Sherlock Holmes

A Baker Street Dozen (Dramatized)

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Orson Welles

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Here are 12 acclaimed, exciting, fully dramatized performances of Conan Doyle classics. It's elementary that any Conan Doyle fan will want this splendid set of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, 12 timeless tales performed as radio theater and linked by violin-music interludes.

The great Sir John Gielgud stars as the sleuth of Baker Street, with Ralph Richardson as his venerable companion, Dr. Watson, and Orson Welles as the nefarious Professor Moriarty. With three giants of the theater in such colorful roles, it's no mystery why this collectionwas so popular on cassette.

Included are:

• "The Blue Carbuncle"
• "A Case of Identity"
• "Charles August Milverton"
• "The Dying Detective"
• "The Final Problem"
• "The Golden Pince-Nez"
• "The Norwood Builder"
• "A Scandal in Bohemia"
• "The Second Stain"
• "The Six Napoleons"
• "The Solitary Cyclist"
• "The Speckled Band"

©1953 Charles Michelson, Inc (P)1996 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"The cast is perfection: just to listen to John Gielgudwould be pleasure enough, but each cast member is terrific." ( AudioFile)
"It will come as no surprise that Gielgud and Richardson, as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, are as perfect a pairing as are the fictional detective team." ( Publishers Weekly)

Best narration of Holmes I've listened to!

Sherlock Holmes is always great--there would be nothing I could add to years of commentary on that. This recording is, simply, the best narration of any of Conan Doyle's work I've heard. John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Orson Welles came together in a superior performance of about a dozen of Holmes' best stories. The quality of the audio itself is better than I might have expected, given that I believe it was recorded for radio in the 1950's.

Best Sherlock Holmes

Sir John Geilgud and Sir Ralph Richardson do a great job as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They are my favorite voice actors of these two great literary characters

wonderfully told stories

What made the experience of listening to Sherlock Holmes the most enjoyable?

The music, the plots, the story telling. It was all superb. I love the way John Gielgud plays the part of Sherlock Holmes. On audio no one ( except maybe Basil Rathbone ) could have played the role better.

Classic performance

The performance style is a bit dated, but it is hard to beet John Gielgud as Holmes and Ralph Richardson as Watson. The choice of stories is inspired, from light and simple to the most complex. This is a fun venture into the history of the detective story.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be proud

Never mind the garbage pumped out by Hollywood with Basil Rathbone and the like! Aside from the BBC-Granada TV versions this is the best rendition of ole' Sherlock around!

series of 30 minute radio plays, wonderfully acted

These are wonderfully voiced radio plays of some of the original Sherlock Holmes stories - they are old (from the 1950s), so the quality of the recording is not up to the stereo, multi-track standards of some, but the quality of the actors make up for any such issues. It's obvious that the stories are episodes of a radio series, since they each start and end with theme music and a voice over. I like the episodic nature of these stories - I can listen to one or two of them in between longer audiobooks to kind of take a mental break before moving from one book to another. The stories are good fun, and the narration is wonderful.

Great to share with the whole family

What did you love best about Sherlock Holmes?

I loved the Sherlock Holmes stories as a kid and they are just as delightful to share with my kids. The reading is engaging, the accents are authentic. Sometimes it's nice to be able to listen to a whole short story rather than just a chapter of a longer story. My kids want to listen to these stories over again with their friends which is a great endorsement.

Two of my favorite actors doing a great job.

I am a long standing fan of Sherlock Holmes and only the English can represent the stories so well.

Brilliant ensemble dramatization

This is a thoroughly fantastic series of ensemble dramatizations by the BBC that is the closest radio version to the classic Jeremy Brett tv series as one could find. The scripts are top and the performances are wonderfully memorable. Sir John Gielgud is pitch perfect as Holmes as is Ralph Richardson as Watson. Orson Welles makes a genius appearance as Professor Moriarty for the entirety of "The Final Solution", and the entire series is certain to merit repeated listens. This is all-around delightful and highly recommended!

Excellent narration

The voice actors imbue their roles with much expression which enhances the build up of drama.