I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

"Where All Gossip is Welcome" [VALL] - May 2011

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMeFYaBiY1B-pW6S11qDWZTvXxsbMkogVb78yuOt7nnQBcsfk3lmq8oAXKkPhukKqWMkffMjPiB8-M8b8FTbbKBqseOv5H13_ynDYtK9ZY18Mdsk9n_bsjIrXa9MoEvZQdUe1qL89XsRV/s1600/blackpeter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMeFYaBiY1B-pW6S11qDWZTvXxsbMkogVb78yuOt7nnQBcsfk3lmq8oAXKkPhukKqWMkffMjPiB8-M8b8FTbbKBqseOv5H13_ynDYtK9ZY18Mdsk9n_bsjIrXa9MoEvZQdUe1qL89XsRV/s1600/blackpeter.jpg" /></a></div>This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlockian or Doylean gossip, published in print form since 1971 and as <a href="http://members.cox.net/sherlock1/scuttle.htm">a text-only digital archive on Sherlocktron</a> since 1985. In agreement with Peter Blau, we've arranged to publish facsimiles of the print newsletter here, so online readers can see what the newsletter looks like. Below the scan you can find links to the sites mentioned in the text - in most cases, directly to the article, video or publication, to save you from having to search for the terms. The following is the May 2011 issue; please feel free to share it via email, social network, or embed it on your own site. <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/56776319/Scuttlebutt-From-the-Spermaceti-Press-May-2011" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto; text-decoration: underline;" title="View Scuttlebutt From the Spermaceti Press May 2011 on Scribd">Scuttlebutt From the Spermaceti Press May 2011</a><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" data-aspect-ratio="0.772727272727273" data-auto-height="true" frameborder="0" height="600" id="doc_44436" scrolling="no" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/56776319/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-26molunsaf2mwvf7ixww" width="100%"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">(function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })(); </script> Links (in order of mention): <ul><li><a href="http://misterantony.com/">Mister Antony</a> (note there's no "h")</li><li><a href="http://www.adampartridge.co.uk/search.php?search=Bruce+Partington&submit=Search">Adam Partridge</a></li><li><a href="http://www.ukrainianbible.org/2009/05/how-sherlock-kept-me-out-of-the-gulag/">How Sherlock Kept Me Out of the Gulag - UkranianBible.com</a></li><li><a href="http://www.acdfriends.org/"> Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2011/05/it-is-bust-empt.html">Sherlockian Mythbusters (via the Baker Street Blog)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sherlocknews.com/2011/03/comic-moriarty-coming-in-may-2011-from.html">Image Comics' Moriarty series (via Sherlock Holmes News)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/5587">"When It's Circus Day Back Home" (via the Library of Congress)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.off-broadstreet.com/">Off-Broadstreet Theatre</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/spedegues-dropper-bloomsbury.htm">"The Story of Pedegue's Dropper" MS information</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetblog.com/2011/05/flickered-and-went-out-houn.html">Edward Hardwicke interview</a></li><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSAfF273-8k">Sheer-Luck Holmes (video also embedded below)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.donnaandrews.com/">Donna Andrews</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.malicedomestic.org/">Malice Domestic</a></li><li><a href="http://www.oscarwildemurdermysteries.com/">Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries</a></li><li><a href="http://vincentennial.com/">Vincentennial</a></li><li><a href="http://bsc.deutsche-sherlock-holmes-gesellschaft.de/">The Baker Street Chronicle</a></li><li><a href="http://www.goinbook.com/">InBOOK</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sherlockholmesadventures.ca/">Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers</a> and <a href="http://www.anthonydpmann.com/">Anthony D.P. Mann</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/australia-2011-beetons.htm">Beeton's 1887 Christmas Annual in Australia</a></li></ul> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSAfF273-8k">Sheer-Luck Holmes</a> <center><object height="349" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HSAfF273-8k?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HSAfF273-8k?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center> Please consider visiting our sponsors (in the right column and footer of the site) from time to time. It helps defray the costs associated with running this site. --

"Where All Gossip is Welcome" [VALL] - May 2011

This is the latest issue of Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, Peter Blau's ("Black Peter") monthly newsletter of Sherlock...

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by Scott Monty

Isaac Asimov's Connection to the Sherlockian World

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</div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"Cut out the poetry, Watson." [RETI]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpljkPQcPC2zmoFUM5Wqw5Mps5CMGsAfHHZ9Gst1JcbAc5gzREVIflGQ7jIRSpSWkBvD9-sJLEhQ4uw4Grh2zwfgGd8SNBdA3ijb7VoKsXN2Ef6jXBl0Tyi2F5X39UmaBlzaj3IZpBp8k/s1600/Asimov%2527s+Sherlockian+Limericks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1200" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpljkPQcPC2zmoFUM5Wqw5Mps5CMGsAfHHZ9Gst1JcbAc5gzREVIflGQ7jIRSpSWkBvD9-sJLEhQ4uw4Grh2zwfgGd8SNBdA3ijb7VoKsXN2Ef6jXBl0Tyi2F5X39UmaBlzaj3IZpBp8k/s640/Asimov%2527s+Sherlockian+Limericks.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Did you know Isaac Asimov was a member of the <a href="http://bakerstreetirregulars.com/" target="_blank">Baker Street Irregulars</a>? He received the investiture "The Remarkable Worm" in 1976 (as in "a matchbox in front of him which contained a remarkable worm, said to be unknown to science" [THOR]), in a nod to his profession. 
 
Isaac Asmiov was a prolific author who began his career as an associate professor of biochemistry at Boston University Medical School. After 1958, he made writing his full-time profession and became known for the <a href="https://amzn.to/35hb5lR" target="_blank">hundreds of science fiction works he created</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> from then until his death in 1992. Most notably are his <a href="https://amzn.to/2FfsYqE" target="_blank">Foundation</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0553382578" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> novels, <a href="https://amzn.to/37mm3rQ" target="_blank">I, Robot</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=055338256X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and some dozen history books including The Roman Republic<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0395065763" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and The Roman Empire<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0395065771" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. 
 
We were moved to write about Asimov because Glenn McDonald recently wrote a column on Pop Matters called "<a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/140101-sherlock-holmes-isaac-asimov-and-media-fasts/">How Sherlock Holmes and Isaac Asimov Can Help Purge your Social Media Addiction</a>." We won't give away the entire column, but McDonald mentioned how he recently acquired the complete collection of Basil Rathbone DVDs and how some of Asimov's titles have kept him off of Facebook and Twitter. 
 
Of most interest for us of course, is the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and Isaac Asimov. We already mentioned the BSI, but one of the relatively unknowns is a book of Sherlockian limericks that Asimov created, aptly titled <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZRqybq" target="_blank">Asimov's Sherlockian Limericks</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0892960396" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. The author was a notorious limerick collector (most of them were of the ribald variety), but these are family-friendly. He created sixty limericks, each one summarizing the story for which it was titled. See if you can pick which stories are represented below. 
 
<div style="text-align: left;">
C.A.M. is the worst man uncaged;</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Decent men who meet him are enraged.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
    He has blackmailing letters</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
    All involving his betters.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But what's this? Sherlock Holmes is engaged?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
 </div>
A bright tale of a dog and a horse 
(And there's also a murder, of course) 
    Which involves the odd fact 
    That the dog failed to act 
Which Holmes found of significant force 
 
Do you know which stories these recount? Leave us a comment! 
 
--

Isaac Asimov's Connection to the Sherlockian World

"Cut out the poetry, Watson." [RETI] Did you know Isaac Asimov was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars ? He received th...

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by Scott Monty

"Their System of Registration" [LADY]

Breaking news: registration for <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/html/g2b3.html">From Gillette to Brett III</a> is now open! This is the third installment of the quadrennial From Gillette to Brett conference that is produced by the <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a>, and it's taking place from November 11 - 13, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana. From the website: <blockquote>Devoted to Sherlock Holmes on stage, screen, television, and radio, From Gillette to Brett III will feature rare Sherlockian films, vendors, and an all-star roster of distinguished speakers, presenters, and events, including the 35th Anniversary Screening of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, hosted by Nicholas Meyer!</blockquote>The star-studded lineup of speakers is impressive and includes the following: <ul><li>Nicholas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case"), author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Cent-Solution-Reminiscences-Paperback/dp/0393311198?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Seven Per-Cent Solution</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393311198" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/West-End-Horror-Posthumous-Memoir/dp/0393311538?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D.</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393311538" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canary-Trainer-Memoirs-John-Watson/dp/0393312410?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0393312410" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> - not to mention his connection with the world of Star Trek.</li><li>Curtis Armstrong, BSI ("An Actor and a Rare One"), noted Sherlockian and actor from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Risky-Business-25th-Anniversary-Cruise/dp/B0018QPPXW?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Risky Business</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0018QPPXW" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ray-Widescreen-Jamie-Foxx/dp/B00005JND5?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Ray</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005JND5" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Nerds-Panty-Robert-Carradine/dp/B000M341QY?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Revenge of the Nerds</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000M341QY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moonlighting-Seasons-1-Cybill-Shepherd/dp/B0007XBMA2?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Moonlighting</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0007XBMA2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />" and more.</li><li>David Stuart Davies, BSI ("Sir Ralph Musgrave"), Holmesian and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Movies-Screen-Career-Sherlock/dp/0517232790?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0517232790" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bending-Willow-Jeremy-Stuart-Davies/dp/1899562184?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bending the Willow Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1899562184" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Starring-Sherlock-Holmes-Century-Detective/dp/1845765370?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Starring Sherlock Holmes: A Century of the Master Detective on Screen</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1845765370" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />.</li><li>Bert Coules, the lead writer for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Sherlock-Holmes-Radio-Collection/dp/0563525207?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0563525207" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> series with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams.</li><li>Tony Earnshaw, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Actor-Rare-One-Tony-Earnshaw/dp/0810838745?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">An Actor and a Rare One</a>.<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0810838745" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></li><li>Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange"), editor of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&search-alias=aps&field-keywords=The%20New%20Annotated%20Sherlock%20Holmes" target="_blank">The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/04/episode-32-untitled-les-klinger-sequel.html">consultant to the Warner Bros. "Sherlock Holmes" movie series</a>.</li><li>Kathryn White, BSI ("The Musgrave Ritual"), <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0810838745" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />author and Holmesian.</li></ul> See more for yourself on the latest trailer: <center><object height="349" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4CtQByJHbiU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4CtQByJHbiU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center> If any of this looks remotely interesting, get thee <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/html/g2b3.html">to the registration site</a> immediately! This event only happens every four years, and these are icons of the Sherlockian world with deep connections to the stage and screen. --

"Their System of Registration" [LADY]

Breaking news: registration for From Gillette to Brett III is now open! This is the third installment of the quadrennial From Gillette to B...

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by Scott Monty

The Story of Dr. Joseph Bell

<h4 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
"my great teacher" [CREE]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y-j_VEXope9odmDibvl89aD22ah5ngIDNQAoGNFWSN_g5PbjZQhty62GICBZWhORr1JA7xIFbjh2O6ajjRmfB7tMQ7GRRhGQY96dueVa-tSsdQwSt_brtBLVgdxIeMgLx2ArNv6B787U/s1600/Joseph_Bell._Photograph_by_A._Swan_Watson._Wellcome_V0026019+-+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y-j_VEXope9odmDibvl89aD22ah5ngIDNQAoGNFWSN_g5PbjZQhty62GICBZWhORr1JA7xIFbjh2O6ajjRmfB7tMQ7GRRhGQY96dueVa-tSsdQwSt_brtBLVgdxIeMgLx2ArNv6B787U/s640/Joseph_Bell._Photograph_by_A._Swan_Watson._Wellcome_V0026019+-+cropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Many Sherlockians are aware of how much influence <a href="http://www.siracd.com/work_bell.shtml">Joseph Bell</a> - one of Conan Doyle's medical teachers - had on the development on Holmes. In fact, it would be quite fascinating to postulate the kind of relationship that Bell & Doyle had, perhaps even as a precursor to the kind of relationship Doyle portrayed between Holmes and Watson.... 
 
Thankfully, a series of movies produced by the BBC a decade ago help redress that, and provide an entertaining slant on the Holmes/Watson Relationship. 
 
The series begins with 2000's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Beginnings-Sherlock-Holmes-Doyle/dp/B004ZEDJLY?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes - Dr. Bell & Mr. Doyle</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004ZEDJLY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, starring Robin Laing as Conan Doyle and Ian Richardson as Joseph Bell. Focusing on Doyle's experiences as a medical student, this is actually quite a gripping drama. There's a real-life twist in the plot (which is revealed by a caption at the end), but Ian Richardson takes a very strong Holmesian turn as Dr. Bell. (It doesn't hurt that he had portrayed Holmes some twenty years earlier). The script works because we are so familiar with the material (a consulting detective/his comrade in arms/that unique relationship with the police) that the premise seems all too familiar...and the twist that Bell/Doyle are showing their "influence" over Holmes and Watson doesn't seem forced or inevitable. 
 
One year later, Charles Edwards would take over the role of Doyle, and BBC made four Bell/Doyle movies under the umbrella title <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Rooms-Mysteries-Sherlock-Beginnings/dp/B0036BK6JU?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0036BK6JU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />. These four movies expand their relationship - we see Doyle's early life as a physician, but more importantly, we see a much greater fondness emerge between teacher and former student. Links to Holmes - and Doyle - are much more apparent in these films: "The Patient's Eyes" takes its central image from <a href="http://www.ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/soli.htm">"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"</a>; Doyle's nascent interest in spiritualism is hinted at in "The Photographer's Chair"; "The Kingdom of Bones" seems to contain elements of Doyle's later Professor Challenger work and foreshadows <a href="http://librivox.org/the-valley-of-fear-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Valley-Fear-Sherlock-Mystery-Collection/dp/1451565976?ie=UTF8&tag=thebakerstree-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Valley of Fear</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thebakerstree-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1451565976" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />; and "The White Knight Strategem" seems to contain a slightly Moriarity-esque figure. 
 
Sadly, although further Bell/Doyle adventures are hinted at, no further productions were made, nor are there plans to continue. However, for those who want a different flavor of Holmesian adventure - or who wish to imagine the influence that Joseph Bell truly had on Doyle's work - these two DVD sets (Dr. Bell & Mr. Doyle is not included in the same set as Murder Rooms) are quite excellent, and are some "hidden gems" that belong on your video shelf. 
 
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Editor's note: Gordon regularly covers the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and the entertainment industry. You can also find him at <a href="http://www.blogthispal.com/">Blog THIS, Pal!</a> and <a href="http://www.comicrelated.com/">Comic Related</a>.</div>
 Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJoseph_Bell._Photograph_by_A._Swan_Watson._Wellcome_V0026019.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a> and Wellcome Trust
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