I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Episode 334: Remembering David Burke

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends” [FINA] </h4><h4 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNY05gKMVo-Z6g_jIX-OaGxwa-kjtwfTYoY9ncfol8hrWuQLq9iv8d2KqiP_PnWfgTlSIVIJcMU9qEdO0vE-zGhCPYeOS4qF_LGgvATmj29v46eh21V5H66nmzNr55JOWDFpzVH4NCbKtq8yzgrJ-7POUIF0z5pGn8l9ASvOT5tURYYBxZbvhiJiPeG-d/s1442/ihearofsherlock334-header.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1442" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNY05gKMVo-Z6g_jIX-OaGxwa-kjtwfTYoY9ncfol8hrWuQLq9iv8d2KqiP_PnWfgTlSIVIJcMU9qEdO0vE-zGhCPYeOS4qF_LGgvATmj29v46eh21V5H66nmzNr55JOWDFpzVH4NCbKtq8yzgrJ-7POUIF0z5pGn8l9ASvOT5tURYYBxZbvhiJiPeG-d/w640-h480/ihearofsherlock334-header.png" width="640" /></a></h4><div><div>This special emergency episode of <i>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</i> serves as a tribute to actor David Burke, the first performer to play Dr. Watson in the Granada television series, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 91.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Burt is away, but Scott is joined by Gus and Luke Holwerda, co-hosts and creators of <b><i>The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast</i></b>. Ironically, we had recorded a regular episode with Gus and Luke earlier this week, but upon the news of David's passing, we pre-empted that show.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Gus and Luke share their personal reminiscences about David, stemming from their visit to David's home, revealing how nervous he was at that meeting. We analyze Burke's unique portrayal, highlighting the many deeply human qualities he brought to the role in the 13 episodes in which he starred with Jeremy Brett, laying the groundwork for a well-rounded, three-dimensional Watson</div><div><br /></div><div>And we share and comment on a number of clips from those episodes. Listen to hear if a favorite scene of yours comes up and if you name the episodes from which they're drawn before we do.</div></div><div><br /></div><p>As a reminder, our <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">supporters</a> can listen to the show ad-free and have access to occasional bonus material. Join us on the platform of your choice (<a href="https://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Patreon</a> | <a href="https://ihearofsherlock.substack.com" target="_blank">Substack</a>).</p><p>And if you need some show swag or gift ideas, or if you want to show off your good taste to other Sherlockians, check out our <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/merchandise" target="_blank">Merch Store</a>, with mugs, notepads and more.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Merriweather; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock334.mp3" style="color: #013fd3; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 57.2 MB, 57:26</h3><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-classification="other" data-dashlane-frameid="2217" data-dashlane-rid="76b30297ac2dccb6" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/41305395/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/414851/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes/font-color/FFFFFF" style="border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Merriweather; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">Leave I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere a five-star rating on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-hear-of-sherlock-everywhere/id258126625?ls=1" style="color: #013fd3; text-decoration-line: none;">Apple Podcasts</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/30WtRn1mnXfAtX7YaeRY5Y" style="color: #013fd3; text-decoration-line: none;">Spotify</a>; listen to us <a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock" style="color: #013fd3; text-decoration-line: none;">wherever you listen to podcasts</a>.</h3><h2><br /></h2><h2>Links</h2><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2026/05/david-burke-first-watson-of-granada-era.html" target="_blank">David Burke, the First Watson of the Granada Era, Passes at 91</a></li><li><a href="https://sherlockpodcast.com" target="_blank"><i>The Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast</i></a></li><ul><li>David Burke: A Sherlockian Conversation <span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;">(</span><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-burke-a-sherlockian-conversation/id1449254170?i=1000580031352" style="background-color: white; color: #013fd3; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">iTunes</a><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"> | </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ynDvkh8mU" style="background-color: white; color: #013fd3; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">YouTube</a><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;">)</span></li><li><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;">England 2022 Trip Report: David Burke, Granada Filming Locations and more! (<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/england-2022-trip-report-david-burke-granada-filming/id1449254170?i=1000581641634" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="color: #013fd3; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">iTunes </a>| <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2dlzAeZx5M" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="color: #013fd3; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">YouTube</a>) </span></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=VwiWtZBj6tO4YtEJ&v=GPQiWcEJJEg&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">BRETTCON Video Greetings: Stephen Fry, Colin Jeavons, David Burke</a> (YouTube)</li></ul><li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/merchandise" target="_blank">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere / Trifles Merch Store</a></li></ul><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29cSHabGIObH4IdQeGyx88PTNcrOeD1J3l8-pjNYrpKNS5DLNjRjSVWxJzYbEhJGSvRPxOa9hIwgz4QYUYM-e4vALe1Tx2Je3pl8KQh6g_rueo9E8pd7SossrtPayueShhgt9Hd_JUqsj3yqVN7VUKghho7s3n51MIBgCKCsf_FAe34zDSNstKSge7Off/s590/IHOSE%20Mug%202%20closeup.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="590" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29cSHabGIObH4IdQeGyx88PTNcrOeD1J3l8-pjNYrpKNS5DLNjRjSVWxJzYbEhJGSvRPxOa9hIwgz4QYUYM-e4vALe1Tx2Je3pl8KQh6g_rueo9E8pd7SossrtPayueShhgt9Hd_JUqsj3yqVN7VUKghho7s3n51MIBgCKCsf_FAe34zDSNstKSge7Off/w200-h200/IHOSE%20Mug%202%20closeup.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjif67emMEZTIJ0oOOOia1YWy-moeQpeIw00bsbuzhNZovbSSppBx05SmmLRe4_PaHc-glGFGx_w2o1a7uafYZT-6n7iEep6dJdkNTrcIWXW29Whwd6WrrzrpuE-rcRZED2WbBzPHXel946i-FPAg2mqW2oF7vt9TPW1vuWHntG1NVSqgYXE3JWKZSB3jH3/s768/Notepad%20-%20IHOSE.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjif67emMEZTIJ0oOOOia1YWy-moeQpeIw00bsbuzhNZovbSSppBx05SmmLRe4_PaHc-glGFGx_w2o1a7uafYZT-6n7iEep6dJdkNTrcIWXW29Whwd6WrrzrpuE-rcRZED2WbBzPHXel946i-FPAg2mqW2oF7vt9TPW1vuWHntG1NVSqgYXE3JWKZSB3jH3/w200-h200/Notepad%20-%20IHOSE.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/sherlock-holmes-gifts.html" target="_blank">Explore more here</a>.</h4><p>Find all of our relevant links and social accounts at <a href="http://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock">linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>And would you consider leaving us a rating and or a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods? It would help other Sherlockians find us.</p><p>Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.</p><div><br /></div><br /><br />

Episode 334: Remembering David Burke

“I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends” [FINA] This special emergency episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere se...

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by Scott Monty

David Burke, the First Watson of the Granada Era, Passes at 91

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask” [3GAR] </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NAAXhc5uEhctm7SQKwCJ-Qp_Vz5rSToma0b-UV1Psu0oglIOwNwk9cbXm8j4VrzI25k6SL9bhH0SZeFf6fEpjn1n8L_dbEpDa2sgKhFD70uJJ0BwWM-VRolzgvX8YAuIqsl_53gr254RJ9XOtNiadngXGeyuIT2TRMcH1IUDLgUzDcIFYxVRe-3u7PvE/s620/jeremy-brett-david-burke.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="620" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NAAXhc5uEhctm7SQKwCJ-Qp_Vz5rSToma0b-UV1Psu0oglIOwNwk9cbXm8j4VrzI25k6SL9bhH0SZeFf6fEpjn1n8L_dbEpDa2sgKhFD70uJJ0BwWM-VRolzgvX8YAuIqsl_53gr254RJ9XOtNiadngXGeyuIT2TRMcH1IUDLgUzDcIFYxVRe-3u7PvE/w640-h480/jeremy-brett-david-burke.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div><br></div>There are actors who play Dr. Watson, and there are actors who <em>understand</em> him. David Burke — who originated the role of John H. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett in Granada Television’s <em>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</em> — was one of the rarest of the latter. We have learned that he passed away in recent days, as confirmed by his family.<div><br></div><div>In the 13 episodes he gave us between 1984 and 1985, he did not so much inhabit the good doctor as quietly rescue him from forty years of cinematic condescension. For a generation of viewers raised on Nigel Bruce’s harrumphing, hand-wringing Watson — lovable, certainly, but irredeemably the butt of the joke and <i>Boobus Britannicus</i> in the flesh — Burke’s arrival was nothing short of a corrective. <p>Here, at last, was the Watson Conan Doyle had actually written: an Army surgeon who had seen Maiwand, a man of action who carried his service revolver and knew how to use it, a physician of professional competence, and — perhaps most importantly — an intelligent, observant, fully grown human being whom Sherlock Holmes would actually have chosen as his friend.</p><p><br></p><span></span></div>

David Burke, the First Watson of the Granada Era, Passes at 91

“the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask” [3GAR] There are actors who play Dr. Watson, and there are actors who under...

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by Scott Monty

Remembering Michael Pennington

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“give my little impersonations your kindly praise” [MAZA] </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eJ439WQ6refZb8O8A_Ug_9vjTUPHWDpZ5mSFiZuYlxay1BIpBwbK6WRqxjJHvuANfzkGWuf6Rf7Cn4LFHG9b-rc738xKdp-GmqmSFu8_h210Fg_tjq0px26L7iKyFkpp3aRGcMbI2pLRoGxLiVC7KlEI1K9QiJ4DwZilsax0J1VQFmcITeXy37JqU79p/s982/Michael%20Pennington%20-%201987%20Return.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="982" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2eJ439WQ6refZb8O8A_Ug_9vjTUPHWDpZ5mSFiZuYlxay1BIpBwbK6WRqxjJHvuANfzkGWuf6Rf7Cn4LFHG9b-rc738xKdp-GmqmSFu8_h210Fg_tjq0px26L7iKyFkpp3aRGcMbI2pLRoGxLiVC7KlEI1K9QiJ4DwZilsax0J1VQFmcITeXy37JqU79p/w640-h478/Michael%20Pennington%20-%201987%20Return.png" width="640"></a></div><br><div>Even though Sherlock Holmes holds the record as the literary figure most portrayed on film, it is shocking when we lose an actor who has played the role. The death of Michael Pennington (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0672190/?ref_=mv_close" target="_blank">IMDb</a>) at the age of 82, announced this weekend, takes one such impersonator from us. </div><div><br></div><div>His <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/05/10/michael-pennington-english-shakespeare-company-old-vic/" target="_blank">obituary in <i>The Telegraph</i></a> notes he was “acclaimed for its intelligence and flawless diction”, which one would hope from the founder (with Michael Bogdanov) of the English Shakespeare Company, the author of ten books on his craft, and over a half-century of stage work that any actor would envy. </div><div><br></div><div>But Sherlockians recall Pennington for a more particular distinction. In the span of six years, he played both halves of the most legendary archrivalry in literature: Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. Few actors have stood on both sides of the abyss at Reichenbach. Fewer still have done so with his pedigree.</div><div><br></div><h2>The 80s Sherlock Holmes Renaissance</h2><h4>“and in 1887” [TWIS]</h4><div>To understand how Pennington landed in Baker Street at all, you have to understand the strange weather of the 1980s. Sherlock Holmes had never quite gone away (he never does), but the decade brought an extraordinary convergence. The Holmes stories had passed into the public domain in Britain in 1980, fifty years after Conan Doyle’s death, and a pair of producers, Sy Weintraub and Otto Plaschkes, seized on the opportunity, signing <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/02/much-shocked-by-death-houn_9.html" target="_blank">Ian Richardson</a> for a planned six-film series. Only two were filmed before Granada’s rival production scared the rest off the field — <i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/4ppUrus" rel="nofollow" style="color: #013fd3; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Sign of Four</a></i><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/48hJF3b" rel="nofollow" style="color: #484848; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a></i>, both in 1983 — but Richardson’s urbane, mischievous Holmes set a high bar for the decade.</div><div><br></div><div>That rival was, of course, the production at Granada Television in Manchester, where <b>Jeremy Brett</b> began in 1984 what would become the most exhaustive and, for many of us, the definitive screen treatment of the Canon. Brett’s Holmes was a force of nature — sharp, mercurial, and pitched at a key the role had never quite been pitched at before. By 1986, the Granada series was hitting its stride with its own <i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</i> season, the very title resonating with the centenary that loomed.</div><div><br></div><div>For 1887 was the year Sherlock Holmes first appeared print, in <i>Beeton’s Christmas Annual</i>, in a story called <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>. The hundredth anniversary did not pass unnoticed: scion societies held celebrations, publishers commissioned new editions, the BBC and broadcasters worldwide commemorated, and producers on both sides of the Atlantic angled for a piece of the moment. It was into this fizzing centenary year that an American TV movie called <i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</i> (with a sly nod toward both the centenary and the Granada series) arrived on CBS, on January 10, 1987.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><h2>A Holmes Out of Time</h2><h4>“The date being—?” [CREE]</h4><div>The premise was the stuff that gives more traditional Sherlockians hives. A Boston private investigator, Jane Watson (played by <b>Margaret Colin</b>), great-granddaughter of the good doctor, discovers in her ancestral estate a cryogenic capsule containing one Sherlock Holmes — placed there in suspended animation after an attempt on his life by a previously unsuspected brother of Professor Moriarty, who had infected him with bubonic plague. Thawed, cured, and dragged into the late twentieth century, Holmes is hauled off to America to help Jane with a case that draws (loosely) on <i>The Sign of Four</i>: a man named Small, a woman named Morstan, and a long line of grudges.</div><div><br></div><div>It is, frankly, a weak premise. It was also a backdoor pilot for a series that never came. The script is uneven, the science is silly, and the second-act tour of suburban America with Holmes marveling at copy machines is exactly what you fear it might be. </div><div><br></div><div>And yet Pennington plays Holmes straight: alert, courtly, baffled but never broken, allowing the comedy to come from the world’s strangeness rather than from any softening of the man. His Holmes is tall, ascetic, slightly melancholy, and uncannily watchful. He looks, in fact, the way Holmes is supposed to look. </div><div><br></div><div>Reviews at the time were mixed (the <i>New York Times</i> harrumphed about a “felonious assault on the memory of Arthur Conan Doyle’s great detective”), but the IMDb reviews speak for themselves: more than one of them notes regret that the proposed series was never picked up. The chemistry with Colin worked, and the picture has a small but real cult following.</div><div><br></div><div>For those who haven’t seen it, or who’d like to revisit:</div><div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="451" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gfCotr7KQts" width="542" youtube-src-id="gfCotr7KQts"></iframe></div><br><div style="text-align: center;"><br></div><div><br></div><h2>From Holmes to the Napoleon of Crime</h2><div><h4>“I could not but think what a terrible criminal he would have made” [SIGN]</h4></div><div>The TV movie wasn’t Pennington’s only contribution to the Sherlockian entertainment world, though. In November 1992, BBC Radio 4 broadcast its long-running, faithful, story-by-story dramatization of the Canon with <b>Clive Merrison</b> as Holmes and <b>Michael Williams</b> as Watson, an ensemble that would in time produce the first complete radio adaptation of all sixty stories in the Canon.</div><div><br></div><div>The story that month was “The Final Problem,” and for the role of <b>Professor James Moriarty</b>, the producers cast Michael Pennington. He returned to the part for “The Adventure of the Empty House,” broadcast in February 1993.</div><div><br></div><h3><span></span></h3>

Remembering Michael Pennington

“give my little impersonations your kindly praise” [MAZA] Even though Sherlock Holmes holds the record as the literary figure most portraye...

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by Scott Monty

The Great Hiatus Reimagined: A New Sherlock Holmes Series Coming in 2027

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“Three years had certainly not smoothed the asperities of his temper” [EMPT]</h4><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4Bt3Jfx1Ppw-9idaSl1xyXfTUzzTIuRG_VbgEwJlhTPBuLDlo7o8zKwTko1J_6Dwn7sz3f-fbCWOMVp6iiIeUiYMLyajsmko1MMnYkTe6H15U3TC1No6dfT2bDOsMsh_LrUW4Rj3SxiV7DOatj5ByIHq7Aab1n5p5ZTEyWqYwwDT5r0r8n5ku9gR7vrpE" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1620" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4Bt3Jfx1Ppw-9idaSl1xyXfTUzzTIuRG_VbgEwJlhTPBuLDlo7o8zKwTko1J_6Dwn7sz3f-fbCWOMVp6iiIeUiYMLyajsmko1MMnYkTe6H15U3TC1No6dfT2bDOsMsh_LrUW4Rj3SxiV7DOatj5ByIHq7Aab1n5p5ZTEyWqYwwDT5r0r8n5ku9gR7vrpE=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rafe Spall and Deleila Piasko (Sky)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Of all the periods in the Canon that have tantalized Sherlockians, there are two that consistently are intriguing, the first of which is Sherlock Holmes's formative years. The now-classic film <i>Young Sherlock Holmes</i> and the more recent series <i>Young Sherlock</i> have taken on this period with gusto.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other period is the Great Hiatus — those mysterious years between Holmes's plunge over the Reichenbach Falls on May 4, 1891, and his startling reappearance in Watson's consulting room in the spring of 1894. Conan Doyle gave us only the briefest sketch of Holmes's wanderings to Tibet, Persia, Mecca, and Khartoum. The rest has been left to our imaginations — and has proven to be fertile ground for scholars, pasticheurs, and screenwriters alike.</div>
<p>The latest entry in this venerable tradition comes from a Swiss-German-Belgian co-production titled <em><strong>The Death of Sherlock Holmes</strong></em> (working title), which began filming this spring and is slated for a 2027 premiere.</p><p><br /></p>
<h2>A Cast and Crew of Note</h2>
<h4><span style="text-align: center;">“</span>extends over many nations<span style="text-align: center;">”</span> [SIGN]</h4>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1245863/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_Rafe%20Spall" target="_blank">Rafe Spall</a> (<em>Under Salt Marsh</em>, <em>Trying</em>) takes up the deerstalker — or whatever passes for one in his amnesiac state — alongside <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1760420/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_1_in_0_q_Deleila%20Piasko" target="_blank">Deleila Piasko</a> (<em>The Exposure</em>, <em>Transatlantic</em>). </p><p>The series is the brainchild of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3388080/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_1_in_0_q_Claudia%20Bluemhuber" target="_blank">Claudia Bluemhuber</a> (<em>Fallen, Robin and the Hoods</em>), <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1825205/?ref_=fn_t_1" target="_blank">André Küttel</a> (<em>Needle Park Baby, </em><i>Die Beschatter</i>), and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1301190/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_5_in_0_q_Pierre%20Monnard">Pierre Monnard</a> (<em>Needle Park Baby, </em><em>Winter Palace</em>), with Küttel and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22875000/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_cdt_t_3" target="_blank">Simone Schmid</a> (<em>Die Beschatter</em>) handling the scripts. Monnard and Bluemhuber share directing duties.</p>
<p>Producer Silver Reel, fresh off a 2025 International Emmy win for the YA series <em>Fallen</em>, is steering the project alongside Sky Switzerland, SRF, ARD Degeto, and Umedia. Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution, while Sky has acquired exclusive U.K. and Ireland broadcast rights.</p><p><a href="https://www.srf.ch/kultur/film-serien/drehstart-in-kuerze-srf-koproduziert-eine-neue-sherlock-holmes-serie" target="_blank">According to SRF</a>, filming will take place in Switzerland, South Tyrol, and Bavaria.</p><p><br /></p>
<h2>What Happened After Reichenbach?</h2>
<h4><span style="text-align: center;">“</span>It was, indeed, a fearful place<span style="text-align: center;">”</span> [FINA]</h4>
<p>Here is where the premise gets interesting for those of us who have spent considerable time pondering the Hiatus. Set against what the producers describe as the "majestic and merciless" Swiss Alps, the story opens with an Englishman pulled barely alive from an icy mountain stream by a local woman named Alma and her young son Franz. When the village doctor turns up murdered, suspicion falls on the boy — leaving the amnesiac stranger as his only ally.</p>
<p>The man remembers nothing of his past. But flashes of razor-sharp deduction begin to surface, betraying a hidden history. As fragments of memory return, he must reckon with a question that no Sherlockian will find suspenseful in the slightest, but which our hero apparently must work out for himself: who is he, really? </p><p>What begins as an isolated Alpine mystery widens into a far-reaching conspiracy, inching him toward the legendary name he may once have borne. It is, in essence, the Great Hiatus told as a memory-loss thriller, with the Holmes compelled to deduce his own identity.</p><p><br /></p>
<h2>A Crowded Field and a Welcome Addition</h2>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">“So many have said so, and yet here I am” [THOR]</h4>
<p>SRF notes that there are more than 250 Sherlock Holmes screen productions — making him <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/5/sherlock-holmes-awarded-title-for-most-portrayed-literary-human-character-in-film-tv-41743" target="_blank">the most-portrayed literary character in cinema history</a>. Adding another television series to that already groaning shelf might seem redundant, particularly at this time, but the Hiatus has always been fertile ground precisely because Conan Doyle left it so sparsely filled in. </p><p>From Nicholas Meyer's <em>The Seven-Per-Cent Solution</em> to Caleb Carr's <em>The Italian Secretary</em> and Anthony Horowitz's <em>The House of Silk</em>, writers have repeatedly returned to the question of where Holmes went and what he did.</p>
<p>What sets this production apart is its geography. Filming in the very Alps where Conan Doyle dispatched his hero — and where Sherlockians have made annual pilgrimages to Meiringen and the Reichenbach Falls for decades (the most recent by the <a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock/episode/NmU4ZjQ1MjktMTNlZS00N2Y2LThmMzYtMmU5MDMwN2FmZjdm" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes Society of London having just concluded</a>) — promises an authenticity of setting that no soundstage can replicate. </p><p>Whether the storytelling rises to the level of the locations, we shall have to wait until 2027 to discover.</p>
<p>For now, we will be following with great interest. As Holmes himself observed upon his return:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<strong style="font-style: italic;">My dear Watson, I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected.</strong>”</p><p> </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We trust you will be affected by this latest addition to the canon of the Sherlockian screen.</p>
<p><br /></p>

The Great Hiatus Reimagined: A New Sherlock Holmes Series Coming in 2027

“Three years had certainly not smoothed the asperities of his temper” [EMPT] Rafe Spall and Deleila Piasko (Sky) Of all the periods in the C...

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by Scott Monty

What May 4 Means for Sherlock Holmes Fans

<h4 style="text-align: center;"> <strong style="text-align: center;">“It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen” [FINA]</strong></h4><h4 style="text-align: center;"><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset" style="display: inline !important;"><picture><img alt="May the 4th be with you (Victorian style)" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":327,"width":500,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"May the 4th be with you (Victorian style)","title":"May 4, 1891","type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" height="327" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg 1456w" title="May 4, 1891" width="500" /></picture></div></a></h4><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fK_C!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F21126d7d-1ecc-42be-bd3c-88e217c74c42_500x327.jpeg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Find yourself anywhere online today and you’ll come across the phrase or hashtag “May the Fourth be with you.” But it’s not a date recognized only by fans of Star Wars.</p><p>For anyone who has read “The Final Problem,” the date of May 4 is less celebratory than melancholy, as that’s the short story in which Sherlock Holmes confronts his archenemy <strong>Professor Moriarty</strong> (who we’ve inexplicably never heard of up until this point in the Canon) and both of them tumble off the cliff into the Reichenbach Falls. </p><p><br /></p><h1 data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Sherlockian Road Trip</h1><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“come away with me for a week to the Continent.”</em></strong></h4></div><p>As you may recall, after Holmes appeared in Watson’s consulting-room and recounted his interaction with Moriarty, the two fled to the Continent, eventually landing in Switzerland:</p><blockquote><strong style="text-align: center;"><em>“</em></strong><strong><em>It was upon the 3rd of May that we reached the little village of detour, where we put up at the Englischer Hof, then kept by Peter Steiler the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent man, and spoke excellent English, having served for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice, upon the afternoon of the 4th we set off together with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of Rosenlaui. We had strict injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which are about half-way up the hill, without making a small detour to see them.</em></strong><b><i>”</i></b></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>It was here that Conan Doyle chose the final resting place for Sherlock Holmes - a rest that was intended to be eternal but that we now know lasted nearly a decade. The description of the Reichenbach Falls is a fitting one for the epic struggle of good versus evil that took place later in the story:</p><blockquote><strong style="text-align: center;"><em>“</em></strong><strong><em>It is, indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening, coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray hissing forever upwards, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamour. We stood near the edge peering down at the gleam of the breaking water far below us against the black rocks, and listening to the half-human shout which came booming up with the spray out of the abyss.</em></strong><strong style="text-align: center;"><em>”</em></strong></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h1>Watson Gets Fooled</h1><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“In a tingle of fear I was already running down the village street”</em></strong></h4></div><p>And after Watson was lured back to the Englischer Hof with the story of a patient in need (good old Watson!), he returned to the falls to find a note from Sherlock Holmes along with his alpenstock and silver cigarette case. He was led to conclude that that inevitable happened:</p><blockquote><strong style="text-align: center;"><em>“</em></strong><strong><em>An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to end in such a situation, in their reeling over, locked in each other’s arms. Any attempt at recovering the bodies was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion of the law of their generation.</em></strong><strong style="text-align: center;"><em>”</em></strong></blockquote><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":640,"width":437,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" height="640" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 1456w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="437" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;">Sidney Paget’s frontispiece for the story in the </span><em style="text-align: left;">Strand</em><span style="text-align: left;">, which is a major spoiler</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="image2-inset" style="text-align: center;"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sVj5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc38e659d-d652-420d-8b55-af06b7ad01ad_437x640.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source></picture><div></div></div><figcaption class="image-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><p>But aside from the colorful descriptions of both the setting and the action, this story above many others shows Watson’s emotional side. Over the course of two short years, readers had gotten to know Holmes and Watson through 12 stories that made up <strong><em>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</em></strong> and 11 stories that comprised <strong><em>The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes</em></strong> (as well as the previously published <strong><em>A Study in Scarlet</em></strong><em> </em>and <strong><em>The Sign of Four</em></strong>). That’s less than half of what would eventually become the entire Canon of 60 stories — stories that would be published over the course of the following 35 or so years.</p><p>For Watson as well as for the readers, that’s an intense run of stories — tales that fill us with wonder as we’ve been learning about the habits, eccentricities, limits and capabilities of the most intriguing detective that the world has ever known. </p><p>Is it any wonder then that his sudden and tragic loss affected us so deeply?<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png" target="_blank"></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Watson realizing what happened to Holmes" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":291,"width":400,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Watson realizing what happened to Holmes","title":"Dr. Watson, realizing the outcome at the Reichenbach Falls","type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" height="291" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png 1456w" title="Dr. Watson, realizing the outcome at the Reichenbach Falls" width="400" /></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GaMt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79b21ec4-015b-4ea7-a6ca-bd15e8ae12ae_400x291.png" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","action":null,"class":null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><br /></p><h1>Spoiler Alert </h1><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished.”</em></strong></h4></div><p>When a story opens with that kind of line, the reader has a sense of what they’re in for. We’ll never forget reading that line for the first time and feeling a little stab in the gut. The modern equivalent would be exclaiming, “Wait — <strong><em>what</em></strong>?”</p><p>Imagine Watson’s realization that this would be the case. He describes is first reaction: </p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“It was the sight of that alpenstock which turned me cold and sick...I stood for a minute or two to collect myself, for I was dazed with the horror of the thing.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Even Holmes understood how his untimely departure would affect his friend, writing in his farewell note,</p><p><strong></strong></p><blockquote><strong><em>“I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and especially, my dear Watson, to you.”</em></strong></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h1>The Public Reaction</h1><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“in the interests of the public”</em></strong></h4></div><p>The pain was palpable to readers at the time. There is an apocryphal legend that grown men in London wore black armbands in a demonstration of mourning. We have yet to see any definitive evidence of this occurrence (and the <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Baker Street Journal</em></strong></a><strong><em> </em></strong>once offered a bounty for anyone who could prove it). </p><p>But it rings true to the spirit of what happened at the time, which was an outpouring of grief over the loss of a literary character. Letters flowed to <em>The Strand Magazine </em>and to Arthur Conan Doyle himself, one even beginning <strong><em>“You brute!”</em></strong></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"><strong><em> </em></strong></pre></div><p>At least modern readers don’t have to wait eight years for Holmes to reappear in <em>The Hound of the Baskervilles </em>or ten years for the first of the stories that would make up <em>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</em>. Can you imagine what it must have been like to have to put Holmes to rest in one’s mind and to blindly wait to see if he would ever reappear?</p><p>We’re fortunate that the public outcry (and, let’s face it, a hefty payday) convinced Conan Doyle to take up his pen once more to provide us with such rich and wonderful stories to fill our desires, fuel our imagination and enrich our friendships. While May 4 may seem one for us to mourn, we’re fortunate that, as Watson observed upon Holmes’s return in “The Empty House,”</p><blockquote><p><strong><em>“once again Mr. Sherlock Holmes is free to devote his life to examining those interesting little problems which the complex life of London so plentifully presents.”</em></strong></p></blockquote><p> </p><br /><hr /><h1>May the Fourth Be With You</h1><div class="callout-block" data-callout="true"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><strong><em>“no braver man in the regiment” [BLAN]</em></strong></h4></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg" target="_blank"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes meets Star Wars" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":512,"width":683,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":"Sherlock Holmes meets Star Wars","title":"Sherlockian stormtrooper","type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" height="512" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 1456w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Sherlockian stormtrooper" width="683" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">Image credit: </em><a href="https://flic.kr/p/MUMbU" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><strong><em>bonniegrrl (Flickr)</em></strong></a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!D8j3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a5c390e-084a-4efb-9f0a-298c1889a742_683x512.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source></picture><div></div></div></a><br /></figure></div><p>One of the things that we enjoy about the Sherlock Holmes stories and those devotees who follow it, is the ability to weave in so many of life’s other interests. If you’ve got another hobby or passion, odds are you’ll find a way to incorporate it into your love of Sherlock Holmes.</p><p>Over the years, we’ve met Sherlockians who are also interested in horse racing, railroads, P.G. Wodehouse, pin collecting, the <em>Titanic</em>, antiques, handwriting analysis, coin and stamp collecting, woodworking, needlepoint, jewelry making, wine, pipe collecting, music, period firearms, Victorian attire — the list goes on and on. </p><p>Really, there’s no limit to the connections we can make between our interests, if we’re passionate enough about them.</p><p>So it was with little surprise — but with great amusement — that we looked at the above photo sent by <a href="http://www.cc-chapman.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>a colleague</strong></a> of the individual who is a Holmes Trooper.<br /><br />We couldn’t help but think:</p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“May the force be with you, old chap.”</em></strong></h3><div class="preformatted-block" data-component-name="PreformattedTextBlockToDOM"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h1>The Star Wars / Sherlock Holmes Connection(s)</h1><p>Star Wars<em> </em>and Sherlock Holmes. Hmm. There are seemingly endless possibilities</p><p>Well, if you consider that <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Peter%20Cushing%20Sherlock&tag=scottmonty-20&index=dvd&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Peter Cushing</strong></a><strong> </strong>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=Christopher%20Lee%20Sherlock&tag=scottmonty-20&index=dvd&amp;amp;linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Christopher Lee</strong></a> appeared in the George Lucas series — albeit Cushing never made it past the first film (in carbon form, at least) and Lee managed to do damage in the final trilogy — and are actors who have portrayed Sherlock Holmes, there’s your connection.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 1456w" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":482,"width":768,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null,"isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" height="482" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ss2u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7640aecb-5969-4816-a295-a93ff0b9d6c0_768x482.jpeg 1456w" width="768" /></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Of course, the more astute among you will remember that Lee also portrayed Sir Henry Baskerville in Hammer’s 1959 version of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000062XEY?ie=UTF8&tag=scottmonty-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000062XEY" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Hound of the Baskervilles</em></strong></a>. And he holds the distinction of being the only actor to portray Holmes <em>and </em>his stately brother Mycroft, whom he played in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JKHF?ie=UTF8&tag=scottmonty-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00005JKHF" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</em></strong></a>.<br /></p><h1><br /></h1><h1>Challenge</h1><p>Here’s an interesting challenge: can you go through the Star Wars universe and find connections between that cast and the Sherlock Holmes universe?</p><p>Drop a comment below.</p><p><br /></p><p>The game's afoot!</p><p> </p>

What May 4 Means for Sherlock Holmes Fans

“It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen” [FINA] Find yourself anywhere online today and you’ll come across the phrase or hashtag “...

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by Scott Monty

Baker Street Elementary – Yeah Right

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“listen to his not too delicate sarcasms” [SIGN]<span> </span></h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYqQ6M4W_2OgaSkXULImtA1SKKkYx6ZRZAHVryBtFiUdboKuf2gqqVHG9zXGkXQFxJg9XDuiPomu6y3NAbqwDDf4m_EMrQbJfOv11nAxI8jaKit5g4dmgMG14xh7Opl6U82kovIsJqOsZilWdaCUliMIo2lm6HAXdWBjrKX4IL-Kjzi6W9SzmUpRA0eE/s1365/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYqQ6M4W_2OgaSkXULImtA1SKKkYx6ZRZAHVryBtFiUdboKuf2gqqVHG9zXGkXQFxJg9XDuiPomu6y3NAbqwDDf4m_EMrQbJfOv11nAxI8jaKit5g4dmgMG14xh7Opl6U82kovIsJqOsZilWdaCUliMIo2lm6HAXdWBjrKX4IL-Kjzi6W9SzmUpRA0eE/w640-h360/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span><br /></span></div><div>Merriam-Webster defines sarcasm as:<br /><i><blockquote>the use of words that mean the opposite of what one intends to say especially in order to insult, to show irritation, or to be funny : a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on ironic and usually bitter and caustic language often directed against an individual.</blockquote></i></div><div>It is a form of humor that requires both intelligence and either a closeness with the individual on the receiving end — a relationship that will tolerate such barbs — or disdain. In the case of the disdainful, the victim may often not realize the intention as they smile and nod along.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given Sherlock Holmes's impatience with the official police, it is surprising there aren't more than two mentions of sarcasm in the Canon. What is not surprising is that both have to do with Scotland Yard. And both take place in the early days: the very first two Sherlock Holmes stories to be published.</div><div><br /></div><div>In <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, Holmes is dealing with inspectors Gregson and Lestrade. They're interested in his conclusions after examining the body of Enoch Drebber and the room in which he died. Watson tells us "There was a world of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke."</div><div><blockquote><div>“It would be robbing you of the credit of the case if I was to presume to help you,” remarked my friend. “You are doing so well now that it would be a pity for anyone to interfere.” </div></blockquote></div><div>We know Sherlock Holmes was none too impressed with Athelney Jones in <i>The Sign of Four</i>. As Holmes, Watson, and Mary Morstan arrived at Pondicherry Lodge to find a dead Sholto, Holmes remarked:</div><div><blockquote><div>“And I shall see what I can learn from Mrs. Bernstone, and from the Indian servant, who, Mr. Thaddeus tell me, sleeps in the next garret. Then I shall study the great Jones’s methods and listen to his not too delicate sarcasms. ‘<i>Wir sind gewohnt, daß die Menschen verh¨ohnen was sie nicht verstehen</i>.’ Goethe is always pithy.”</div></blockquote></div><div>While Jones wasn't present for this remark, the Goethe reference directly indicts his inability to understand Holmes' methods and conclusions, leading Jones to use sarcasm in an uninformed way. The Goethe quote is translated as ‘We are used to people belittling what they do not understand.’</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's see what kind of understanding is happening at Baker Street Elementary...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzL_dK51tm1vuiR6RAx0Xq4Z1UyjQjikwo-yIp_DBv_0B1bgwT24j1HTPh1zTHra4T5zqT9nqxCrrBBZxcyFlGjGZ8cHHdaUZlAi7IvOsyY6M9T6pUVvcwej6w_avp3GB74HXjSpp32-UkZIu0PIPMCGLm1gIWba6yXrebTtsRY0IftshBg8QvHSN5r00/s1365/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.2.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzL_dK51tm1vuiR6RAx0Xq4Z1UyjQjikwo-yIp_DBv_0B1bgwT24j1HTPh1zTHra4T5zqT9nqxCrrBBZxcyFlGjGZ8cHHdaUZlAi7IvOsyY6M9T6pUVvcwej6w_avp3GB74HXjSpp32-UkZIu0PIPMCGLm1gIWba6yXrebTtsRY0IftshBg8QvHSN5r00/w640-h360/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-r4PZRFIqpkYddd1LnABK7m-GnhkRGYRo-mkBqBdMHkoiVW3VoO169W4_xp96dMHYh2D-WXY225FQGV8GpYsAfunqLaYpj3eTqErTAvjPxcAMWkfUtvnvwA6JfKFIorxcZJL1JzyA6To0LdyMpZtNmJU7UkShJVdsYH9LrvYbn-Ufaov0yAAqjktufY/s1365/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-r4PZRFIqpkYddd1LnABK7m-GnhkRGYRo-mkBqBdMHkoiVW3VoO169W4_xp96dMHYh2D-WXY225FQGV8GpYsAfunqLaYpj3eTqErTAvjPxcAMWkfUtvnvwA6JfKFIorxcZJL1JzyA6To0LdyMpZtNmJU7UkShJVdsYH9LrvYbn-Ufaov0yAAqjktufY/w640-h360/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajsM41GtizXKgVrHTbt_RCO_ZzfeXU04jlItwmue2BMugfDbSyFHOIuZU_WggC-JqXB8aQX8xL0zTT6YC__nZQ3p56VrsDOqRxTkQT50WVEwp6eCeiIW5iwShqXme9BakR-6WJBN6hHEOQl8o8rETnT-Xbmnl-f4bWGvUVSlpYSCdk7fxNwx1cax1Lzc/s1365/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgajsM41GtizXKgVrHTbt_RCO_ZzfeXU04jlItwmue2BMugfDbSyFHOIuZU_WggC-JqXB8aQX8xL0zTT6YC__nZQ3p56VrsDOqRxTkQT50WVEwp6eCeiIW5iwShqXme9BakR-6WJBN6hHEOQl8o8rETnT-Xbmnl-f4bWGvUVSlpYSCdk7fxNwx1cax1Lzc/w640-h360/Baker%20Street%20Elementary%20226.4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and <a class="b-tooltip-container" data-preview="" href="https://www.google.com/search?ved=1t:260882&q=John+Watson+Sherlock+Holmes&bbid=6321981775136876837&bpid=3408911776569555507" target="_blank"><span class="b-tooltip" style="display: none;"><iframe src="/share-widget?w=poi&o=t&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fved%3D1t%3A260882%26q%3DJohn%2BWatson%2BSherlock%2BHolmes%26bbid%3D6321981775136876837%26bpid%3D3408911776569555507"></iframe></span>John Watson</a>, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in <a class="b-tooltip-container" data-preview="" href="https://www.google.com/search?ved=1t:260882&q=Victorian+London&bbid=6321981775136876837&bpid=3408911776569555507" target="_blank"><span class="b-tooltip" style="display: none;"><iframe src="/share-widget?w=poi&o=t&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fved%3D1t%3A260882%26q%3DVictorian%2BLondon%26bbid%3D6321981775136876837%26bpid%3D3408911776569555507"></iframe></span>Victorian London</a>. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at the <a href="https://www.dfw-sherlock.org/baker-street-elementary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Baker Street Elementary website</a></span><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">.</span></div><div><div><br /></div><div><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyHxoov2AdCNzI-sA382WHyzmCYKmU5vuVxxUUbwgmzd_zESpxNTWBoDo-0BOUVmZPf0EpIOXFT9y59il288HBvx1-_JJJXxHhZAn2orzWJPWbYZasKlLBplbQMHDaY9thgs_w1diI7ch/s1600/Baker+Street+Elementary.jpg" style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyHxoov2AdCNzI-sA382WHyzmCYKmU5vuVxxUUbwgmzd_zESpxNTWBoDo-0BOUVmZPf0EpIOXFT9y59il288HBvx1-_JJJXxHhZAn2orzWJPWbYZasKlLBplbQMHDaY9thgs_w1diI7ch/s640/Baker+Street+Elementary.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>