Sherlock Holmes: The Four Novels Collection

By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Bert Coules

Narrated by: Clive Merrison, full cast, Michael Williams

Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

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 and The Valley of Fear.

A Study in Scarlet introduces the most famous partnership in fiction, as Watson is drawn into Holmes' 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 hellhound, 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 minutes approx.

©2017 BBC Worldwide Ltd. (P)2017 BBC Worldwide Ltd.

Amazing content, LAZY audiobook

I won't lie. It's amazing content.

But - tiny bone of contention: You BBC bozos had three jobs.
1. DIGITIZE ORIGINAL RECORDING
2. DIVIDE INTO SMALLER SEGMENTS
3. oh and one more... NAME THESE SEGMENTS!!!!!

SOLUTION: Until then, fellow readers, it is best to avoid browsing. You can add bookmarks and name them as you go through the book and return to your favourites this way.

But do let these pranksters know of the inconvenience by means of a LOW rating. I know it seems extreme but this product is worth over 20 bucks!

Holmes and Watson Come to Life

I grew up listening to these books. I remember my mother popping the cassette into the car stereo when I was young and play these stories along with all the Sherlock Holmes stories portrayed so masterfully by Clive Merrison and the late Michael Williams.

For start, you can certainly see an improvement in quality from "A Study in Scarlet" to "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and the "Valley of Fear." The voice acting, which has been lauded by critics, and the engrossing story have brought me back to listen to these again and again.

I highly recommend these for a long car ride or trip. They are entertaining, faithful to the original books, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Fantastic!

I love these actors. They are perfect in these roles. The play is so tightly woven with the original novels.

Excellent group of stories.

This was an excellent, well written and acted set of stories. Kept me riveted to the very end of each one. I do recommend this to the mystery lover as these stories reach back in time to an era gone by.

A perfect performance 🎭.

Loved every second of this Sherlock and Watson. Loved the manic attitude of Holmes and the die-hard best friend Watson

Clive Merrison is the voice of Sherlock

This is just the start, check out the rest in this amazing series, the definitive Sherlock.

Delightful

I grew up watching Basil Rathburn and the original stories are nearly as splendid. I drift into the world of Doyle as I clean, do yoga, and run errands. The stories help to brighten my day. No matter what the task; short of reading another book. An audio book takes away the drudgery.
A. Hoeft

My favourite Sherlock and Watson

I just love this pair of actors. John Watson is reliable, dependable and a solid foil to this Sherlock’s energy, ennui or mania. Delightful and wonderful adaptation too that really shows the depth of their friendship and the intricacies of the stories

Brilliant adaptations of Sherlock Holmes

These four novels were masterfully brought to the radio by Bert Couples with a superlative cast. The mercurial Holmes of Clive Merrison and his friendship with the long-suffering Watson - the warm tones of Michael Williams - give a depth and humour to the stories. Highly recommended.

Great

Great performances by the cast and four great stories. I really got this for The Hound of the Baskervilles but enjoyed the other stories too.

Outstanding performances. Holmes at his best.

I’ve listened to Clive Merrison and Michael Williams’s Holmes and Watson many times and for me they are the best at playing the timeless crime fighting duo. The also have the distinction of being the only pair to have recorded the entire Holmes canon. A truly wonderful listen.

Four Novel Collection

This is a compilation of the four Holmes novels. Clive Merrison as Sherlock Holmes is a joy to the ears. I love his infectious laugh and slightly sarcastic tone when talking to people. Sadly, Dr Watson doesn't fare as well. Michael Williams just doesn't have the voice for radio, and I find it difficult to realise when Watson's talking.

Of the four, I knew that I'd like the first three, so it was with curiosity that I approached the Valley of Fear, the book I've never been able to read. Although I did persevere with this audio play, which was a good production, it still doesn't work for me.

Very Disappointing

I have greatly enjoyed all the other BBC radio adaptations by Bert Coules but this of the longer novels was very disappointing. I am not sure if it was the modern adaptations fault or the original books. Two of the stories were almost all told in flash backs in America, so it didnt even feel like a Holmes story, and the American accents, plus in one instance Irish American plus a Scottsh policeman, and a Welsh detective made the auddible seem more like an amateur dramatics where they were trying to cram in as many over the top accents as possible. Very very disappointing.