The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

15 BBC Radio 4 Original Full-Cast Dramas

By: Bert Coules

Narrated by: Andrew Sachs, Clive Merrison, full cast

Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

A gripping collection of 15 BBC Radio full-cast dramas written by Bert Coules, inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.

In the 56 short stories and four novels Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his great detective, how many times did Dr John Watson tantalise us with references to cases which were never written about in full? These original adventures flesh out those unrecorded cases to wonderful effect. 

Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth himself, with Andrew Sachs in the role of Doctor Watson. The star casts include Tom Baker, Jane Asher, Tim West, Toyah Willcox, Lindsay Duncan and Mark Gatiss.

The stories in this collection are:

'The Madness of Colonel Warburton'
'The Star of the Adelphi'
'The Saviour of Cripplegate Square'
'The Singular Inheritance of Miss Gloria Watson'
'The Abergavenny Murder'
'The Shameful Betrayal of Miss Emily Smith'
'The Tragedy of Hanbury Street'
'The Determined Client'
'The Striking Success of Miss Franny Blossom'
'Thirteen Watches'
'Peculiar Persecution of Mr John Vincent Harden'
'The Ferrers Documents'
'The Remarkable Performance of Mr Frederick Merridew'
'The Eyes of Horus'
'The Marlbourne Point Mystery'

©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Critic Reviews

 "A joy from beginning to end...ingenious extensions of the Conan Doyle originals." (Daily Telegraph) 

Great Story

Loved the book in spite of a couple problems. Chapter 14 has language that is offencive to me. also chapter 13 should be at the end. the story gets out of order 13 15 and 16

Be aware of incorrect order of stories

Although I enjoyed this book in general, and I think Bert Coules did a good job overall, the perpetrators of the crimes became predictable. I enjoyed his portrayal of the relationship between Holmes and Watson, which reflects slightly more favorably on Watson than Conan Doyle’s version. Sadly, the stories seem to have been put together in the wrong order, part 2 of the Malbern murders appearing before part 1. Unless the producers have done this on purpose for some unfathomable reason that I cannot possibly guess at.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Highly recommend! Just like Sherlock on old radio shows or perhaps Rathbone or Brett. Beware Chapter 13 is part two to Chapter 16. Caution scene change without much notice. Excellent story lines one may not have published in the Strand.

Audio really bad,

Even with a powerful external speaker could not hear the narrators, had to put my iPad, 2inches from my ear. I think the stories might have been ok. Save your money until they re-record this one.

One of the best radio programs out there

I love how it sounds like a typical day in the life of....
Just conversations, walking, murder, eating. Etc.
It's the closet to, that I can get, to the "real life" of Holmes and Watson. Plus it has Tom Baker for anyone a fan of the Doctor.
Of course Jeremy Brett will always be my Sherlock Holmes for my visual and for my Holmes all together. But for listening, it's Clive.

Excellent stories. 5 Star, except poor recordings.

Bert Coules comes very, very close to writing in the voice we've come to associate with Sir ACD/John Watson. Especially through Hollywood. I thoroughly enjoyed each story; they sound extremely close to Canon, and, indeed, fit quite well in Doyle's deliberate gaps! My biggest problem with these recordings is that the sound is very inconsistent and there are many, many times when I had to rewind, and turn the volume up to MAX to hear a bit of dialogue, then immediately stop & turn it on way down for the rest of the conversation. The 'acting' is very good, butI know I missed as much as 5-10% of each story because of lousy sound, & it became very frustrating. Studio recordings with multiple cast members don't have to be this poor, and it does deep injustice to the excellent writing and reading-acting

Boting

Same old archaic story that is not a tribute to Sir Arthur. Perhaps I am unfairly comparing these actors to the Nigel Hawthorn videos? A disappointment purchase. Not worthy of the canon that exists in my mind.

brilliant new adventures

BEWARE!!! Chapter 12 is actually part 2 of a two parter and should be listened to after Chapter 16!

A Magnificent Achievement!

I have loved the 56 short stories and 4 novels that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, and have always been dismissive of any attempts by third parties to ‘appropriate’ Holmes and Watson. I wanted to object, but I couldn’t: Bert Coules has excelled himself with these dramatisations. And with the brilliant Clive Merrison and the excellent Andrew Sachs (who faces the unenviable task of replacing the irreplaceable Michael Williams) they follow seamlessly from the originals. It was impossible not to give them 5 stars. Just be sure to listen to Track 16 before Track 13. You won’t be disappointed! And, please, can we have some more?

Hard work

I struggled to listen to Sachs Watson after Michael Williams brilliant portrayal. Absolutely no chemistry between Holmes and Watson here, such a shame.

Excellent but

I thought these are quite the best pastiches around. So why only 2stars over all? Because unless I haven’t been paying attention properly you but lots of stories but the last story is a cliff hanger - where is part 2. (edit - I gather I heard it - earlier in the recording, thanks to another reviewer - ok I was wrong, but wouldn't it make more sense to put part 2 after part 1....)

Superb telling of new tales!

I was not aware of these on te radio and so it has been a delight to discover the entire Sherlock series directed by Bert Coules. This collection is actually a newly written series of stories based supposedly on ones mentioned in other original Holmes short stories. They are very cldver and would do credit to the Conan Doyle. They also give Bert Coules the opportunity to expand the characters and relationship behtween Holmes and Watson - and this adds humour and wit, with particularly apposite asides by Watson. PLEASE write more!

Some Truly Glorious Sherlock!

The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes: A BBC Radio 4 series by Bert Coules

Ah yes 221B Baker Street. It has been home to many a mystery in its time: The case of Silver Blaze, The Five Orange Pips, The Adventure Of The Dancing Men and The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons just to name a few from Doctor Watson’s illustrious archives. But there are many more of which the general public remains unaware. Perhaps the principals were men and women of high import to the standing of society, perhaps Watson simply never put pen to foolscap or perhaps Holmes forbade him to tell the tale? Whatever the reason some of the tales have now been told through the writing of Mr Bert Coules.

Mr Bert Coules is a well-known name in radio dramatisation, having worked on many projects ranging from dramatisations of the Rebus novel Resurrection Men, the Brother Cadfael series and The Guns of Navarone to what he is most known for and what is most pertinent to this article: The complete Sherlock Holmes canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. As a matter of fact Merrison is the first actor to have played Holmes in every story written by Doyle on radio. Sadly Mr Williams passed away in 2001 shortly after the release of the adaptation of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. However it was eventually decided to produce some original Holmes stories for Radio 4. Coules wasn’t quite finished with the detective.

The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes is a 16 part series of audio dramas - split across four volumes when released physically (A note to readers: Volumes 3 and 4 seem inordinately difficult to obtain compared to Volumes 1 and 2) with Clive Merrison returning to the role of Holmes and Andrew Sachs as Watson produced in 2002, 2004, 2008/9 and 2010 respectively. Each story in the further adventures is based on a reference made by Watson in the original Conan Doyle stories. These references are expertly woven into a tale all their own. Be it the return of the famous cat burglar The Ghost after years of retirement, Lady Addleton who hired Holmes’s services to save the family name, one of those rare cases of Holmes’s early career of which we know or the only two-part tale in the series involving the lighthouse, the politician and the trained cormorant.

The writing is very well done with a clear effort made to keep the stories in the same spirit as the originals. If you didn’t know better I could easily imagine these stories being woven in seamlessly between the Conan Doyle originals without any obvious clues they had been written by someone else. The Abergavenny Murder and The Star Of The Adelphi are personal favourites and I will congratulate Mr Coules on achieving his goal so successfully. It genuinely does make me smile sometimes and tickle that part of my mind that loves a good mystery story.

The performances are especially notable with Merrison and Sachs - Manuel from Fawlty Towers - throwing their all into it. You truly get the sense they are really enjoying themselves. There have been many performers playing the consulting detective and his chronicler over the years but these performances should be up there with the best. The guest cast is also varied and their performances are very entertaining. Examples include Stephen Thorne as Inspector Lestrade, Tom Baker - He of the scarf - as a rather jovial influence on Holmes’s early career and Hugh Bonneville as noted stage performer Frederick Merridew. You never know who is going to appear next and I often find myself lost in the stories and wanting to rush to the next when they end! If that isn’t an endorsement of both the writing and the casts I don’t know what is!

In conclusion I highly recommend this series. The complete run is available on Audible digitally and for the curious Volume 2 on CD and the download version both come with an interview with Bert Coules about the series. Some of my readers may be sticklers for the Doyle originals and nothing else but I feel if anything was to come close in spirit and intention to the originals it would be this series. The mysteries are definitely worthwhile and more than a few have surprises all their own. I hope I can persuade some of you to join me in giving them a listen. My next article will be the - long delayed due to Halloween and Holmes - promised review of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett.

Sayonara!

Nephrite

very good.

This series was a great continuation of the original stories. I love Clive Merrison as Holmes and Andrew Sachs makes a fine replacement for the late great Michael Wiliams.

Great read

Not wanting to leave a review, this is my way to escape this loonacy now

Delightful extension of the radio series

Clive Merrison IS Sherlock Holmes!

Bert Coules’ excellent adaptations of all the original stories gave him a perfect understanding of what makes them work. Having absorbed the technique, he was uniquely positioned to write a handful of stories based on oblique references within the original text.

Fantastic!

I've not even finshed the audio book, I'm about to start the 9th story but felt compelled to rate the book just on the strength of what I've heard so far! Even if the rest of the stories are just "Meh" as my wife would say I consider my money well spent! I've not heard the BBC audio plays that are so highly rated where Clive Merrison played Sherlock Holmes but his performance here is exceptional and I'm chomping at the bit to hear them. all of the actors are great and for me Andrew Sach''s Watson is a revelation, especially as I've only ever seen him as his character in Faulty Tower's.
The great Tom Baker is featured here too in one of my favourite stories thus far but all the features cast are excellent. well worth a listen.

I'm going to continue listening ( so looking forward to the rest) and may edit this review with I expect further praise.