#Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear

[centrestagereviews]

Interview: Bobby Bradley - Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear

Following UK-wide success in 2023, Blackeyed Theatre is reviving its acclaimed Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear in Spring 2024, including a three-week London premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough. Adapted by Nick Lane from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear is crammed full of adventure, mystery and one or two rather brilliant deductions. This…

[moonlightandpalmtrees]

every few months when I remember this interaction I laugh and then I go “aww” and then I laugh again

[fogdraws]

Portrait of how I picture Watson's face while I read ❤️🙌

[sssrha]

Watson, being shaken awake by Holmes: What? Is everything all right? Holmes: would you be willing to sleep with a complete and utter idiot? Watson: Sure? I suppose? Holmes: Good. *proceeds to get into bed with him*

[detectivejay]

I began writing this post before and lost my draft when I went to check how far along “Letters from Watson” is, so here it is without preamble. Lesson learned. 😆 (It appears to be up to The Hound of the Baskervilles at the time of this post.)

If you chose some combination of the short story collections and novels, I’d love to hear which ones in the comments and tags!

Please reblog for a larger sample size. :)

[gilgamushroom]

Reason 1/??? why Baskervilles is the best ACD Sherlock novel: WHERE else do you get a first chapter like this

"Ah Mr Sherlock Holmes how nice to meet you :) Wow man I love your skull. Yeah big fan of that skull you got there can I touch it? Oh dude can't wait till you die and we can put it in a museum. Jk haha. No no I DO have a case. You're like, the SECOND best expert for this. No, the first—"

Meanwhile this guy's just staring at you

[eirinstiva]

Art Drama is in the blood

“What are we here for at all? I really think that you might treat us with more frankness.” Holmes laughed. “Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life,” said he. “Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and calls insistently for a well-staged performance.

Come on, Holmes! You live for drama, you breath drama, you eat drama, you are the drama!

[thefisherqueen]

He brightened and rubbed his thin hands together as he listened to the meagre but remarkable details. A long series of sterile weeks lay behind us, and here at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers which, like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when they are not in use. That razor brain blunted and rusted with inaction. Sherlock Holmes's eyes glistened, his pale cheeks took a warmer hue, and his whole eager face shone with an inward light when the call for work reached him. 

'His whole eager face shone with an inward light' oh Watson you besotted darling

[sherlockianscholar]

some (a lot of) illustrations from valley of fear by my favorite holmes' artist, frank wiles

[tenantoftheorpheumcircuit]

sherlock holmes books being some of my favourite media be like:

Tehe! John and Sherlock are so fun! And Accidentally come across as REALLY Gay I should tell tumblr about this

then being hit in the face with bbc’s sherlock’s existence and the realisation that people will think i’m talking about The Show and not the series of novels and short stories.

[fruitviking]

I can't promise I'll make memes for every chapter of The Valley of Fear but

[47gaslamps]

Sherlock Holmes regards the L and R letters on his free weights as ultimate commands

[teaspoonnebula]

VALL Chapter 1 - The Warning

So as a recap - yes I run this substack. No, I haven't read this novel. I'm really looking forwards to getting to experience new (to me) canonical Sherlock Holmes for the very last time in my life... and I'm going to write a bunch about it, so hold on tight.

“I am inclined to think—” said I. “I should do so,” Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently. I believe that I am one of the most long-suffering of mortals; but I'll admit that I was annoyed at the sardonic interruption.

LOL I love how we jump right into Holmes and Watson banter. Watson's understated "“you are a little trying at times" reminds me of his reaction to Holmes shooting holes in the walls at Baker Street being "I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it."

Of course we don't get any indication of the tone in which he says these things, but I think we can guess Watson is countering with a little acerbic wit of his own.

So, Holmes has received a letter from a mysterious figure known as 'Porlock'

Picture to yourself the pilot fish with the shark, the jackal with the lion—anything that is insignificant in companionship with what is formidable:

This idea of the pilot fish is a very cool metaphor. Unfortunately it is entirely ruined for me because it was also used in the Christmas Invasion episode of Doctor Who to describe these things and that's always where my brain is going to go:

Porlock is one of Moriarty's henchmen or representatives! Which makes me interested in the fact that I've never come across this character in pastiches or adaptations or fanfic - why not?

(Also it makes no sense for Watson to know all about Moriarty but that's a Continuity Thing and we all know Arthur Conan Doyle didn't let that sort of thing get in the way of telling his story - more power to him, honestly.)

“You are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humour, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself.

I JUST SAID THAT, HOLMES.

“May I be there to see!” I exclaimed devoutly.

Well THAT is a sucker punch of a line. No, Watson, you won't be there to see, I'm afraid. See, there will be this Swiss boy... anyway, we're getting off track.

Turns out Porlock is a bit of a mole (I wouldn't quite go so far as to say 'double agent'), and has been giving Holmes information provided he is paid enough. This includes a secret cipher which relates to a particular book, which Holmes assumes will arrive in the second post.

GUTTED I didn't read this book when I was 11, I loved ciphers and would have lapped this up.

“Your native shrewdness, my dear Watson, that innate cunning which is the delight of your friends...

"your friends" Lol Holmes just say "Me" we know that's what you mean - and gosh, he's being so sarcastic with Watson!

Billy the page shows up with the second post and readers, I CHEERED at Billy. Does he say anything? No. But BILLY!!! Alas the letter from Porlock says that he just had an unpleasant encounter with Moriarty (with an envelope addressed to 221b in his possession, whoops!) and so so he won't be sending along the key to the cypher.

I love that Holmes' reaction to this isn't frustration at not getting his cypher, but worry for Fred Porlock, and hope that Moriarty doesn't actually suspect him. THIS is why I love Canon Holmes - I think he is fundamentally kind...

“Perhaps there are points which have escaped your Machiavellian intellect.

Holmes points out that they might be able to work out which book is required for the cypher, and guides Watson through his deductive process - which is adorable. And I loved following along with it too - with my knowledge of Victorian ephemera I was hoping it was going to be a Bradshaw, but as Holmes notes to both Watson and me, the range of vocabulary needs to be broader!

It's a Whitaker's Almanac! But not the new edition - the old one. This is a fun little reversal which gives us a moment of Holmes thinking he's 'failed'.

The message suggests that someone called Douglas who lives at Birlstone House, Birlstone, is in danger.

(Clearly this is a totally different house to Hurlstone, from Musgrave Ritual....)

After deciphering the message, Holmes and Watson get a visit from an Inspector MacDonald. I was a little sorry this isn't one of the familiar Yarders (Hopkins, my beloved...) but I'm going to be interested to get to know him. Alas, Holmes is too late to save Douglas - he has already been murdered.

***

So, uh, I'm having the time of my life reading this, honestly. It's such incredibly good fun. I'm intrigued that whatever has happened to Douglas must somehow be linked to Moriarty.

There's a lot of banter about Watson's intellect which I feel should frustrate me more, a lot of the dialogue feels like it's bordering on being quite patronising to Watson, but I think his reactions suggest this is comfortable back and forth done from a place of security in each other.

[fogdraws]

A passage of the start of The Valley of Fear I thought would be worth sketching. I'm still working on their designs tho- I really wanted to make them unique to me yk

[the-bitterest-breakups-poll]

Poll: Round 1 #6

*Reminder that Break up is being used loosely here and not all relationships may be romantic in nature

Propaganda under cut:

Sherlock and Watson:

Watson realises that Sherlock has been keeping a secret from him for three years that could have put him and Mary in danger. They argue, big time, and Watson decides he's finished helping Holmes with cases altogether. Holmes leaves and Watson spends the rest of the day sitting around in a "melancholic torpor".

Anna, Sasha, and Marcy:

No propaganda was submitted

[red-umbrella-811]

What gets me is the glasses. It’s truly incredible that someone decided the priority was to sneak in some glasses. That’s the energy of a secret society that’s worried about nothing. They have the energy to waste on sneaking in glasses.