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Download the series of The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes
The 4077th, 2011
The Sherlock Holmes stories have always been ripe for parody. Films such
as Without a Clue have portrayed Holmes as an incompetent who only manages to solve crimes through sheer luck,
while Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's lame effort The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978) drew on a cast of British luminaries
to little or no effect.
The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, which now runs to three series of
podcasts, retells the Holmes tales from Watson's (Elie Hirshman's) point of view. Tired of playing second fiddle to the great
detective (Jeff Niles), the doctor wants a share of the action, in the belief that it is he (Watson) who has the superior
mind, but never actually receives any recognition for it. In some ways Watson is right: Holmes comes across as a supercilious
rogue, ever willing to accept things at face value rather than think deeply about them. However Watson is too self-interested
to understand Holmes' skill with people; it is this skill above all that helps the detective to solve cases. Eventually
Watson realizes that he is doomed to play a subordinate role, for all his protestations.
Sometimes the British accents are a little wobbly, but in the main this is an entertaining
series. I look forward to reviewing more of them in the future.
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