The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an old-time radio show which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950.[1] The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Some of the surviving episode recordings may be found online, in various audio quality condition.

For most of the show's run, the program starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Other actors played Holmes and Watson in later seasons.

Production

From the outset of the show, the series was billed under in different listings under various titles including Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and other titles. The most popularly remembered title is The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.[2]

From 1939 until 1943, episodes were adapted or written by Edith Meiser[3] who had written the earlier The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series which aired from 1930 to 1935. Meiser left the show after disagreements with a sponsor over the amount of violence in the program.[4] It is also reported that Meiser left the show to focus on other projects.[5] From 1943 onward, most episodes were written by the team of Denis Green and Anthony Boucher[3] with some early episodes written by Green and Leslie Charteris.[6][7] Edith Meiser returned to write for the show for its seventh season. Max Ehrlich and Howard Merrill wrote the episodes of season 8. Denis Green returned as a writer for the last season.[8]

Originally, the show starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.[9][10] Together, they starred in 220 episodes which aired weekly on Mondays from 8:30 to 9:00pm.[11] Basil Rathbone's last episode as the famous detective was "The Singular Affair of the Baconian Cipher". He was eager to separate himself from the show to avoid being typecast in the role. Tom Conway replaced him in the starring role, though Nigel Bruce got top billing and was always announced first. The new series lasted only 39 episodes, and Bruce and Conway then left the series. From then until 1950 the series continued with various actors playing the two principal parts.

The show first aired on the Blue Network but later moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System.[12] The show moved to Mutual in 1943 at the start of its fourth season.[13] The series was originally broadcast from Hollywood. During World War II, the show was also broadcast overseas through the Armed Forces Radio Service. The program aired on ABC instead of Mutual for its sixth and ninth seasons.[14]

Many episodes were recorded in front of a live audience.[15]

Cast

Sherlock Holmes:

  • Basil Rathbone (1939–1946)
  • Tom Conway (1947)
  • John Stanley (1947–1949)[16]
  • Ben Wright (1947 (stand in for Tom Conway), 1949–1950 (regular))

Dr. Watson:

There is only a limited amount of information available about additional cast members, since complete cast lists are available only for a handful of episodes,[17] and only the leads were credited in the episodes. In multiple episodes, Mary Gordon played Mrs. Hudson. Professor Moriarty was played by multiple actors including Joseph Kearns and Lou Merrill. Other actors who performed in multiple roles on the show include Paula Winslowe, Carl Harbord, Herbert Rawlinson, Paul Frees, Theodore von Eltz, June Foray,[18] Frederick Worlock (who played Inspector Lestrade in at least three episodes),[19] and Rex Evans (who played Mycroft Holmes in at least two episodes).[20]

Sponsors

Bromo Quinine sponsored some of the earlier programs on the NBC Blue Network and for a period Parker Pen was the sponsor.

When Rathbone announced his intention to leave the show, the show's sponsor Petri Wine[21] offered him generous pay to continue. When he declined, Petri ceased sponsoring the show and the new sponsor was Kreml Hair Tonic for Men.

The sponsor's spokesman was usually Knox Manning or Harry Bartell, or, during the show's initial season and again in the final season, Joseph Bell. In each episode, the spokesman would be presented as arriving at the home of Dr. Watson, then retired and living in California, who would share a story about Holmes and his adventures. Such conversation would open and close the show, with Watson adding further details about the adventure. In the episodes sponsored by Petri Wine, the characters would often share or discuss the drink during these segments, with the character of Watson sometimes joking about the spokesman's habit of always mentioning the product.

Episodes

Season 1 (October 2, 1939 – March 11, 1940; 24 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" and ended with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman".[22] The last episode of the season was originally intended to be an adaptation of "The Final Problem". It is not known why the change was made, but it may be because "The Final Problem" had already been used on radio several times. It was announced on the penultimate show that "The Final Problem" would be the last episode; in the final episode, Watson said he had changed his mind about which story he was going to tell.[23]

Season 2 (September 29, 1940 – March 9, 1941; 24 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Empty House". The last episode was an adaptation of "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place". The season included a six-episode serial adapted from The Hound of the Baskervilles.[24]

Season 3 (5 October 1941 – March 1, 1942; 22 episodes) started with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" and ended with an episode titled "The Giant Rat of Sumatra".[25] An episode also titled "The Giant Rat of Sumatra", inspired by a reference in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", had previously aired in 1932 in the second season of the radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.[26]

Season 4 (May 7, 1943 – May 28, 1945; 109 episodes) started with a dramatization of "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". The last episode of the season is titled "Dance of Death".[27] According to the Pittsburgh Press, Nigel Bruce "astounded sound engineers" by imitating the sound of a seagull required for the episode "Death in Cornwall", which aired on February 7, 1944.[28] Some episodes in this season and the following two seasons were novelized by H. Paul Jeffers in his 2005 book The Forgotten Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.[29]

Season 5 (September 3, 1945 – May 27, 1946; 39 episodes) started with an episode titled "The Case of the Limping Ghost", based on an incident in "The Adventure of the Crooked Man". The last episode of the season was "The Singular Affair of the Baconian Cipher", suggested by an incident in The Sign of Four.[30] This was the last season with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes.[31] Rathbone and Bruce also appeared on the CBS radio program Request Performance in November 1945, and swapped roles as Holmes and Watson in a short sketch performance on the program.[32] Some of the episodes in this season were novelized by Ken Greenwald in his book The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1989).[33]

Season 6 (October 12, 1946 – July 7, 1947; 39 episodes) started with the episode "The Adventure of the Stuttering Ghost", suggested by an incident in "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor". The season ended with "The Adventure of the Iron Maiden".[34] This was the last season with Nigel Bruce playing Watson.[35]

Season 7 (September 28, 1947 – June 20, 1948; 39 episodes) started with "The Case of the Dog Who Changed His Mind" and ended with an adaptation of "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger".[36]

Season 8 (September 12, 1948 – June 6, 1949; 39 episodes) started with an episode titled "The Case of the Unwelcome Ambassador" and ended with an episode titled "The Adventure of the Red Death".[37]

Season 9 (September 21, 1949 – June 14, 1950; 39 episodes) started with an episode with an unknown title. The second episode, which aired on September 28, 1949, was titled "The Eloquent Corpse". Many of this season's episodes, including the last two episodes, have unknown titles. The last episode with a known title is "Command Performance", which aired on May 31, 1950.[38]

References
Notes
  1. Bertel, Dick; Corcoran; Ed (February 1972). "Radio Shows of 1947". The Golden Age of Radio. Season 2. Episode 11. Broadcast Plaza, Inc.. WTIC Hartford, Conn.
  2. Dickerson (2019), p. 84.
  3. Eyles, Allen (1986). Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration. Harper & Row. pp. 135. ISBN 0-06-015620-1.
  4. Boström, Mattias (2018). From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-8021-2789-1.
  5. Dickerson (2019), p. 117.
  6. Ken Greenwald (1989). THE LOST ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Mallard Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-7924-5107-5.
  7. Jeffrey Marks (1 February 2008). Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography. McFarland. pp. 24–. ISBN 978-0-7864-8388-4.
  8. Dickerson (2019), pp. 233, 258, 274.
  9. Portico (6 November 2014). The Elementary Sherlock Holmes. Pavilion Books. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-1-910232-14-9.
  10. Anthony Boucher; Denis Green; Basil Rathbone; Nigel Bruce (February 2002). New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Simon & Schuster, Limited. ISBN 978-0-7435-0114-9.
  11. Harmon, Jim (2011). Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film, Television and Other Media. McFarland & Co. pp. 169–182. ISBN 9780786485086. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  12. Van Matre, Lynn (July 7, 1989). "Holmes Fans Solve Case of Lost Shows". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. Dickerson (2019), p. 106.
  14. Dickerson (2019), pp. 208, 234.
  15. Dickerson (2019), p. 178, 223, 234, 259.
  16. Eyles, Alan (1986). Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration. Harper & Row. pp. 135–136. ISBN 0-06-015620-1.
  17. Dickerson (2019), p. 108.
  18. Dickerson (2019), pp. 108–110.
  19. Dickerson (2019), pp. 108, 149, 152, 201.
  20. Dickerson (2019), pp. 108, 181, 189.
  21. Vincent Terrace (3 October 2003). Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972. McFarland. pp. 213–. ISBN 978-1-4766-1223-2.
  22. Dickerson (2019), pp. 86–90.
  23. Dickerson (2019), p. 85.
  24. Dickerson (2019), pp. 95–97.
  25. Dickerson (2019), pp. 102–104.
  26. Dickerson (2019), p. 43.
  27. Dickerson (2019), pp. 129–160.
  28. Dickerson (2019), p. 132.
  29. Dickerson (2019), pp. 155–225.
  30. Dickerson (2019), pp. 176–203.
  31. Dickerson (2019), p. 205.
  32. Dickerson (2019), p. 176.
  33. Dickerson (2019), pp. 178–203.
  34. Dickerson (2019), pp. 213–231.
  35. Dickerson (2019), p. 233.
  36. Dickerson (2019), pp. 238–256.
  37. Dickerson (2019), pp. 260–272.
  38. Dickerson (2019), pp. 276–279.
Sources
  • Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1629335087.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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