Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 72

Sherlock as a brand

It was actor Richard E. Grant, in a documentary entitled Elementary My Dear Viewer, who remarked that Sherlock Holmes had become a brand. Now he was almost certainly not the first person to make this statement but it is no less interesting for that. Richard E. Grant
Only recently we have seen the launch of a BBC Sherlock version of Cluedo but that is, of course, slightly different. That is the use of a TV version of Sherlock Holmes as branding rather than the original article.

So what is the original article? Well that is open to debate but for people in the UK it is probably the Holmes embodied by the illustrations of Sidney Paget. For those in the US it is probably the Holmes drawn by Frederic Dorr Steele which was based on the actor William Gillette.

Holmes by Paget (left) and Steele (right)
Now the Cluedo board game, as stated, is based on the BBC programme but a lot of the other items available today are based on the Holmes of the illustrations. As you can see, the items shown below, with the exception of the board game and tobacco, hark back to the original illustrations.
Sherlock Cluedo, fancy dress, rubber duck and Holmes tobaccoOne of my personal favourites is the chess set which seems to be modelled, at least for some pieces, on the Paget illustrations (this is most obvious with the Moriarty piece).

Sherlock Holmes chess set
The tobacco is a perfect example of a product with nothing to link it to Holmes (apart from the fact that Holmes smoked) that will probably sell better purely  because of the name on the tin.

What is the maddest piece of Sherlock Holmes merchandise that you have seen or own? What have you seen that does not have even the most tenuous link and is still labelled with the Holmes name?



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.

Writer's block?

I’m going through something of a weird patch at the moment. I began work on my first book Eliminate the Impossible in March 2007 and it was published just under a year later. Then in 2009, 2010 and 2011 I have brought out books. 2012 will be the first year that I have not brought out a book since I started and it feels odd. What shall I do next?
It’s not as if I've given up writing in 2012. If you look at my bibliography you will see that I have written five articles (all of which were published) and have edited the book of another author. I have today completed the first draft of an article that I really hope will make it into the Sherlock Holmes Journal in 2013. So I've not been idle.
Yet I do feel a little lazy. True, I have started work on another book but I have not touched it for months. Perhaps I just needed a year off the book writing treadmill or is it that my blog has consumed more of my time than it should? Who knows?
2013 is shaping up to be a very busy year outside of Sherlockiana. Let’s just hope it leaves me time to make it to book number five. Five is my lucky number after all.


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.

Compliments of the season

To those of you who mark it, please accept my compliments of the season.



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.

Review - Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: Sherlock Holmes

Nick Utechin’s book is, essentially, a comprehensive beginners’ guide to the world of Sherlock Holmes and, to a lesser extent, Arthur Conan Doyle. It discusses the origin of Holmes, the background to Conan Doyle’s life as an author, the illustrators of the stories, the significant characters and eventually moves into the depiction of Holmes in the modern media.
Now we have seen this sort of book quite recently in the form of the Sherlock Holmes Miscellany by Roger Johnson and Jean Upton. Both books inevitably overlap. Where they vary, and this is a slight variation, is in their target audience. I personally feel that Utechin’s book is ever so slightly more tilted towards the beginner than Johnson & Upton’s book. Utechin’s scope is similar but slightly less in-depth. The style of his book is also a little less serious and it is delivered in bite sized chunks which results in a work that is a bit more accessible to the novice Sherlockian. It is also somewhat shorter which adds to that sense of accessibility.
If you want an all-round guide to the world of Holmes that is easy to digest quickly. This is definitely a book you should consider.






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.

How do people encounter Sherlock Homes and what is the enduring appeal?

Could I have asked a question with more answers?
Of course there is no simple answer to this question yet still it gets asked. If, like me, you are in the position of being seen (rightly or wrongly) as an authority on the subject you are likely to get asked it regularly.
In truth, however, one can only ever answer this question for one’s self. Being an “authority” doesn’t really come into it.
Basil Rathbone - The Holmes of the 1940s

To begin with, when asked this question, you have to look at how you encountered Holmes for the first time. Despite the recent incarnations of the great detective, a sizeable majority of fans are still likely to have come to Holmes via Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett (as they are the most often broadcast). As I have said elsewhere, I first saw Rathbone as Holmes in 1982 and was fortunate enough, two years later, to see Jeremy Brett take to the screen in April 1984 (in the UK, ’85 in the US).
Jeremy Brett - The Holmes of the 80s and 90s

Personally, Rathbone got me interested and Brett kept me interested. Brett, by virtue of Granada’s canonical fidelity, in terms of chronology as much as anything else, made the original stories far easier for me to get to grips with. It was hard, as a child, to read the originals having only seen Rathbone in the role. I found myself asking, amongst other things, where silly Watson had got to. A few episodes of the Granadaseries cured me of that.
Original fans in the 1890s could only come to Holmes one way and that was through the page. By the early 20th century the stage was also an option. The 1920s saw the first of the serious silent screen adaptations and the 1930s gave us the first significant talkies starring Arthur Wontner. So I think it was the 1930s when it became more and more likely that you would come to Holmes via the screen rather than the page.
Arthur Wontner (left) - The Holmes of the 1930sThe Rathbone films went on to make it even more so and now, I suspect, almost no one comes to Holmes through the original stories. You encounter him on screen and then you go to the books.
So, returning to the original question, what is the appeal? Well the most obvious thing is that Holmes is the UK’s very own super-hero and serves the cause of justice (even if it is hisjustice rather than that of the land). This has always been appealing to audiences. The appeal could also take the form of a physical attraction to the actor portraying Holmes rather than any of his written characteristics. The legion of young fans that has sprung up in the wake of Downey and Cumberbatch is testament to that.
Cumberbatch and Freeman - The Holmes and Watson of the 2010s?
That may sound rather shallow and I don’t mean to suggest that attraction is the only lure. It is however, for some, the initial hook that gets them to pay atttention. My Twitter following consists of a large number of women and men from their late teens upwards who clearly idolise Downey and Cumberbatch. To their credit though, none of them limits themselves to that. They have all, as far as I can tell, extended their viewing to other adaptations and have read original stories, pastiche efforts and fan fiction (in fact many have written examples of the latter). They are fast becoming the Sherlockian scholars of the future.
Another group find themselves more drawn to Watson perhaps because they can relate to him where they struggle to do so with Holmes. Yet others may find themselves drawn to Moriarty, Mycroft or other less significant characters. Before anyone jumps up and down about that remark – I mean less significant in terms of appearances in the original canon of stories rather than less significant to their fans.
Moriarty - As attractive as Holmes?
For me, one of the significant appeals is that the Victorian world of the original Holmes is far enough away to be escapism but, at the same time, it is still close enough to the present day that you can reach out and touch it (a point I first made in my book Close to Holmes)..
Victorian HolmesSo, dear reader, the chances are that for you, like me, one thing got you interested in Sherlock Holmes and something else kept you interested. The more things change, the more they stay the same….



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 Master - Jeremy Brett

Here you see a picture of my latest purchase.


It is a modest work which only runs to about forty pages but it manages to sum up, rather nicely, Brett's contribution to the dramatization of Sherlock Holmes and fills in the background regarding what he was like on set. Despite being by different authors it is like a cut down version of David Stuart Davies' Bending the Willow and would seem to be just as rare. Cox, of course, is also the author of A Study in Celluloid. This is a book I have not, to my shame, yet read but I imagine that there is bound to be some overlap.




I read with some excitement that Michael Cox and Jeremy Brett first discussed the latter's potential portrayal of Holmes in a restaurant in Charlotte Street. Devoid as it was of further geographical detail, I assumed this to be Charlotte Street in London. This is a street I am very familiar with and I was excited to think that I had almost certainly sat in the same restaurant at some point over the last ten years. It then occurred to me that Cox probably meant Manchester and sure enough there is a Charlotte Street there. So near and yet....

Due to being little more than a pamphlet, this work is easy to read in one sitting and is enlightening despite its modest number of pages. If you are interested in Jeremy Brett and the Granada Holmes series this is something that needs to be on your shelf.





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.

Visit to WBC re Undershaw - My thoughts

Well I am recently back home following the meeting with the chief executive and chief planning officer of WBC.
Lynn Gale just before we went into the meeting

At the beginning of the meeting John Gibson spoke about a variety of subjects. These included, but were not limited to, the history of the house and the damage it had suffered to date. The basic response from the council representatives when he had concluded was, essentially, “why are you telling us this?”
John Gibson and your humble author before the meeting

Now I may have misunderstood but the council’s position appears to be as follows: It wishes to see the house in use but cannot and will not involve itself (unless, presumably, it is legally required to do so) in the process of the house’s sale or indeed anything else to do with it. If a new planning application is submitted by anybody it will be looked at but otherwise it intends to keep out of it.
So far, so expected and fair enough.
John Gibson’s perfectly reasonable question as to whether the council intended to take steps to see certain damage repaired was not answered to my satisfaction (in fact I don’t feel it was answered full stop).
In the course of the meeting, which can best be described as robust with a frank exchange of views, there was plenty said that frustrated me but only one thing that annoyed me. The chief executive stated that we (John, Lynn and I) had wasted an opportunity with the meeting. This was complete nonsense. The implication was that the way we had used the time had been a waste. This annoys me (in fact it borders on insulting) as the council’s position was clearly set before we entered the room and therefore there was nothing we could have said or done that would have resulted in them saying anything different. We could have gone in and done magic tricks and the result would have been the same. So how could it be described as a wasted opportunity?
If we’re honest it was never even an opportunity wasted or otherwise. The only thing it was was a waste of everyone’s time.



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.

Meeting with WBC re Undershaw

Next week I head, with John Gibson and Lynn Gale to:



We have a meeting with the chief exec of the council to discuss the future of Undershaw. Rest assured that I shall blog about it in as much detail as possible soon afterwards.

If you wish, please leave a good luck comment on this post or on my Doyleockian Facebook page (link on the right).

For background read this article.


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.

Is parallel Sherlock a good or bad thing?

Right now we are living through a period where we have three parallel Sherlocks. We have the RDJ incarnation, that of Mr Cumberbatch and, most recently, that of Mr Miller.
The question I want to ask is what influence do they have on each other and is it good or bad?
Ian RichardsonBefore we look at this, let’s go back to the 1980s. They opened with two television movies starring Ian Richardson. For reasons we need not re-cover he gave way to the Granadaseries starring the great Jeremy Brett. Now, before anyone screams “what about the Russian series?” - I’m confining myself to what was broadcast in the UK.
The Granadaseries proceeded basically unchallenged. There was nothing for it to be judged against – at least, not in parallel. Of course the series was judged against those that had come before it but it had no direct rivals. In the beginning this clearly did not matter as the quality was first-rate but, as time went by, the standard dropped. This was caused, in part, by budget cuts and Brett’s declining health. However, if a rival series had started up would Granada have raised its game?
Jeremy Brett
Of the three Sherlocks we have now, only one (RDJ) is in the Victorian period so the influence he has on the others is probably relatively minor. However, the Cumberbatch and Miller incarnations, despite being apart geographically, are together chronologically and therefore are subjected to constant comparison.
Freeman and CumberbatchBBC Sherlockundeniably set the standard with its canon adherence and characterisations. Elementary has changed an awful lot of the Holmes world and one has to ask whether this was done purely to distance itself from the British outing or whether it was done because its writers simply thought they could do it better their own way (or both).
It is clear that, at the present time, the British Sherlock is the most powerful (or influential). To what extent this is due to it being the first or more canonical is open to question. What is, I think, beyond debate is the fact that while Miller’s series is repeatedly judged against Sherlock it is rare that it is the other way round. Sherlock is still seen as how it should be done.
Miller and LiuWhen Elementaryhas broadcast a little longer Miller will have spent more screen time as Sherlock than Cumberbatch. Will this change things with regards to influence? Will Sherlock start being measured against Elementary? Personally I don’t think so. Sherlock casts a long shadow and Elementary will have to work a lot harder before it can escape that shadow. If you doubt that, ask yourself this simple question – if the next series of Sherlock and that of Elementarybegan at the same time, on the same day which would you watch at broadcast time and which would you record for later?
Sherlock series three will be interesting. It will be the first series filmed and shown since Elementary hit the screens. Will it change or will it stay the same? In my opinion it should not change but the presence of Elementary is bound to have some effect on it even if it is only minor or subconscious. This is something we will all have to look out for.
I think the presence of Elementary is good for Sherlock as a reminder, if it were needed, that there are pretenders to the throne. For Elementary its rival’s presence is not so good. It is a reminder that there is something it will always be measured against and because of its efforts to be different and the resultant drift from the canon it will always be found wanting even if only to a minor extent.



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.

Kickstarter target reached

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/internationalisation-of-sherlocks-home-the-empty-h


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.