Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 66

Evil plans are afoot - SHSL Council Meeting

Thursday will see me and my fellow Council members congregate for the latest Sherlock Holmes Society of London Council meeting. These are held roughly once a quarter. This one is especially important as it is the last before the AGM in about two weeks time.

Here is an image from the last Council meeting*.


I'm on the left**kidding


For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Another Tennison Road Update

The Croydon Advertiser have put up more details about the potential future of 12 Tennison Road on their website.

http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Sherlock-Holmes-author-Arthur-Conan-Doyle-s-home/story-18685773-detail/story.html#axzz2QW2vAtOc


However what really got me about the article was the statement that:

The imposing property in Tennison Road, South Norwood, was lived in by the Sherlock Holmes author between 1891 and 1894, with residents cherishing his connection with the area.

I'm sorry but I have to take issue with that. Prior to my books Close to Holmes and The Norwood Author there was precious little detail out there about Conan Doyle in South Norwood and nothing that overtly shouted the connection. So to claim the link is cherished by residents is dubious. In fact I suspect that most local residents were (are) ignorant of the connection and if they know it at all they know it through recent press coverage. In South Norwood, prior to 2009, the only physical nods to the Conan Doyle connection were:


Conan Doyle's name on a mosaic tucked under a railway bridgeA road called Doyle RoadA housing block called, if memory serves, Baskerville CourtA special needs school called The Priory SchoolOf these, numbers 2 and 4 are inferred connections as there is no proof. They could be coincidence.
Aside from the house itself that was pretty much it. Even now, when you exit the station, you see a sign marking the fact that inventor William Stanley lived in South Norwood but nothing about Conan Doyle. The local Wetherspoons pub has a display but only after I lobbied them to erect one. If I hadn't I strongly doubt anyone else would have bothered.
All I can say is grrrrrr.


For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

12 Tennison Road - Update

I am informed by Sarah May of the Croydon Advertiser that an application has been made to Croydon Council to turn 12 Tennison Road into a HMO or House in Multiple Occupation.


Definition here http://www.croydon.gov.uk/housing/privatehousing/hmo/

12 Tennison Road in 2013Presumably this is essentially what it was before when it served as a hostel. However the term HMO covers a range of scenarios which are detailed in the above link.

In any event the chances of it being restored in any way, shape or form look slim.

More news as I get it.



For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

The Pastiche Problem

I thought it about time that I put down exactly what I think is wrong with a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiche stories that come out. I’m referring to those which are Victorian set rather than more contemporary efforts.

This is all totally obvious of course but it is often the case that the obvious needs to be said.
When Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories he was writing them as contemporary adventures. He was writing about a time that was both familiar to him and to his readers. Even when he was writing Victorian set Holmes stories in the 1920s he was still writing them for an audience that understood the era from personal experience. As a result of this he used terms, that don’t mean much to us today, without explanation as they were familiar to his readers.
A pastiche author writing Sherlock Holmes stories today lacks that first-hand experience of the Victorian era and his/her audience does too. This is where, in my opinion, most pastiche authors go wrong. They feel compelled to explain the Victorian terminology to their readers which has the effect of immediately making the style overtly different from that of Doyle.
To give an example; I read in one pastiche a section where Holmes was described as taking out his “half-hunter watch” to note the time. Why on earth would you write such a thing, why not just refer to his watch as a “watch”?
If you were writing a contemporary story about a private detective you would not say “he looked at the Casio chronograph on his wrist and noted the time” you would say “he looked at his watch and noted the time.” In the Victorian era a watch was simply a watch. Unless its value, make or style was material to the story it would not be mentioned.
The point is that to stand a chance of writing a Victorian-set Holmes pastiche in a style that even remotely matches that of Conan Doyle you need to not only write as though the Victorian era is second nature to you, you need to assume it is the same for your readers even when you know it isn’t.
Plenty of people read the original Holmes stories today and the fact that those stories presume familiarity with the Victorian world has done them no harm on the popularity front. People interested in Sherlock Holmes are likely to be a lot more familiar with the Victorian era than you might think having been given plenty of exposure to such Holmes series as the Granada series with Jeremy Brett or non-Holmes stories such as those by Dickens.
Morals may have been different; fashions were different, technology was different and some expressions were different but, other than that, there were not huge differences between the 19th century and now. People still have the same motivations for crime – revenge, greed, lust, power etc. Stop treating it like it is another country and your audience like children to whom every last thing needs to be explained.
Then I think you stand a good chance of coming up with something good.

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Villains - Don't look back

When it comes to the BBC Sherlock series I have read a lot of stuff on the internet where people express the hope that Moriarty and, especially, Irene Adler will return to the series. This is something I simply don’t understand.
  The wedding of Irene Adler to Godfrey Norton as witnessed by the disguised  Holmes
The disguised Irene Adler greeting Holmes
Yes they were significant characters (as they were in the original stories) but if you keep bringing them back you dilute them. Irene Adler holds such a place in the canon precisely because she outwitted Sherlock Holmes in one adventure. However if Conan Doyle had kept bringing her back he either would have had to have her lose or keep beating Holmes. If he had her lose it would have diluted her impact and if she kept winning it would have damaged the reputation of Holmes and an overwhelmingly successful Holmes was vital to Conan Doyle’s bank balance.
The same thing applies to the series. In order to keep the threat credible you have to have new opponents and not keep resurrecting old ones. If you need proof just look at Doctor Who. Look at any of the regular villains. The Daleks and the Cyberman are classic examples. Whenever they reappear we are not remotely concerned. We know that the Doctor has repeatedly beaten them year in year out for fifty years and that’s not going to change. The slight exception to this was the Doctor’s own Moriarty – the Master – and that was precisely because he appeared considerably less than the others (at least that is my recollection).
So by all means appreciate good and strong characters but don’t keep looking back. Look forward to new opponents and new challenges for the Great Detective.

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Book review duties for the SHSL

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London has asked me to read and review Mastermind for the Summer Sherlock Holmes Journal. I'll be honest and say it is not a book I had on my list to buy as it feels a little too much like some kind of positive thinking book that I'd put onto the "self-help" shelf.


If you get the journal keep an eye out for my review in due course.

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

April Fools Day - Best offerings

Well April Fools Day brought us some wonderful "news" stories. However, on the Sherlockian front, only two caught my attention. The first was the apparent desertion of Fandom by the Baker Street Babes. I didn't believe it for a second but it was amusing.

The winner though was this:


This was from the Metro and can be read here

For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

S3 Filming - Please don't spoil

Well last night saw something of a battle erupt on Twitter with people tweeting pictures and comments from the scene of Sherlock filming in Bristol. Quite rightly there was a backlash against this with many people - including yours  truly - requesting that people desist.

There was an attitude from some of the spoilerers(??!) of "why should we?". Here's why...

1) Your tweets have the potential (no matter how remote) to have a negative effect on the series. They might choose to film less outside shots or impose draconian security when they do. Then those people who like to watch the filming without ruining things for everyone else will suffer. The lovers of the series could also suffer if persistent spoilers force the crew to film things differently.

2) News Flash! Twitter is not a private messaging system. Simply sticking a special hash tag on your tweets is not sufficient security. Going on Twitter and discussing real (or not) spoilers is like walking into a big room full of people and shouting something private to a friend the other side of the room. Everyone else in the room hears it whether they want to or not. Would you walk into a cinema and shout the ending of the film to those watching it? I sincerely hope the answer to that is "no".

If you are determined to swap spoilers at least set up a forum for it that is away from Twitter. You can then tell people where it is and they can go and look if that is their wish.

Can you do this for me - please?


For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

Identifying Arthur Conan Doyle’s homes

I have noticed a tendency for posters on the Internet to regularly mix up the homes of Arthur Conan Doyle. In my opinion this is because photos are sourced from the Internet where the images are devoid of context.
It is also not helped by the fact that the iconic photos that are used for each dwelling tend to be of very different rooms. For Bush Villas in Southsea (-1890) (where A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four were written) we generally only see the outside.
Arthur Conan Doyle stands outside his Southsea home/medical practice
For 12 Tennison Road in South Norwood (1891-1894)we see the outside, and most of the ground floor rooms.
ACD's South Norwood home in 2008 and 1892

ACD in his South Norwood Study. It was here that he penned the latter half of Adventures and most of Memoirs including Holmes's "death" at the Reichenbach Falls
For Undershaw (1897-1907) we tend to be limited to the outside and Arthur Conan Doyles’ study.
Undershaw
Undershaw Entrance Hall
ACD in his Undershaw study. Here he penned a lot of the Return and probably some of Hound
As we have pictures of the study for both Tennison Road and Undershaw we can at least tell them apart. However, when it comes to Windlesham (1907-1930) we are generally only able to see the picture of ACD reclining in a small chair with a book.
|ACD reclines in WindleshamOften the best indicator is ACD himself. His age makes it possible to narrow down. He clearly looks older in the above photo than he does in the Undershaw study picture.


For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

It was recently reported in the press that, shall we say, family disagreements were occurring among the management of the Sherlock Holmes Museumon Baker Street.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
Sherlockians will, as a body, have mixed emotions about this as the museum does somewhat polarise opinion. It stands at number 239 Baker Streetbut marks itself as 221B for obvious reasons. The house is representative of the period and has been furnished in a manner very much in line with the descriptions in the stories. There are disputes over some of the layout and contents but, to the casual observer, all looks pretty much as it should.Well that is aside from the odd blue plaque which states that Sherlock Holmes was resident there.
© The Sherlock Holmes Museum 
221b Baker Street, London, England 
www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk.
I have visited it a couple of times and I think it does have a certain charm and I think it is important that a site exists. Without it there would not be an appropriate site even remotely in the right place. Aside from the museum, there are two other locations that are visited by Sherlock Holmes fans. The first, and oldest, is the Sherlock Holmes pub on Northumberland Street with its mock up of the 221B sitting room. 
The 221B Sitting room on the first floor of the Sherlock Holmes Pub
The second is the address on North Gower Street which doubles for Baker Street in the BBC's Sherlock. Its popularity as a site is good news for the adjacent Speedy’s Café but its relevance as a location beyond the BBC series is non-existent.

"221B Baker Street" next to Speedy's Cafe on North Gower Street
Whatever you may think of the museum it is the only interactive Sherlock Holmes experience remotely in the right place. You can go into it, pick up books, sit in the chairs and pose for pictures. I think that, despite its flaws, it is a good resource (and clearly popular) and one that it would be a pity to see the end of if these disputes get out of hand.



For more information on Arthur Conan Doyle and his time at Undershaw please refer to my book, An Entirely New Country which is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Classic Specialities, and in all electronic formats including iTunes, Kobo, Nook and Kindle .
The Norwood Author  is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Waterstones UK, Amazon UK,  Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon Kindle, iBooks for the iPad/iPhone, Kobo Books, Nook.
Close to Holmes is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA,  Barnes and Noble,  Amazon UK,  Waterstones UK,  Amazon Kindle,  Kobo,  Nook  and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.
Eliminate the Impossible is available from all good bookstores, in many formats worldwide including Amazon USA, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, Waterstones UK, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks for the iPad/iPhone.