accent slipped through on a couple of occasions. Adam Godley’s Watson was more canonical than many of the other canonical characters, but Rebecca Mader (another of Dominic Monaghan’s former co-stars) seemed to be just phoning in her performance as Mary Watson. I was also pleased at the use of the canonical name Porlock as an alias for one of the characters, and the revelations of two characters’ true identities. Canonical events were also revisited, with Moriarty rather than Holmes, and I particularly enjoyed the final episode’s mirror-image take on ‘The Final Problem’. Recommended.
Rating: 
(4/5)
Link to audio: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Moriarty-Podcast/B0B2F439SF
Link to visual trailer: https://vimeo.com/729801350/88614d0e21
