Sherlock Holmes: Sign of the 4

Rating:
Summary: Loyalty, Betrayal, Revenge, and Romance
Review: A fabulous treasure dogged by murder. A trans-racial oath of loyalty. A greedy major, a cannibal pigmy, and a peg-legged convict. Mix in a pig-headed police investigator and a brilliant-but-flawed amateur detective, and you have the makings of a first-class mystery.

Miss Mary Morstan, the recipient of yearly gifts of pearls from an anonymous benefactor, receives a summons declaring her a wronged woman and promising riches if she replies. She enlists the aid of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, and finds herself in the middle of a locked-room murder mystery. If the mystery can only be solved, she will become the richest woman in England.

Holmes, in a virtuoso performance, solves the murder, finds the missing treasure, brings the killer to justice, and learns the strange tale of "The Four." Did I mention that Dr. Watson winds up married to Miss Morstan?

The format of this sequel to "A Study in Scarlet" follows basically the same pattern as the original Sherlock Holmes story. Holmes visits the scene of a baffling murder, draws amazing conclusions from his inspection of the scene, and relentlessly tracks down the villian, who then tells his story and turns out to be not such a bad guy after all.

I first read "Scarlet" and "Sign" as a pre-teenager, and they made an indelible impression on me. In my job I frequently visit murder scenes, and I believe that these two books are what have influenced me to perform inspections outside the crimescene tape.

Merrison once again gives an admirable rendition of Holmes, and Michael Williams turns in a creditable Watson. Brian Blessed is a treat as Jonathan Small. The radio play is enhanced by the fact that it gives greater attention to the Morstan-Watson romance than Conan Doyle did in the book. The BBC productions of the Holmes stories always seem to pay more attention to Watson's romances, and it works quite well to make the stories more enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Loyalty, Betrayal, Revenge, and Romance
Review: A fabulous treasure dogged by murder. A trans-racial oath of loyalty. A greedy major, a cannibal pigmy, and a peg-legged convict. Mix in a pig-headed police investigator and a brilliant-but-flawed amateur detective, and you have the makings of a first-class mystery.

Miss Mary Morstan, the recipient of yearly gifts of pearls from an anonymous benefactor, receives a summons declaring her a wronged woman and promising riches if she replies. She enlists the aid of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, and finds herself in the middle of a locked-room murder mystery. If the mystery can only be solved, she will become the richest woman in England.

Holmes, in a virtuoso performance, solves the murder, finds the missing treasure, brings the killer to justice, and learns the strange tale of "The Four." Did I mention that Dr. Watson winds up married to Miss Morstan?

The format of this sequel to "A Study in Scarlet" follows basically the same pattern as the original Sherlock Holmes story. Holmes visits the scene of a baffling murder, draws amazing conclusions from his inspection of the scene, and relentlessly tracks down the villian, who then tells his story and turns out to be not such a bad guy after all.

I first read "Scarlet" and "Sign" as a pre-teenager, and they made an indelible impression on me. In my job I frequently visit murder scenes, and I believe that these two books are what have influenced me to perform inspections outside the crimescene tape.

Merrison once again gives an admirable rendition of Holmes, and Michael Williams turns in a creditable Watson. Brian Blessed is a treat as Jonathan Small. The radio play is enhanced by the fact that it gives greater attention to the Morstan-Watson romance than Conan Doyle did in the book. The BBC productions of the Holmes stories always seem to pay more attention to Watson's romances, and it works quite well to make the stories more enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent adaptation of the book!
Review: This is a very faithful rendering of this story! Right up on par with the movie starring Jeremy Brett.

Clive Merrison, as usual, gives us a lively interpretation of Holmes, and yet he captures some of his darker passions, too, running more of the spectrum of Holmes' emotional life than many of the actors who have portrayed him onscreen.

Williams gives us a warm Watson - the Everyman we can relate to - and shows us how he was frequently the calm eye in the center of the Holmes hurricane.

The story maturely explores Holmes' drug addiction, his misogyny, and something of his neurotic nature as revealed in the excruciating amount of importance he placed on solving his "little puzzles."

One unexpected gem was Brian Blessed's performance as Jonathan Small. His engaging read added much life to what can be a somewhat tedious part of the story: Jonathan Small's narrative of the history of the crimes being investigated and his revelation of who The Four are.

But best of all, this production gives us access to scenes of the budding romance between Watson and Mary Morstan which in the novel take place "off stage." These scenes are rather touching, actually, and add just the right flavor to counter-balance what is really a horrible little story of greed, murder, and the ease with which humans can be corrupted.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent adaptation of the book!
Review: This is a very faithful rendering of this story! Right up on par with the movie starring Jeremy Brett.

Clive Merrison, as usual, gives us a lively interpretation of Holmes, and yet he captures some of his darker passions, too, running more of the spectrum of Holmes' emotional life than many of the actors who have portrayed him onscreen.

Williams gives us a warm Watson - the Everyman we can relate to - and shows us how he was frequently the calm eye in the center of the Holmes hurricane.

The story maturely explores Holmes' drug addiction, his misogyny, and something of his neurotic nature as revealed in the excruciating amount of importance he placed on solving his "little puzzles."

One unexpected gem was Brian Blessed's performance as Jonathan Small. His engaging read added much life to what can be a somewhat tedious part of the story: Jonathan Small's narrative of the history of the crimes being investigated and his revelation of who The Four are.

But best of all, this production gives us access to scenes of the budding romance between Watson and Mary Morstan which in the novel take place "off stage." These scenes are rather touching, actually, and add just the right flavor to counter-balance what is really a horrible little story of greed, murder, and the ease with which humans can be corrupted.