Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles Review

Big Finish Productions' range of Sherlock Holmes plays started out as a mix of adaptations of plays featuring the detective, new material and original Conan Doyle stories. Over time, this approach changed, with the range committing to new, original-to-audio stories (mostly written by Jonathan Barnes). However, one of the most notable adaptations Big Finish worked on before this change was "The Hound of the Baskervilles". The most famous story to feature the great detective, "Hound of the Baskervilles" has gone on to have a huge legacy behind it, including a large number of high-profile film and TV adaptations all across the globe. With this version, however, Big Finish have taken a 'back-to-basics' approach, returning to the source material and sticking to it rigidly. As such, this is one of the purest versions of the story out there, and, dare I say it, one of the best.

As I mentioned above, this is a straight adaptation of the original Conan Doyle novel. As such, there's no strange embellishments like seances, devil-worship, biological experiments or any of the other 'additions' people have made down the years. This is as close to the novel as it is possible to get. Now, I must confess, I'm more aware of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" through these adaptations, especially the Basil Rathbone movie version, and I haven't read the original Conan Doyle novel. But this audio adaptation doesn't assume any level of familiarity with the source text, or assumes that a listener will have even heard of Sherlock Holmes at all. Instead, it just tells a good Gothic story in the old tradition, and it is fantastic to hear something so dripping with atmosphere and tension. Richard Dinnick, who adapted the play for audio, wrings every ounce of greatness from the original novel, and condenses it down into two great hours of audio drama. While there are moments where the narrative takes a breather, you're always wondering if there's another killer twist coming around the corner, or if Watson will stumble across another piece of the puzzle. What was great about the original story was actually the absence of Holmes: in all honesty, he only really gets about 45 minutes of air-time in this version, and Watson is left to carry the rest of the story. This allows Watson to really take the lead in the investigation, which makes a nice change from the blundering dunce that he can sometimes be portrayed as.

As I mentioned above, this story is dripping with Gothic atmosphere, and, when the action reaches Baskerville Hall and Dartmoor, this is unleashed in full-blooded form. Of course, a lot of this is present in the original book, but, what helps bring it to the fore is the amazing production work, specifically the sound design from Martin Montague and the music from Jamie Robertson. Both bring the two contrasting worlds of the story (the streets of Victorian London and the Gothic wilderness of Dartmoor) to life with aplomb. Montague helps to create vivid landscapes in the mind's eye of the listener, and I love Robertson's Hammer Horror-inspired soundtrack. The cast are equally wonderful: Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl, are, to my mind, one of the great Holmes/Watson duos, and their performances here simply confirm this to me. Earl, particularly, runs with the chance to take the lead in the story, and brings a shrewdness and intelligence to Watson that few can. The rest of the cast are Big Finish regulars who, for the most part, embody a large number of roles. John Banks, particularly, plays about seven parts, and shows a wide versatile range; from Dr. Mortimore to his regular role of Lestrade, and even bit parts like the Postmaster and Barrymore, he shows a wide variety of characters, and each one sounds distinct and different. Charlie Norfolk has much the same task with the female characters, and she does a great job. It's not quite as uncanny as Banks' performances, but she does a good job of making the multiple roles sound as different as possible. Barnaby Edwards and Samuel Clemens round out the cast as villain and potential victim respectively, and they create two distinct characters who, while not really playing a central role, are two important pieces of the story. It's all tied together by Nicholas Briggs and Ken Bentley's direction, which brings the best performances out of the actors, and helps to create the appropriate atmosphere.

Overall, then, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is one of the finest Sherlock Holmes audios Big Finish has produced. Crossing over slightly with their Big Finish Classics range, and bringing the quality of that range's storytelling with it, this is a stellar release that brings all Big Finish's best qualities out in a wonderful two-hour package. Of course, the original material is superlative, but that is aided and abetted by the work Big Finish have done here. They have brought this story to life in a whole brand new way, even if it is the most traditional of the many adaptations of the novel. Sometimes, you don't need to change an awful lot to make something a success, and this is the ultimate testament to that approach.