Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Treason'

 

Writer(s):   Cavan Scott & George Mann

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   Nicholas Boulton/Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

 

Summary: Investigating a crime seemingly unconnected to the Royal Family, Holmes & Watson uncover a conspiracy to kidnap Queen Victoria and destabilise the British Empire. With a ticking clock to her next public engagement, Holmes and Watson must discover who is behind the plot and locate her majesty, while Mycroft tries to keep the monarch’s disappearance a secret from the British people. To rescue the Queen, Holmes must team up with a surprising ally. This is an Audible Original Drama, with a cast of over thirty and lasting eight hours.    (Alongside the drama is a free Alexa Skill 'The Great Game', a murder mystery story where the power lies in your hands, which acts as a prologue) 

 

Review: I so wanted to enjoy this, having previously enjoyed Sherlockian (and 'Doctor Who') stories written by Scott and Mann. However, it just went on for too long, and there were too many characters, meaning that in several scenes I entirely lost who was speaking or even exactly who was present in a scene. Large portions of the plot also seemed to have been extracted from the film "Victoria and Abdul". However, the real disappointment was Holdbrook-Smith's Watson, who seems to be concentrating so hard on his gruff tone that he forgets to infuse Watson with any humanity. I found myself wishing that Don Gilet (who was playing Watson's formerly alcoholic brother) was playing the part. Boulton's Holmes had his moments, but the only stand-out performance for me was from Frances Jeater as Queen Victoria. I would also have welcomed more of Greg Page's Mycroft Holmes. With a heavy heart I am unable to recommend this drama to anyone. However, 'The Great Game' is worth a little over an hour of your time.

 

 

Rating:    (2/5)  

 

Link to audio:  https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sherlock-Holmes-The-Voice-of-Treason-Audiobook/B084C5WCKN

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'

 

Writer(s):   David Stuart-Davies

 

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   David Stuart-Davies/Jeff Leasley

 

Summary:  A dramatization based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle  ('The Speckled Band'/'A Study in Scarlet'/'The Final Problem'), adapted by and starring David Stuart-Davies, and taking us from the Battle of Maiwand to the Reichenbach Falls.

 

Review: This short audio play (55 mins) is an excellent dramatization of one of Holmes' most famous cases 'The Speckled Band', bookended by the first few chapters of 'A Study in Scarlet' and a condensed 'The Final Problem'. The cast includes Maggie Ollerenshaw as the client, Helen Stoner. Already a big fan of Stuart-Davies having seen his one-man Sherlockian show 'The Game's Afoot', no less than three times, I thoroughly enjoyed his take on this classic tale, put in context by the start and 'end' of Holmes and Watson's working relationship. I would welcome a sequel with a post-Reichenbach case, preceded by an extract from 'The Empty House' explaining Holmes' resurrection.

 

Rating:    (4/5)  

 

Link to audio:  https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Sherlock-Holmes-Audiobook/B01MYNXCZG

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'You Buy Bones: Sherlock Holmes and his London Through the Eyes of Scotland Yard'

 

Writer(s):   Marcia Wilson

 

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   Dominic Lopez

 

Summary:  Meet Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of his fellow lodger once again... and meet both through the eyes of the Yard - especially those who saw them the most: Inspectors Lestrade, Gregson, and Bradstreet. From Montague Street to a supposedly straightforward case of smuggling in Cornwall, Scotland Yard saw more than the disconcerting and dazzling private detective: it also saw an admirable and steadfast British soldier who shared their need for justice. Doctor John Watson may call himself unremarkable, but the Yard would disagree...

 

Review: This audio comprises a few short stories to set the scene, then the novella, 'You Buy Bones'. The focus is on the Scotland Yarders, Lestrade and Bradstreet in particular, as well as the underappreciated Doctor John Watson. Sherlock Holmes is very much a secondary character in these stories, with the focus being on character pieces involving those who orbit him in the original stories. For a story that intends to show Watson (and to a lesser extent Holmes) through the eyes of the Scotland Yarders, I found it strange that it was written in the third person, rather than being a first person account by Lestrade, and Dominic Lopez's narration was a little one-note, but these were minor quibbbles.

 

Rating:    (3/5)  

 

Link to Audio:  https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/You-Buy-Bones-Sherlock-Holmes-and-his-London-Through-the-Eyes-of-Scotland-Yard-Audiobook/B01JN9FV8O

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'The Tangled Skein'

 

Writer(s):   David Stuart Davies, adapted by Richard Dinnick.

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   Nicholas Briggs & Richard Earl

Summary:  Based on the classic pastiche by noted Sherlockian author, David Stuart Davies, and starring Nicholas 'Voice of the Daleks' Briggs, this audio drama by Big Finish Productions begins soon after the events of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (also part of Series 2 of their audio dramas), and acts as a partial sequel to it. A familiar foe, a threat to Holmes’s life, murders on Hampstead Heath and a deadly phantom lady lead Holmes and Watson into the most dangerous investigation they have ever undertaken. An encounter which takes them back to Dartmoor and brings them face to face with evil itself, embodied in Count Dracula, the Lord of the Undead.

 

Review: I had read the book many years ago, but only remembered very few details. A cast of six play seventeen parts between them with ease. Holmes vs Dracula is a slightly overused trope, but the novel was one of the first to do so, even if it is not entirely clear where it fits in in the Dracula story. There was a good balance between action and deduction, and it moved at a good pace. As ever with Big Finish, the sound design contributes well to the overall effect. Earl's narration was appropriate, allowing dialogue to tell the story as much as possible. Recommended.

 

Rating:    (4/5)  

Link to Audio:  https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/sherlock-holmes-the-tangled-skein-20

 

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'The First Consulting Detective'

 

Writer(s):   W.S. Mulrooney

 

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   Jason Markiewitz  

 

Summary:  Three short cases (90 minutes in total), written by W.S Mulrooney, and recorded and released posthumously by his friend, Tracy Traynor: 

"The Silence of Sherlock Holmes" has both Holmes and Watson battle murder in a library, but when Holmes becomes a critical patient suffering from amnesia, can one of Watson's stories save the day? 

"He Who Would Be Holmes" reveals the capers of two con-men who are impersonating Holmes & Watson in Northern England. When an American woman turns up promising retirement money, the pair can’t resist. 

"The Mystery of 221b Bacon Street" - Holmes and Watson track a blackmailer to a property with a name similar to their own, where a plan is afoot which threatens the safety of the entire nation.

 

Review: I enjoyed these stories which walked the line between parody and pastiche. They were also of an appropriate length to be listened to in breaks from work, with each story not being more than half-an-hour. I was initially put off by the American narrator, but soon got over this (save his attempt at a Scottish Mrs. Hudson). The solutions to each story were relatively obvious but this did not detract from the stories, and neither did the reuse of some Canonical strategems to solve the problems.

 

Rating:    (4/5)  

 

Link to Audio:  https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-First-Consulting-Detective-Audiobook/B08QR6PRG6

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - 'Watson: The Final Problem'

 

Writer(s):   Bert Coules & Tim Marriott

Narrator/Holmes & Watson:   Tim Marriott

Summary: A new Sherlockian play by Bert Coules, Head Writer on the BBC Radio 4 complete Canon starring Clive Merrison and the follow-up 'The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', written in conjunction with its star, Tim Marriott (best known for 'The Brittas Empire'). A one-man Watson-focused piece, focusing on Reichenbach and what came before.

The original intention was to perform 'Watson: The Final Problem' on stage in Autumn 2020 and on tour in 2021, but in the current circumstances instead a radio-style recording was made in isolation to help develop the project and keep the creatives busy in lockdown. In true Sherlock Homes style, ingeniously improvising with home equipment, Tim Marriott recorded the script in a makeshift home studio made with a microphone and laptop under a duvet held up by a kitchen chair; Clive Whitburn created the score in his garden shed; and Bert Coules drew on all his past BBC experience to stitch the piece together using only the electronic equivalent of a razor blade, splicing tape, and a collection of improvised sound effects. The full audio recording is at: www.smokescreenprods.com for free, but with donations requested.   [The play was due to play a one night date at Grove Theatre, Eastbourne on 12th December 2020, but this was also cancelled]

 

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this, with a tour-de-force performance by Marriott, and an excellent script by Coules and its star. I recognised several parts from Coules' previous 1992 'The Final Problem' adaptation  (Michael Williams' favourite), but that only added to my enjoyment. It also effectively looked at how the events of Reichenbach affected the man left behind. Excellent sound effects and music also, and its being recorded in lockdown was not in evidence at all. In different times, I wouldn't have been able to stay away from the planned Eastbourne date  (particularly as it would have fitted in perfectly with a planned 'Sherlockian Sojourn').

 

Rating:    (5/5) 

 

Link to audio:  'Watson: The Final Problem'

Sherlockian Audio Reviews - Introduction

Although my interest in Sherlock Holmes was initiated by television ('The Baker Street Boys'), a play ('SH & The Adventure of the Sumatran Devil' by a pre-HDM Philip Pullman), and a film ('The Great Mouse Detective'), which led to my purchasing my first Canon, my first experience of the majority of the stories was via the Radio 4 dramatisations starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams.  (click here for the official website)

 

 

I have them all on cassette and as MP3s, but have also just started to collect them on CD. As lockdown continues and I listen to other SH audiobooks as escapism, I intend to post reviews as I listen.