STAMPS: ALDERNEY/GUERNSEY ISSUES GREAT PACKAGE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES STAMPS

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arthur Conan Doyle, Guernsey Post has issued a very nice little package of stamps, stamp sheets, first day cover, stamp sets and a 'Mystery Pack'. Guernsey Post has also set up a great site for international orders at http://www.sherlockstamps.com/

"To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of this highly influential writer, our unique collection of stamps tells the story of "Sherlock Holmes and the Curious Case of the Alderney Bull", which is a new mystery set in Alderney. Whilst the stamps provide an insight into this intriguing story, it can be followed in full - and you may even solve the mystery yourself - in our special mystery pack, which includes a stamp souvenir sheet containing a hidden image complete with lens."

Visit  http://www.sherlockstamps.com/ for full details and to order your set today!

MOVIE POSTER: FINAL ONE SHEET POSTER ART FOR GUY RITCHIE'S SHERLOCK HOLMES

At long last, courtesy of the fine folks at FirstShowing.net, we have the one-sheet movie poster design for Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES film starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. The blue-steel background motif certainly seems to project a steampunk vibe. While the pale blue cast to movie posters has been horribly over-used in recent years, it's still a sharp looking poster.

COMIC: SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF ALICE FAULKNER GRAPHIC NOVEL

While therre are numerous comic book adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and many more derivative works, it is fairly unusual to find a graphic novel based on William Gillette's play SHERLOCK HOLMES. However, that is precisely what  Bret M. Herholz has done with SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF ALICE FAULKNER. Utilizing a style reminiscent of the late great Edward Gorey, Herholz has adapted Gillette's play into an interesting and appealing graphic novel format. Due for release in December 2009 from Alterna Comics it should, in due course, also be available through most of the usual online bookstore sources as well as your local comic book retailer.

ISBN: 9781934985175
128 pgs, BW, $11.99

Preview pages available at Alterna Comics.

TRAILER: SHERLOCK HOLMES MOVIE NEW TV TRAILER RELEASED

Yet another trailer has been released for Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES. Similar in tone to the previous trailers, there are some noticeable additions in this new trailer devised for television. A reference to Holmes experimenting on Watson's dog and an appearance by someone who is, presumably, Mrs. Hudson as well as some different dialogue snippets for Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler. You can view the new TV trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xMIZeebvY  Check it out!

Okay, so much for the YouTube link. How about this one from ComingSoon.net instead?

ANIMATION: RUSSIAN SHERLOCK HOLMES SHORT FILM AT RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN LONDON

The 3rd edition of Academia Rossica’s Russian Film Festival  held in London, England from October 30th to November 8th will include a screening of the 2005 animated short film SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DOCTOR WATSON. This charming animated film by creators Aleksandr Bubnov, Irina Kovtun and Zoya Trofimova has been making the YouTube rounds for a couple years since placing 3rd at the 2006 Open Russian Festival of Animated Film. Apparently a sequel is in the works, details and images, for those who read Russian, can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/holmes_2/


Details on the Festival can be found at http://films.academia-rossica.org/en/

The short film itself, as mentioned above, has been available on YouTube (in 2 parts with English subtitles), for some time, but if you haven't already seen them, here it is...enjoy!

Part 1: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson



Part 2: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

EPHEMERA: SHERLOCK HOLMES PAPER DOLLS, COLORING BOOKS AND ACTIVITY BOOKS?

Okay, what can I say, I'm a sucker for silliness. With the upcoming release of the Robert Downey Jr. starring SHERLOCK HOLMES film it appears that everybody is doing their best to get in on a piece of the action, which isn't the least bit surprising, and good for them, but what is surprising is some of the oddball products that are making their way into the Sherlockian marketplace. Paper dolls? A Coloring Book? An Activity book?

The most interesting of these, from the description at least, strikes me as being the Sherlock Holmes Paper Dolls. Here is the product description:

"The dean of detectives is a master of disguise so his doll comes with 10 different costumes. This set also includes 5 colleagues and adversaries: the loyal Dr. Watson, the nefarious Professor Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, Mrs. Hudson, and Irene Adler, the only woman to outwit Holmes. Sixty interchangeable heads portray a variety of actors who have played Holmes and Watson over the years."

Yes, you read that correctly "Sixty interchangeable heads" featuring a variety of actors who have played Holmes. Yes, my curiosity over the representations of actors is strong enough for me to order this ephemeral bit of silliness just to see who made the cut.  Expect a follow-up when I find out!

As for THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES COLORING BOOK and the SHERLOCK HOLMES ACTIVITY BOOK, I'm afraid that you're on your own!

All three items are currently available for pre-order on Amazon USA.

SHERLOCK HOLMES PAPER DOLLS Amazon Link

HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES COLORING BOOK Amazon Link

SHERLOCK HOLMES ACTIVITY BOOK Amazon Link

TV: BBC SHERLOCK PRODUCED BY STEVEN MOFFAT AND MARK GATISS

SHERLOCK
Duration:
3 x 90 minutes
Channel:
BBC1 in 2010
In production:
November 2009 
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman 

 
From the programme press release:

"John Watson, army doctor, invalided home from Afghanistan, alone and friendless ...

Sherlock Holmes, the most brilliant intellect of his generation, alone and friendless ...

London, 2009 - the best and longest friendship in all of fiction is about to begin anew.

The most famous detective, the most baffling mysteries, the most thrilling adventures and the deadliest foes, are coming in out of the fog. Sherlock Holmes was always a modern man - it was the world that got old. Now he's back as he should be - edgy, contemporary, difficult, dangerous.

A woman in pink lies murdered in an abandoned house - a serial killer is loose on London. Inspector Lestrade is the best Scotland Yard has got, but he knows he's not as good as a strange young man called Sherlock ..."

The Hartswood Films Initial Press Release (January 2009):

BBC Wales Drama, BBC One and Hartswood Films announce SHERLOCK, a contemporary remake of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (STARTER FOR TEN, STUART: A LIFE BACKWARDS) as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman (THE OFFICE, HOT FUZZ) as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves (GOD ON TRIAL, MIDNIGHT MAN) plays Inspector Lestrade.

The drama is co-created by the amazing partnership of Steven Moffat (DOCTOR WHO, COUPLING) and Mark Gatiss (THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, DOCTOR WHO, CROOKED HOUSE) and produced by Sue Vertue (COUPLING, THE CUP). The 1 x 60 minute episode, written by Moffat, started filming on 12th January, and is being directed by Coky Giedroyc (VIRGIN QUEEN, BLACKPOOL, OLIVER TWIST).

SHERLOCK is a thrilling, funny, fast-paced take on the crime drama genre set in present day London. The iconic details from Conan Doyle's original books remain - they live at the same address, have the same names and, somewhere out there in the London of 2009, Moriarty is waiting for them.

Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, says: “Our Sherlock is a dynamic superhero in a modern world, an arrogant, genius sleuth driven by a desire to prove himself cleverer than the perpetrator and the police, everyone in fact.”

SHERLOCK is produced by Hartswood Films, continuing their fruitful relationship with the BBC. Past productions include COUPLING, MEN BEHAVING BADLY, JEKYLL and, most recently, THE CUP for BBC Two.

Steven Moffat says: “Everything that matters about Holmes and Watson is the same. Conan Doyle's stories were never about frock coats and gas light; they're about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes – and frankly, to hell with the crinoline. Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that's what matters. Mark and I have been talking about this project for years, on long train rides to Cardiff for DOCTOR WHO. Quite honestly, we'd still be talking about it if Sue Vertue of Hartswood Films (conveniently also my wife) hadn't sat us down for lunch and got us to work.”

Mark Gatiss says: “The fact that Steven, myself and millions of others are still addicted to Conan Doyle's brilliant stories is testament to their indestructibility. They're as vital, lurid, thrilling and wonderful as they ever were. It's a dream come true to be making a new TV series and in Benedict and Mark we have the perfect Holmes and Watson for our time.”

Sue Vertue says: “Steven and Mark are such huge fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories that I had a feeling they would just go on and on talking about it, so I picked the Criterion for our lunch as I knew of its iconic significance in the meeting of Sherlock and Watson and thought it might get the boys' attention! It did, and what has evolved from that meeting is hugely exciting.”

Commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, and Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One, SHERLOCK is shooting in Wales and on location in London. SHERLOCK is executive produced by Beryl Vertue, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat.

More information when it becomes available.

PASTICHE DATABASE: SHERLOCK HOLMES PASTICHE DATABASE WITH ROUGHLY 8,000 ENTRIES

The field of Sherlock Holmes related fiction and pastiche is an amazingly huge and rich one that incorporates literally hundreds of  novels and short stories, the latter appearing in a dizzying selection of books, magazines, and various other outlets. Works of pastiche and parody featuring Sherlock Holmes and other Canonical characters have appeared in print steadily since the early 1890s. The sheer volume of these works is rather staggering and can be rather bewildering for the hardcore collector trying to track down as many of them as possible. Fortunately for the collector, Sherlockian scholar and reviewer Philip K. Jones of the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit, Michigan maintains a remarkable database of pastiche and Sherlockian fiction that currently lists nearly 8,000 entries, with updates provided on a semi-regular basis. The links below include the database (in the form of an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet SHERLOCK.xls), a supporting document to explain the headers and functionality of the spreadsheet (Rich Text Format SHERCODE.rtf) and another document discussing and identifying the "Untold Tales" mentioned in Conan Doyle's stories (Rich Text Format UNTOLDEX.rtf).

The files are made available free to all, but should you make use of the material for reference in a published work please credit Philip K. Jones. Should you notice any errors or omissions, please drop Phil an email with the details.

Database links for direct download (clicking the links should open a dialogue box for viewing or download. Files hosted at www.bakerstreetdozen.com):

The Sherlock Holmes Pastiche Database (SHERLOCK.xls)
Explanation of SHERLOCK Database (SHERCODE.rtf)
The Untold Tales Analyzed (UNTOLDEX.rtf)


My thanks to Philip K. Jones for providing these useful and interesting  resources.

TRAILER: SHERLOCK HOLMES MOVIE TRAILER WITH DOWNEY AND LAW

On the off chance that you've been living under a rock and haven't seen it yet, here's the 2nd trailer for Guy Ritchie's SHERLOCK HOLMES with Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams. The film is being released theatrically on December 25th 2009 (Christmas Day).

Yep, I know, lazy post, but it's Saturday night on a long weekend. More interesting material in the days ahead...

BOOK: THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
Edited by John Joseph Adams
Night Shade Books 2009
Trade Paperback
454 pages
ISBN - 10: 1597801607
ISBN - 13: 978-1597801607

THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES is a new (September 2009) reprint anthology (with one original story) that collects 28 Sherlock Holmes stories published in the last 30 years, most, but not all, of which contain fantastic, supernatural or horror elements, hence the 'Improbable' contained in the title. Featured are stories by a good many mainstream 'big name' authors like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Laurie R. King, Anne Perry, etc... alongside various mid-list, as well as up-and-coming, authors. The oldest story is Stephen King's "The Doctor's Case" (first published in THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES in 1987) and the most recent are Barbara Roden's "The Things that Shall Come Upon Them" and Chris Roberson's "Merridew of Abominable Memory" both of which were published last year in my original anthology GASLIGHT GRIMOIRE: FANTASTIC TALES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. While the veteran reader of Sherlockian pastiche may be familiar with a large chunk of the stories from their original publications, the neophyte will be quite happy to have these interesting and varied stories in one inexpensive trade paperback volume. Recommended!


Contents:

Introduction — John Joseph Adams
A Sherlockiana Primer — Christopher Roden

The Doctor’s Case — Stephen King
The Horror of the Many Faces — Tim Lebbon
The Case of the Bloodless Sock — Anne Perry
The Adventure of the Other Detective — Bradley H. Sinor
A Scandal in Montreal — Edward Hoch
The Adventure of the Field Theorems — Vonda N. McIntyre
The Adventure of the Death-Fetch — Darrell Schweitzer
The Shocking Affair of the Dutch Steamship Friesland — Mary Robinette Kowal
The Adventure of the Mummy’s Curse — H. Paul Jeffers
The Things That Shall Come Upon Them — Barbara Roden
Murder to Music — Anthony Burgess
The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor — Stephen Baxter
Mrs Hudson’s Case — Laurie R. King
The Singular Habits of Wasps — Geoffrey Landis
The Affair of the Forty-Sixth Birthday — Amy Myers
The Specter of Tullyfane Abbey — Peter Tremayne
The Vale of the White Horse — Sharyn McCrumb
The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger — Michael Moorcock
The Adventure of the Lost World — Dominic Green
The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece — Barbara Hambly
Dynamics of a Hanging — Tony Pi
Merridew of Abominable Memory — Chris Roberson
Commonplaces — Naomi Novik
The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil’s Cape — Rob Rogers
The Adventure of the Green Skull — Mark Valentine
The Human Mystery — Tanith Lee
A Study in Emerald — Neil Gaiman
You See But You Do Not Observe — Robert J. Sawyer

Cover by David Palumbo

Editor John Joseph Adams has an excellent mini-site dedicated to the book that includes some free fiction, the complete essay by Christopher Roden and various other fun odds and ends. To visit the book's mini-site, click here.

The book is available in fine bookstores everywhere or from the following Amazon links:

Amazon USA
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK

DVD: SHERLOCK HOLMES ARCHIVE COLLECTION AVAILABLE OCTOBER 20, 2009

Coming to Region 1 (North America) DVD on October 20, 2009  is a 3-disc boxed set from Synergy Entertainment called SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE ARCHIVE COLLECTION. While a number of the pieces collected here will be familiar to folks who picked up a couple compilation videos by Video Yesteryear in the 1980s or a later retread called Sherlock Holmes: The Early Years, this does contain a few rarities first seeing the light of day in this package. Most noteworthy is Sting of Death with Boris Karloff. This was an adaptation of H.F. Heard's novel A TASTE FOR HONEY which aired on February 22, 1955 on ABC-TV as part of "The Elgin Hour" and hasn't been available for viewing ever since - except for prints in film museums. While I don't expect much in the way of decent film quality from Synergy Entertainment, it should be better than the old vhs packages I mentioned previously. The full contents are listed below.

DISC ONE
Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour - Arthur Wontner, 1931.
Lost in Limehouse - Olaf Hytten as Sheerluck Jones, 1933.
Limejuice Mystery - Herlock Sholmes marionettes, 1930.

DISC TWO
Sting of Death - Boris Karloff as the mysterious Mycroft, 1955.
The Man Who Disappeared - John Longden as Sherlock, 1951.
A Case of Hypnosis - Prof. Lightskull the chimpanzee! 1952.
Strange Case of Hennessy - Cliff Edwards as Silo Dance, 1933.

DISC THREE
The Speckled Band - Alan Napier as Sherlock, 1949.
The Copper Beeches - Georges Treville, 1912, with special musical score.
Man With The Twisted Lip - Eille Norwood, 1921, with special musical score.
The Screaming Bishop - Hairlock Combs cartoon, 1944.
Bonus Film starring Basil Rathbone as an army officer in The General's Boots from 1954.

The DVD collection is available from your favourite DVD dealers or can be ordered from Amazon USA

AUDIO CD: THREE SHERLOCK HOLMES AUDIO DRAMAS FROM BIG FINISH

UK audio producer Big Finish is releasing a range of Sherlock Holmes audio drama, one a month, in November 2009, December 2009 and January 2010. The first two programmes feature Roger Llewellyn as Holmes and are based on the one-man plays written by Sherlockian David Stuart Davies. Llewellyn has been touring the UK with both plays, on and off, for a few years now, so these recordings will be welcome for those who have not been able to see them. The first to be released in November is SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE LAST ACT followed by SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE DEATH AND LIFE in December. Following on in January is SHERLOCK HOLMES: HOLMES AND THE RIPPER written by The Avengers scribe, the legendary Brian Clemens. This programme features Nicholas Briggs (the voice of the Daleks in Doctor Who) as Holmes, Richard Earl as Watson and India Fisher (Charley Pollard in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio series) as Katherine Mead.

The programmes are currently available for pre-order on CD at the Big Finish site.

STAMPS: ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE HONOURED AS EMINENT BRITON BY ROYAL MAIL

Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of ten British individuals honoured with a stamp by the UK's Royal Mail this week. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shares the distinction with Fred Perry, Henry Purcell, Sir Matt Busby, William Gladstone, Mary Wollstonecraft, Donald Campbell, Judy Fryd, Samuel Johnson and Sir Martin Ryle. A variety of first day covers, stamp sheets, stamp cards, etc...of the Eminent Britons series can ordered through any good philatelic supplier or directly through the Royal Mail Online Shop, which ships internationally.

Click here to visit the Royal Mail Shop now.

 For more information on Detective Fiction Character and Author stamps check out this Detective Fiction on Stamps site.

DVD: THE ASYLUM'S CASH-IN SHERLOCK HOLMES MOVIE

Known for releasing similarly named or near knock-off variations of current blockbuster titles (Transmorphers, Terminators, The Day the Earth Stopped, etc...) it should come as no surprise that The Asylum is taking aim at exploiting the expected popularity of Guy Ritchie's forthcoming big-screen release SHERLOCK HOLMES. The Asylum indicates a DTV release date of January 26, 2010 for their film, creatively titled SHERLOCK HOLMES.

Shot on the cheap in Wales, the film features Ben Snyder (erm..who?) as Sherlock Holmes, Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood) as Watson with Dominic Keating (Enterprise) along, presumably as Spring Heeled Jack...who looks decidedly like a steampunk take on Iron Man. Got to hand it to The Asylum for managing to knock-off two Robert Downey films in one go!

The one-line description for the direct-to-video film? Now...Don't laugh...

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective faces the ultimate challenge when enormous monsters attack London."

Visit The Asylum website for more pics and marginally more info. Look for it on DVD at your local Blockbuster in late January 2010. You've been warned! ;-)

BOOK: SHERLOCK HOLMES HANDBOOK BY CHRIS REDMOND NEW EDITION

SHERLOCK HOLMES HANDBOOK: SECOND EDITION
By Christopher Redmond
Dundurn 2009, 336 pages
Paperback
ISBN - 10: 1554884462
ISBN-13: 978-1554884469

Canadian Sherlockian scholar Chris Redmond's invaluable resource A SHERLOCK HOLMES HANDBOOK (originally published in 1993) has been updated to reflect the wealth of changes in the Sherlockian world over the last 16 years. On his excellent site www.sherlockian. net Chris describes his reasoning behind the new edition.

"...Things do change over the years, and it's more than time for a new edition, catching up on new films and books (a few with a hint of the supernatural) and the advent of the Internet, which (as you may have noticed since you're here) has spread Sherlock Holmes's fame and Sherlockian fun even farther worldwide. These years have brought three multi-volume editions of the Holmes stories, with hundreds of footnotes providing new insight and amusement. They have also seen Holmes appear repeatedly on the amateur and professional stages . . . and there have been changs to everything from copyright law and library collections to booksellers and audio recordings.

I've touched on it all, I hope, with nine chapters covering the original Sherlock Holmes stories (how they appear and continue to appear), the characters and themes, the author, the Victorian era, policing, detective fiction, parodies, films, radio and television, Sherlockian societies and writings, museums, and the eternal question: what is it we love about Sherlock Holmes anyway?"

It really is an excellent and invaluable resource that belongs on the shelf of beginner/casual readers and veteran Sherlockians alike! Now available from all good booksellers under the slightly revised title of SHERLOCK HOLMES HANDOOK. Pick up a copy today or order it using one of the links below. Highly Recommended!

Amazon USA

Amazon Canada

Amazon UK

DVD: 1968 BBC SHERLOCK HOLMES SERIES COMES TO REGION 1 DVD ON DECEMBER 15, 2009

A&E Home Entertainment will be releasing all 5 existing episodes ( the BBC wiped the rest in an economy drive) of the 1968 BBC Sherlock Holmes series starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock as Holmes and Watson to Region 1 (North America) DVD in December 2009. The boxed set is comprised of: The Hound of the Baskervilles (parts 1 & 2), The Sign of the Four, The Blue Carbuncle, A Study in Scarlet and The Boscombe Valley Mystery.

Click here to pre-order the set from Amazon USA.

Cushing is a fantastic Holmes and, to my mind, his performance in this series marks him as one of the great interpreters of the role. While I loved his work in the 1958 Hammer film version of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, he's far less frantic and even better in the BBC series. Nigel Stock is a staunch, loyal and largely convincing Watson. The chemistry between Cushing and Stock is apparent and the two actors play off of each other beautifully. The two-part HOUND rates as one of the most faithful versions ever produced for film or television. A definite 'must have' for North American Sherlock Holmes fans. Highly Recommended!

COMIC: DYNAMITE'S SHERLOCK HOLMES ISSUE 5 OF 5 STREETS OCTOBER 7, 2009

The fifth and final issue of Dynamite's SHERLOCK HOLMES series The Trial of Sherlock Holmes comes to its conclusion in the fifth issue which reaches comic book stores on October 7, 2009. Story by Leah Moore and John Reppion with interior art by Aaron Campbell and a cover by John Cassaday.

Preview and details available at the Dynamite Entertainment website

"The acclaimed mystery from Dynamite concludes. Can the world's greatest detective unravel his greatest mystery? Find out in the conclusion of "The Trial of Sherlock Holmes!"

A hardcover edition collecting the 5 issue SHERLOCK HOLMES: TRIAL OF SHERLOCK HOLMES series will be released shortly (October/November). The hardcover contains bonus material such as script pages, annotations, an essay by Les Klinger, a cover gallery, and a complete Sherlock Holmes short story by Arthur Conan Doyle with new illustrations.

To pre-order the hardcover visit the Baker Street Dozen Sherlock Holmes Amazon shop here.