Sherlock Holmes: The Four Novels Collection

Arthur Conan Doyle · Bert Coules

Jan 2017 · BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Clive Merrison, Full Cast, and Michael Williams

About this audiobook

Clive Merrison stars as Holmes with Michael Williams as Watson in these four adventures from the unique, fully dramatised BBC canon of Conan Doyle stories

A Study In Scarlet
The Sign of the Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear

A Study in Scarlet introduces the most famous partnership in fiction, as Watson is drawn into Holmes's investigations following the discovery of a body in a blood-stained room in Brixton.

In The Sign of the Four, a beautiful young woman comes to Holmes with a mystery which is to stretch even his remarkable deductive skills.

The Hound of the Baskervilles finds Holmes and Watson travelling to Dartmoor to investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville and protect his heir. Are the Baskervilles being stalked by a satanic hell-hound, or is the creature part of a sinister conspiracy?

In The Valley of Fear, a coded warning sends Holmes and Watson to the country house of the reclusive Jack Douglas. Arriving too late to prevent a tragic death, they must follow a series of bewildering clues to find a murderer who has vanished into thin air...

Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Donald Sinden, Iain Glen and Ronald Pickup are among the guest cast of these thrilling dramas, adapted by Bert Coules. Duration: 7 hours 50 mins approx.

Ratings and reviews

There have been many attempts at the HOUND, but few have actually translated Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's spiritual horror beyond his words. The BBC radio Sherlock Holmes production with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams achieved what no one else has. Michael Williams, who I consider to be the best Watson of all time, carried the production better than any other. But it is the sound effects that make this the best Hound. The deep menacing growl, the horrible snarling bark that makes you jump!

The BBC Radio dramatisations are excellent. Clive Merrison will be the voice of Holmes for me forever, and not only because he remains the only actor to perform the entire canon. I think they generally remain true to the originals without being slavish adaptations. Great stuff.

About the author

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer travelling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing. Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in 'A Study of Scarlet', published in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including 'The Lost World' and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism. Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.