The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes

Yo-ho-ho! Christmas has come early for me this year; indeed, after months of anticipation (mine at least!), the latest Holmes adventure is now available, The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes.

 Sherlock Holmes had many secrets. This is the greatest of them.

Our knowledge of the life and career of Mr Sherlock Holmes is necessarily partial and inexact. Riddled with lacunae and ambiguities, its parameters are defined chiefly by what his friend and colleague, Dr John Watson, saw fit to record. 

One era in particular – those enigmatic years in which, believed dead at the Reichenbach Falls, the Great Detective roved the world incognito – has been shrouded in obscurity and doubt, the particulars of that time too terrible and too strange to be set down in full.

At least, that is, until now…

Part One: Poppyland

It is October, 1921. Dr John Watson, now almost seventy, has accustomed himself to a life of retirement. He is surprised, then, to encounter his old friend, Mr Sherlock Holmes, rising out of the early evening mist like a wraith. There are things they have to discuss, he says, matters from the distant past. It is important, he says, that Watson hears at last a full account of what happened to Holmes during his years away from England when, believed by the world to be dead following his battle with Professor Moriarty, he travelled incognito overseas…

Part Two: At the Gates of Shambhala

1892. At the heart of Tibet, a world away from London, where a grieving Dr Watson is battling demons of his own, stands an ancient monastery, abandoned for generations but now the source of rumours of the most peculiar and terrible kind. For strangers have lately invaded this place and pressed it into service for their dark schemes. Those who dwell nearby have come to live in fear and sorrow. What good fortune, then, that a certain noted Norwegian explorer should happen to have found himself in the vicinity…

Part Three: The Man in the Moonlight

Mr Sherlock Holmes is the kind of man whom it is practically impossible to imagine ever having been a child, so fixed and set is his nature. Yet even he was once an infant, his childhood as fraught with peril as his adult life. That time, long past, still haunts him – one element most of all, the figure of a stranger, standing without and gazing upwards, his thin, pale face haloed by moonlight.

  Part Four: The Tragedy of Pargetter Square

Here is where it ends: with a murderer in Pargetter Square, with the detective and a tyrant come face to face in Baker Street, with desperate ambition and wickedness incarnate, with an assassin’s bullet and with old friends working, unknowingly, as one.

Yet what is an ending if not a beginning by a different name?

 Nicholas Briggs Sherlock Holmes - Sherrinford Holme  Richard Earl Dr Watson  

John Banks Inspector Lestrade - Colonel Sebastian Moran Tim Bentinck Mycroft Holmes  

Gemma Whelan Mary Watson Jemma Churchill Helena Eidelmann  

Terrence Hardiman Dr Esau Thorne Nicholas Chambers The Reverend Samuel Griffiths 

Joannah Tincey Miss Jessica Hendrick Dai Tabuchi Dorje  

David Killick Lord Colney, The Earl of Pettigree

Written by Jonathan Barnes
Directed by Ken Bentley  

December 21st update: an extract from today's SFcrowsnest review:

" John Banks is multi-tasking, both as the superb Lestrade and also the villainous and no doubt moustache twirling Sebastian Moran. They sound completely different and I bow to his talent."

" This is rapidly turning into appointment audio with this release eagerly awaited by fans and hopefully new listeners. If you haven’t jumped yet then you really should."

Sue Davies

The full review can be read by following this link: SFcrowsnest: The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes

December 18th update: an extract from today's Sci-Fi Bulletin review:

" Director Ken Bentley has assembled a very strong cast alongside Briggs and Earl – who both excel in this, displaying passionate sides to their characters that shake the speakers. John Banks as Lestrade and Tim Bentinck’s Mycroft are great foils for Earl, while Gemma Whelan gives us a very feisty Mary Watson; Jemma Churchill, Terrence Hardiman, Nicholas Chambers, Joannah Tincey, Dai Tabuchi and David Killick all play to the melodramatic nature of the story without ever letting it go over the top (I’m deliberately not talking further about their characters so as not to spoil the many twists!). 

There’s a cinematic scope to the story, and Jamie Robertson’s sound design ensures that even with the quick cutting that the script requires, we’re never unsure where we are (unless that’s the point!).

You’ll have to listen to this to understand how and why it qualifies as Sci-Fi Bulletin territory – but I can’t wait for the sequel which promises to be more terrifying than a certain spectral hound… "

Verdict: Another triumph for Briggs, Earl and the team. 10/10

Paul Simpson

The full review can be read by following this link:  Sci-Fi Bulletin: The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes