Sherlock Holmes Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio cover art

Sherlock Holmes Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

Sherlock Holmes Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

By: Adam Graham
Listen for free

About this listen

 The basic facts of Holmes are well-known to nearly every literate person on the globe. He was the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and made appearances in fifty-six short stories and four novels. He solved cases from 221B Baker Street in London with the assistance of his faithful companion, Dr. Watson. Holmes became so popular that Doyle couldn’t get away with killing him.

Holmes is one of the few true timeless characters in literature. His canonical adventures may have been set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but in the hands of a competent author, with a few modifications, Holmes could show up at a medieval castle or on a starship and still be a powerful character.

Every detective story that enjoyed any success in the past century, even if written as the antithesis of Holmes (such as Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade), owes something of its success to Doyle’s great detective for getting the public interested in the genre. Edgar Allan Poe’s C. Auguste Dupin may have been the first true detective in literature and an inspiration for Holmes, but even Dupin owes something to Holmes, as few people outside the academic world would care that Dupin existed without the wild success of Holmes.

Holmes has been recreated too many times to count, and each actor brings his own spin. The radio recreations of Holmes began October 20, 1930 when William Gillette, perhaps the great popularizer of Holmes, took the role to a new medium. It has continued off and on since them on a variety of networks including, NBC (1930-33) (1934-36) (1955), Blue Network (1939-42), Mutual Network (1943-46), (1947-49), ABC (1946-47) (1949-50) (1956), BBC (1954, and many more years.), BBC-WFMT Chicago (1959-69).

Host Adam Graham is your guide through every circulating old time radio Sherlock Holmes episode including programs starring Basil Rathbone, Orson Welles, Tom Conway, John Stanley, and Sir John Gielgud.Commentary Copyright 2009-2011 Art Entertainment & Performing Arts Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Darlington Substitution Case (EP0364)

    Sherlock Holmes: The Darlington Substitution Case (EP0364)
    Mar 17 2011
    Early in his career and desperate for a case, Holmes accepts as a job as a bodyguard to an unlikable man who turns out to be blackmailer.
    Original Air Date: January 4, 1947
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Singular Affair of the White Cockerel (EP0359)

    Sherlock Holmes: The Singular Affair of the White Cockerel (EP0359)
    Mar 10 2011
    While Sherlock Holmes is retired on his bee farm, he is asked to investigate a missing chicken. He finds the case is far more serious than first thought as a human life is at stake.
    Original Air Date: December 28, 1946
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Grand Old Man (EP0354)

    Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Grand Old Man (EP0354)
    Mar 3 2011
    Sherlock Holmes needs to ensure that a dying elderly playwrite isn’t murdered, and to help him find the living relatives of the man whose play he stole.
    Original Air Date: December 21, 1946
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.