The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Volume 4
The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Volume 4 – Starring Clive Merrison & Andrew Sachs & Written by Bert Coules – 4xCD (BBC Audiobooks)
Timing is everything. Take ‘The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Volume 4’ for instance. On the surface, it’s everything that any self-respecting Holmes fan, barring the purists, (but let’s not go down that road…) could want. A trio of new stories based on tiny, tantalising references dotted throughout Watson’s (or rather Conan Doyle’s) chronicles of the world famous detective, and had I not already had the pleasure of hearing Big Finish’s recent Sherlock Holmes trilogy (‘The Last Act’, ‘The Death And Life’ and ‘Holmes And The Ripper’), I would have been instantly sold. However, I have heard the previously mentioned trilogy, and as I was completely blown away by both Nicholas Briggs and Roger Llewellyn’s, vastly different and yet incredibly similar, intense, emotive portrayals of Holmes, and the adventures in which each brought the detective to life, and as such, this release, had one heck of a lot to live up. For the most part, it succeeds pretty well. Clive Merrison delivers a worthy, if somewhat traditional, Holmes and Andrew Sachs is surprisingly effective (given that my only frame of reference for him as an actor is as a bumbling Spanish waiter) as Watson, and Bert Coules original tales of the duo’s adventures are for the most part, both entertaining, absorbing and gripping, but there is a slight issue with quality control. Opening story, ‘The Remarkable Performance Of Mr. Frederick Merridew’ is a startling tour-de-force, Hugh Bonneville’s villainous wretch a sublime performance that teases the best from his co-stars, and closing two parter ‘The Marlbourne Point Mystery’ is as good as any of the classic Holmes tales, and the cast, are (just like that crazy old nanny, Mary Poppins) practically perfect in every way. It’s the middle play that lets it down. You’d think, (well, I did before I heard it) with a title like ‘The Eyes Of Horus’ that it would be a good old fashioned whodunit murder mystery that centred around some vast archaeological puzzle that had remained unsolved for millennia, but you’d be wrong. Instead, it’s a slightly boring heard-it-all before jewel theft story in which the culprits identity is immediately obvious, that lacks both the pace and style of the other two instalments. Still, it’s not all bad, I suppose I can lose the middle disc down the back of the sofa, forget all about it forever more, and happily listen to the opening and closing dramas over and over again. Yes, that’s it. That’s exactly what I’ll do… Tim Mass Movement
