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  • Published: 15 January 2017
  • ISBN: 9781785296321
  • Imprint: BBC CD
  • Format: Audio CD
  • Length: 7 hr 25 min
  • Narrators: Clive Merrison, Michael Williams
  • RRP: $55.00

Sherlock Holmes: The Four Novels Collection




Clive Merrison and Michael Williams star in four BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations

Clive Merrison stars as Holmes with Michael Williams as Watson in these four adventures from the unique, fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle stories

A Study In Scarlet
The Sign of the Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear

A Study in Scarlet introduces the most famous partnership in fiction, as Watson is drawn into Holmes's investigations following the discovery of a body in a blood-stained room in Brixton.

In The Sign of the Four, a beautiful young woman comes to Holmes with a mystery which is to stretch even his remarkable deductive skills.

The Hound of the Baskervilles finds Holmes and Watson travelling to Dartmoor to investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville and protect his heir. Are the Baskervilles being stalked by a satanic hell-hound, or is the creature part of a sinister conspiracy?

In The Valley of Fear, a coded warning sends Holmes and Watson to the country house of the reclusive Jack Douglas. Arriving too late to prevent a tragic death, they must follow a series of bewildering clues to find a murderer who has vanished into thin air...

Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Donald Sinden, Iain Glen and Ronald Pickup are among the guest cast of these thrilling dramas, adapted by Bert Coules. Duration: 7 hours 50 mins approx.

  • Published: 15 January 2017
  • ISBN: 9781785296321
  • Imprint: BBC CD
  • Format: Audio CD
  • Length: 7 hr 25 min
  • Narrators: Clive Merrison, Michael Williams
  • RRP: $55.00

About the authors

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and began to write stories while he was a student.Over his life he produced more than thirty books, 150 short stories, poems, plays and essays across a wide range of genres. His most famous creation is the detective Sherlock Holmes, who he introduced in his first novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). This was followed in 1889 by an historical novel, Micah Clarke. In 1893 Conan Doyle published 'The Final Problem' in which he killed off his famous detective so that he could turn his attention more towards historical fiction. However Holmes was so popular that Conan Doyle eventually relented and published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901. The events of the The Hound of the Baskervilles are set before those of 'The Final Problem' but in 1903 new Sherlock Holmes stories began to appear that revealed that the detective had not died after all. He was finally retired in 1927. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on 7 July 1930.

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.

Bert Coules

Bert Coules was the head writer on the BBC's unique project to dramatise all sixty of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories with the same two actors, Clive Merrison and Michael Williams, in the leading roles. He also wrote four series of entirely new Holmes mysteries. Among his other radio credits are several dramatisations of Ian Rankin's 'Rebus' novels; The Thirty-Nine Steps (based on the John Buchan novel) and two further adventures featuring Richard Hannay, The Three Hostages and Mr Standfast.