However Improbable

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 2: The Scowrers Chapter 7: The Trapping of Birdy Edwards "And thence came the John Douglas who for a second time married a worthy mate, and lived for five years as a Sussex county gentleman, a life which ended with the strange happenings of which we have heard." This episode is narrated by Dan Heidt. Dan is a songwriter and podcaster from Columb...

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 2: The Scowrers Chapter 4—The Valley of Fear Chapter 5—The Darkest Hour Chapter 6—Danger "It is the Valley of Fear, the Valley of Death. The terror is in the hearts of the people from the dusk to the dawn." This episode is narrated by Dan Heidt. Dan is a songwriter and podcaster from Columbus, Ohio.  His podcast, "Flies in the Kitchen" feat...

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 2: The Scowrers Chapter 1: The Man Chapter 2: The Bodymaster Chapter 3: Lodge 341, Vermissa "The iron and coal valleys of the Vermissa district were no resorts for the leisured or the cultured. Everywhere there were stern signs of the crudest battle of life, the rude work to be done, and the rude, strong workers who did it." This episode is narr...

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 1: The Tragedy of Birlstone Chapter 5: The People of the Drama Chapter 6: A Dawning Light Chapter 4: The Solution "You're welcome to them—you and your public. There's the story of the Valley of Fear.” This episode is narrated by Sarah Kolb. Sarah is a Colorado-based writer, podcaster, and arts marketer, with a passion for unconventional storytel...

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 1: The Tragedy of Birlstone Chapter 3: The Tragedy of Birlstone Chapter 4: Darkness "As I looked at the deep-set windows and the long sweep of the dull-coloured, water-lapped front, I felt that no more fitting scene could be set for such a tragedy." This episode is narrated by Sarah Kolb. Sarah is a Colorado-based writer, podcaster, and arts mar...

The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Part 1: The Tragedy of Birlstone Chapter 1: The Warning Chapter 2: Sherlock Holmes Discourses  "The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations—that's the man!" This episode is narrated by Sarah Kolb. Sarah is a Colorado-bas...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979-1986) is sometimes known as Soviet Holmes, Russian Holmes, Lenfilm Holmes, or Old Russian Holmes. Lenfilm’s series of films have often been described as one of the best Holmes adaptations out there, with particular praise directed towards Livanov’s Holmes.  Murderer’s eyeballs, serial killers, tandem bicycles and men crying - join us for...

Holmes and Watson celebrate the winter season with a literal wild goose chase in “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle,” from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This story is filled with holiday cheer, home museums and the benefits of private detection. As we approach the end of our year, we look back on Holmes and Watson’s busy year, and contemplate Holmes’s hypocrisy, the archetype of the private...

"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Georie Taylor.  “My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.” This story is narrated by Georie Taylor (ey/em/eir). A baker and voice actor in the Pacific Northwest, ey have been in podcasts for almost five years and baking for two decades....

Sherlock Holmes goes to great lengths to catch a killer... and tests the patience of his landlady, his own physical health, and the strength of his friendship with Watson. “The Adventure of the Dying Detective,” from His Last Bow does feel a little out of place - but hear us out for why this story works so well in the earlier years of Holmes and Watson’s friendship. We discuss biological weaponry,...

"The Adventure of the Dying Detective" from His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Dan Heidt.  "He's dying, Dr. Watson," said she. "For three days he has been sinking, and I doubt if he will last the day. He would not let me get a doctor." Content warning (also spoilers for the twist): Illness, starvation, and some tremendous Holmesian lies.  Dan Heidt is a songwriter and p...

To wrap up our one-year anniversary month, we indulged in gin and “Sherlock Holmes,” (2009) dir. Guy Ritchie. It was Marisa’s first introduction to the Holmes and Watson, and reviewers have described it as either “disturbingly bad” or a “fresh reinvention” of an old classic. This steampunk roller coaster ride of a film raises some interesting questions about how we value adaptations of stories we...

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been an entire year since we aired the first chapters of A Study in Scarlet. Since then, we’ve followed Holmes and Watson on adventures ranging from slapstick to sinister, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you so much for listening this year! We took a moment to reflect back on our first experiences with Holmes - and think about why this character and t...

Underpaid employees, bank heists, and Spanish violin virtuosos. “The Red-Headed League” is the second story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, part heist, part comedy, and all-around good time. We discuss perhaps the canon's best and least represented villain, Holmes's mental health, and the inherent sexual tension between a gentleman thief and the police detective who wants to arrest him.&nbsp...

From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, this is "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Kate Murtaugh. “My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We are spies in an enemy’s country." Content warning: Watson carries a gun in this episode, and there are some tense moments of drama and classism.  Find recommended reading, more stories, info about the sh...

Mistaken identity, evil stepfathers, and the importance of a good optician. “A Case of Identity” (from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) has a plot fit for a Shakespeare play - without the narrative satisfaction. In this surprisingly sinister armchair detective story, we discuss skeevy men, Peter Pan, Watson's eye for color and the complicated undercurrent of misogyny running beneath the narrativ...

"A Case of Identity" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Lucille Valentine.  “It was most suggestive,” said Holmes. “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important." This story is narrated by Lucille Valentine. Lucille is a desert rat masquerading as a voice actor, poetry and fiction writer, visual artist, and s...

From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Five Orange Pips" connects vanishing ships, the American Civil War, and what happens when Holmes’s considerable powers are not enough to save the day. Sarah and Marisa discuss Doyle’s depiction of the KKK and his contentious relationship with racism, the kinds of adaptations we’re excited to see in the future, the hand of God, and why Lovecraft sucks. C...

"The Five Orange Pips" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Courtney Herber. “No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may take the flies, but not before.” Courtney Herber is a historian of early modern England and she studies performance, theatre, and power. She recently defended her dissertation on consortship in Tudor and early Stuart Engl...

In this short story with a title straight out of a Western, Holmes hosts a sleepover and gives a man a bath. "The Man with the Twisted Lip" is perplexing not only for where it's ended up in our chronology, but for its red herring plot twist full of questionable decisions. What does the opium den represent in the Victorian imagination, and is it as racist as it sounds? How does this story explore t...

"The Man with the Twisted Lip" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle , narrated by Christopher Wilson “I reached this one,” said my friend, “by sitting upon five pillows and consuming an ounce of shag." This episode is narrated by Christopher Wilson. Christopher is a stage and voiceover actor currently based in Chicago, IL. He has provided his voice to numerous game, commerc...

Book Club Case File: My Dearest Holmes, by Rohase Piercy First published in 1988 by the Gay Men’s Press, My Dearest Holmes by Rohase Piercy is a very special pastiche that boasts something very rare—it’s one of the very few and certainly among the earliest published gay pastiches about the great detective and his good doctor. It celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018. We're thrilled to have Rohas...

Other than Holmes and Watson themselves, Irene Adler (of dubious and questionable memory) may be the most adapted character from the canon. And most of the time, modern adaptations do not do her justice. She played a prominent role in four recent TV and film adaptations of the stories - depicted as a professional thief, a sex worker, a European (for some reason?) and literally a fictional characte...

Shotgun weddings, scandalous photographs, and a seven per-cent solution all come together in perhaps the most beloved story in the canon, featuring the woman who casts the longest shadow: Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. "A Scandal in Bohemia" was Doyle's first short story about Holmes and Watson, and its impact colors the way we consider the rest of the canon. Kings and Boswells,...

"A Scandal in Bohemia" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Natalie Hunter. "And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman’s wit." This story is narrated by Natalie Hunter. Natalie has been a fan of the Holmes stories for as long as she can remember; her all-tim...