"Mycroft One of the Queerest Men" [GREE]

As anticipation for the sequel to "Sherlock Holmes" mounts, another detail has been made public: Stephen Fry will play the part of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother.

There are a number of interesting tie-ins that make this particularly interesting, but we'll start with the announcement first. Mr. Fry himself broke the news on the Danny Baker show on BBC 5 Live, and the news was immediately shared by Bleeding Cool. The direct quote from Fry was:

I’m playing Mycroft in the sequel to the Sherlock Holmes film Guy Ritchie directed with Robert Downey Jr., and that sort of part is fun, but just once in a while to play a genuine all round sort of lead figure with complexity and tragedy and wit and all the sort of things that Oscar [Wilde] had was a once in a lifeftime thrill.

The New York Times (via Reuters) also reported on it and Fry confirmed it on his own Twitter account:

We think it's an inspired casting decision for a number of reasons:

1. Fry has often played opposite Hugh Laurie (now on the Sherlock Holmes-insipired House, MD), including the braniac gentleman's gentleman in Jeeves & Wooster, who has often been compared to one or both of the Holmes brothers.
2. He played Oscar Wilde in the 1997 film Wilde. Wilde made an appearance in The West End Horror, the follow-on novel to The Seven Per-Cent Solution by Nicolas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case").
3. Mr. Fry was also deeply interested in the bequest of Richard Lancelyn Green to the city of Portsmouth and he narrated the BBC 4 documentary "The Man Who Loved Sherlock Holmes." We initially referenced him in the November 19, 2006 entry "Even His Voice Was Gentle" [IDEN].
4. We know that Holmes referred to his brother as "one of the queerest men" in London. That term can be taken in a couple of ways - one being quirky and the other meaning gay. Well, Stephen Fry's IMDb biography includes both kinds of references: "Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not...Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as '90 percent gay, 10 percent other.'" He is also credited as "Cricket fan, Sherlockian, charter member Groucho Club (Soho)."
5. Stephen Fry is a noted author in his own right, so we can be sure that he is a reader as well (and we're assuming this means the Canon). He has written a number of books, including The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within, Moab Is My Washpot, The Hippopotamus, The Liar, and most recently Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All.

We hope that his turn as Mycroft - a infrequently appearing role that has been played by the likes of Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Robert Morley and a handful of others - will be a memorable one. On paper, he would seem to have the pedigree for it. Let's hope that the script and direction makes it at least palatable.

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"The Finest Study I Ever Came Across" [STUD]

We received news of the passing of a legendary Holmesian earlier this week. Bernard Davies, BSI ("A Study in Scarlet") passed beyond the Reichenbach. Chairman of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London from 1983-86, he was a member of the Society since 1959 and an Honorary Member. He received the investiture "A Study in Scarlet" from the Baker Street Irregulars in 1985 - an exalted title, as it is one of only four investitures of the original novels, and also because it was previously held by Vincent Starrett.

Davies was a prolific writer - such that in 2008, the SHSL compiled his scholarship in the two volume collection Holmes and Watson Country, which is still available for sale from the Society. One of his landmark pieces is on the location of 221B Baker Street.

But his interests didn't begin and end with Holmes; Davies was also an avid scholar of Dracula, having served as Co-President and Co-Founder of the Dracula Society. As Les Klinger put it in the introduction of the two-volume work: "Davies's breadth of interests, research skills, and writing ability make him a national treasure."

A personal remembrance from Roger Johnson, BSI ("'Pall Mall Gazette'"), Press & Publicity Officer for the SHSL:

I knew Bernard for nearly forty years, and liked and respected him immensely. A couple of years ago, when the Sherlock Holmes Society decided to publish a collection of Bernard's collected Holmesian writings I immediately volunteered to act as editor. It was a pleasure and an honour to help prepare the book for publication.

In a reasonably full acting career, he appeared just once in a professional production of a Sherlock Holmes story, when he played Norlett and Bert Stevens in Michael & Mollie Hardwick's audio dramatisation of "Shoscombe Old Place" in 1970. Robert Hardy and Nigel Stock were Holmes and Watson.

Bernard was one of the giants in our peculiar field - and in others, such as the Dracula Society. He was also a dear friend, who will be greatly missed.

If you have a personal memory of Bernard Davies that you'd like to share, please feel free to leave it as a comment below.

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"More Than I Could Possibly Venture" [GREE]

As Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts, we're accustomed to people of various vocations and with a myriad of hobbies trying to shoehorn Sherlock Holmes into their particular interests. From tennis to dentistry, Holmes has been linked with many more topics than the original 60 stories would otherwise indicate.

So it should be no surprise when something as far-flung as the high paced venture capital world brings Holmes into the limelight. Certainly, Robert Downey, Jr.'s turn as the detective played a role; but the author of 10 Reasons Sherlock Holmes Is the Ideal VC did a little more homework.

Here are are the 10 reasons given; if you'd like the full explanation behind each, please click through to the original article.
1. Complete and utter attention to his clients
2. Immensely perceptive and observant
3. He's a world-travelled, experienced entrepreneur himself
4. Massive intellectual curiosity; great erudition
5. Loves the Big Idea, Huge Risk-Taker & Admires Disruption
6. Great Mentor, Coach and Board Member
7. Great Ear for the Customer
8. Driven with Enormous Energy
9. High Standards & Innate Sense of What is Right
10. Sense of Humor

What do you think? Does the Sherlock Holmes that you know fit into these categories? Is there anything you'd object to?

Tip of the old deerstalker to Jeff Sass for sharing this article.

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"The Lyceum Theatre" [SIGN]

Last November, we announced the availability of the Peter Cushing Sherlock Holmes series on DVD ("What Remains for You?" [SIGN]), which included five episodes on the three-DVD set. But notably, none of the Douglas Wilmer episodes made it into that digital revival.

Today, we're pleased to see that the BBC have come to their senses and released this classic run on DVD, starring Douglas Wilmer, BSI ("The Lyceum Theatre") and Nigel Stock: Sherlock Holmes: 1964-1965 is now available for sale on Amazon (please click through to support this site).

A full 13 episodes on this two-disc set will put you in a distinctly Victorian and Holmesian mood, including "The Red-Headed League," "The Six Napoleons," "The Beryl Coronet," "The Devil's Foot," "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax," "The Speckled Band" and more. This was a groundbreaking series, as they were mostly faithful to the Canon, the production values were fairly high, and the schedule was grueling on the actors (causing Wilmer to bow out, handing the reins to Peter Cushing). It was part of what Wilmer spoke about during his 1998 tour of the United States.

Below (and via the image above) you can go to Amazon to purchase this valuable set that has been years in the making. If you're not a Sherlockian yourself, you might consider purchasing this and putting it away as a holiday gift for that Sherlock Holmes fan in your life. And of course, we have other Douglas Wilmer items to choose from below as well.

    




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"I Got an Elephant" [BLAN]

As the old adage goes, "an elephant never forgets." But if we asked you if you could remember where in the Canon an elephant is mentioned, you'd probably have a difficult time remembering. For two reasons, really: (1) you're not an elephant; (2) it's only mentioned in one story, and in that case, it was an elephant gun, not the animal itself.

Regarding elephants, this piece of news was shared in Peter Blau's Scuttlebutt from the Spermacetti Press in July:

Elephant Family (a financial support organization for endangered Asian elephants) draws attention to its work with an Elephant Parade of decorated life-size model baby elephants displayed in major cities around the world; the parade has now reached London, where 258 elephants are to be sold in an auction that will end on July 4. Cherrie Waltho has reported (and photographed) a Sherlock Holmes elephant in Baker Street (Nick Utechin notes that it's almost outside #109, which was James Holroyd's choice for 221B).

More information, along with color photographs, is available at their website at where there's also a shop that sells miniature reproductions in four sizes, from 10 cm (£27.50) to 35 cm (£199.00). The artist who created the Sherlock Holmes elephant is Turdsak Piromkraipak, and it was sponsored by the Evening Standard. The organizers are hoping for an audience estimated at 25 million, and that the auction will raise £2 million.

Evidently, the online auction was very successful, as £2.4 million were raised, bringing the grand total to over £4 million.

Here are a couple of other images of the Sherlock Holmes elephant:


And while we're on the subject, animals are frequently mentioned throughout the Canon. Both the Good Old Index  by William Goodrich and The Canonical Compendium by Stephen Clarkson are indispensable for summing up categories such as this. If you don't own both yet, we highly recommend them. The links above go to Amazon; you might also have luck with a used bookseller.

Some of the other animals mentioned include:

• Of course the famous cheetah and baboon (SPEC); 
• Bear (grizzly, STUD; rug, PRIO); 
• Birds - including bittern (HOUN), buzzard (EMPT), canary (CROO, BLAC), cormorant (VEIL), curlew (PRIO, HOUN), ducks (GLOR), goose (BLUE), grouse (SIGN), owl (STUD), patridge (VEIL), petrel (REIG, NAVA), pheasant (NOBL), pigeon (LAST), plover (PRIO), raven (HOUN), swan (ABBE), woodcock (BLUR, NOBL);
• Bison (STUD)
• Cat (YELL, NORW, CHAS, LAST)
• Cattle (STUD, PRIO, HOUN)
• Coyote (STUD)
• Crocodile (SIGN)
• Dog (SIGN, BLUE, SILV, REIG, CHAS, MISS, ABBE, COPP, CREE, LION, STUD, SUSS, SHOS); breeds - airedale (LION), beagle (MISS), bloodhound (HOUN, VALL, CREE), bull pup (STUD), bull terrier (GLOR), draghound (MISS), foxhound (MISS), hound (SIGN, HOUN, 3GAB), lurcher (SIGN), mastiff (COPP, HOUN), Newfoundland (SIGN, CREE), sheep dog (HOUN), sleuth-hound (CREE), spaniel (SIGN, HOUN, SUSS, SHOS), wolfhound (CREE);
• Fish - dace (SHOS), eel (SHOS), herring (SIGN), pike (HOUN, SHOS), shark (SIGN), trout (SHOS);
• Fox (HOUN);
• Gila (SUSS);
• Horse (too many to list);
• Ichumenon/mongoose (CROO);
• Insect - bees (SECO, LAST, LION), beetle (SIGN), butterflies and moths (3GAR, HOUN), centipedes (SIGN), cockroaches (COPP), flies and bluebottles (BLAC), mosquitoes (SIGN), scorpions (SIGN);
• Jackal (SIGN);
• Kid/lamb (WIST);
• Langur (CREE);
• Leech (GOLD);
• Lion (DEVI, MAZA, VEIL);
• Mouse (COPP, ILLU);
• Mule (STUD);
• Oysters (SIGN, DYIN); 
• Pig (BLAC, VALL);
• Rabbit (BOSC, SIGN, NORW, SIGN);
• Rat (SUSS);
• Seal (BLAC, SILV);
• Sheep (STUD, SILV, PRIO);
• Slowworm (SIGN);
• Snake (CROO, CHAS, SPEC, DYIN, SIGN);
• Stoat (SIGN, CROO)
• Tiger (EMPT, SIGN, IDEN, ABBE);
• Weasel (SIGN);
• Whale (BLAC);
• Worm (THOR)

Whew! Feel free to drop any others in we may have missed by leaving a comment.

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