![]() |
Podcasts | Community | Create a Podcast |
learn how to get this podcast on your mobile device »
Babes Amy, Lyndsay, Melinda, Sarah, and Taylor have a truly delightful chat with award-winning author and friend Daniel Stashower about Sherlock Holmes, history, Sherlockian pastiches, childhood reading, lizards with grenades, and more!
Dan (BSI name Thurston) is an acclaimed biographer and narrative historian and winner of the Edgar, Agatha, and Anthony awards, and the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction, because he is never-before-seen levels of awesome. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, AARP: The Magazine, and National Geographic Traveler as well as other publications, and his newest book, In the Hour of Peril, recounts the incredible true story of Alan Pinkerton saving president-elect Abraham Lincoln from an assassination plot. Because that happened.
For links to all of Dan's marvelous pastiches and nonfiction, visit www.stashower.com for more information.
A brief chat with some of those who star in the Hoxton Hall musical Sherlockian extravaganza!
If you’re in or near London, go grab your tickets on Eventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/org/3089020836?s=12712468) before the final performance on May 10!
Recorded in front of a live audience at the fabulous 221B Con [website], this interview plus Q&A with tea lady extraoridinaire Cara McGee is sure to please. Cara first became famous through her line of fandom tea belnds from Adagio and it's only grown.
The audience also asks us some questions, so you're going to learn more about Babes Curly, Lyndsay, Amy, Sarah, and Taylor!
Find Cara's teas [HERE]
Art Blog: ohcararara.tumblr.com
Twitter: @ohcararara
Babes Ardy and Kafers chat to Luke Fredericks and Stewart Charlesworth, whose company Morphic Graffiti just opened a production of The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes, “a music hall musical of elementary magnificence”. Last year, the company staged Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in musical form—this year, they’re tackling our favourite detective. Hooray! We might just break out into song... okay, don’t fear, we left that part to the professionals.
Luke and Stewart tell us why the combination of Holmes and the music hall is a winner, talk about the challenges and high points involved in putting Sherlock Holmes on stage, and the actors and musicians who are now bringing the piece to life. We talk Victorian music hall, costuming, and more!
The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes just opened at Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street, N1 6SH, London, and is running until May 10, 2013. Tickets are available from the Hoxton Hall website, or you can call their box office on 020 7684 0060.
To find out more about Luke, Stewart, and Morphic Graffiti, go to their website.
Babes Curly, Kafers and Ardy chat to Roger Johnson and Jean Upton from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. We talk about the decades of their involvement with the Sherlockian world in Britain and the US, discuss new and old Holmes adaptations on screen, in the theatre, and on the radio, and take a detour into classic movies. They've met a lot of people involved in Sherlockian things, including Jeremy Brett and David Burke, so stay tuned for a bunch of charming stories and anecdotes across the ages.
This episode was recorded in late 2012.
You can buy Roger & Jean's book, A Holmes Miscellany, at the bookshop of your choice, or over here on Amazon.
"A civil action was filed today in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate by Sherlock Holmes scholar Leslie S. Klinger. Klinger seeks to have the Court determine that the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson are no longer protected by federal copyright laws and that writers, filmmakers, and others are free to create new stories about Holmes, Watson, and others of their circle without paying license fees to the current owners of the remaining copyrights."
Babes Lyndsay & Curly chat with Holmesian extraordinaire and vigilante Les Klinger about freeing Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and a host of other characters from copyright.
Also mentioned: Shreffgate, Sherlock Holmes 3 (the movie), Sherlock Gnomes, and some pornography.
You can find all the information about Free Sherlock at http://free-sherlock.com/
And we're back with the fourth and sadly last of Lyndsay's four classes on the Sherlock Holmes stories at the Center for Fiction in Manhattan. This time it's full of lots of Adventures!
Enjoy!
SESSION 4: The Adventures
Readings:
--The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
--The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
--The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
--The Adventure of Lady Frances Carfax
--The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
--"Watson Falls Asleep; Narrative Frustration and Sherlock Holmes" by James Krasner
When Doyle committed himself to writing Sherlock Holmes stories once more, the general public greeted the news giddily. While some of Doyle's later cases borrow structurally from his earlier work, others are as fine and original as any from the pre-Reichenbach collections. We'll consider the function of anxiety in the canon, Krasner's intriguing explication of the highly invested but ultimately frustrated narrator, and to what extent Dr. John Watson is the key to Holmes's overwhelming worldwide popularity. We'll also chat about Doyle's life and marriages and ways his passion for divorce reform influenced his writing (though he never did get on board with voting rights for women, more's the pity), how Inspector G. Lestrade is awesome, why Holmes is the Worst Flatmate on Earth, and compare and contrast a brilliant Gothic horror tale with an absolutely terrible one.
Another BSB authored book is on your shelves! Amy chats with Sarah about her sequel to The Detective & The Woman, this time with a Winking Tree! Learn about her writing process, the dangers of plot bunnies, plus a few announcements of a 221b Con and essay collection nature.
Irene Adler is enjoying a quiet, undisturbed life in Sussex when the mysterious disappearance of a local farmer named James Phillimore throws her world into turmoil and forces her to enlist the aid of her friend and former enemy Sherlock Holmes. Irritated by his flatmate John Watson's romantic inclinations, Holmes journeys to Fulworth to assist The Woman in her investigation. Along the way, the two uncover the darkness, intrigue, scandal, and unexpected loyalty that lie at the heart of a seemingly-innocent village and a case filled with diabolical deception.
You can get The Detective, The Woman, & The Winking Tree below!
We're getting scientific this episode with Mastermind author and psychologist Maria Konnikova! Delving into the psychology of Sherlock Holmes, we learn all about the brain attic, mindfulness, and whether Holmes has Aspergers or is even a sociopath at all. A really fun and incredibly informative episode wherein you'll learn oodles and laugh just as much. Maria is joined by Babes Curly, Lyndsay, Kafers, Amy, Sarah, Ardy, and newcomer Melinda!
Plus, there's a goodie at the end.
Maria’s first book, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, forthcoming from Viking/Penguin in January 2013, was inspired by her “Lessons from Sherlock Holmes” series for Scientific American and follows the legendary detective as he explores the workings of the human mind. It is guided by a central premise: that Sherlock Holmes serves as a near-ideal window into the psychology of how we think and is a rare teacher of how to think better than we naturally do. While those who read the book may not become master detectives, they will certainly learn more about themselves, their minds, and their capabilities, and in so doing, will come closer to the Sherlockian ideal of a thinker who knows how to observe, not merely see, the world around him.
Maria is currently working on an assortment of non-fiction and fiction projects. Her first book, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, will be published by Viking on January 3, 2013. She writes the weekly “Literally Psyched” column for Scientific American, where she explores the intersection of literature and psychology, and formerly wrote the popular psychology blog “Artful Choice” for Big Think. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Slate, The New Republic, The Paris Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Observer, Scientific American MIND, and Scientific American, among other publications. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she studied psychology, creative writing, and government, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Psychology at Columbia University. Before returning to school, she worked as a producer for the Charlie Rose show on PBS.
You can find her on twitter at @mkonnikova and at her website www.mariakonnikova.com
MASTERMIND is now available at Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
Babes Lyndsay, Curly, & Amy chat with two of the team behind racebent comic Watson & Holmes.
WATSON & HOLMES is a modern urban take on the tales of “Sherlock Holmes” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Re-envisioning Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson as African Americans and taking place in New York City’s famous Harlem district, the stories can go in fresh and new directions never traveled before.
Follow the Watson & Holmes team on Twitter at @NPStudios or @bperlowNPS (Brandon Perlow, co-creator) & @jgdude (Justin F. gabrie, senior editor)
Check out http://www.newparadigmstudios.com/about/watson-and-holmes/ and facebook.com/watsonandholmes
Rick, Brandon and Paul also did an interview with with Comics are Great!
Buy Watson & Holmes #1 on ComiXology cmxl.gy/V9vtOi ($0.99) or at your local comic shop!
Buy Baker Street: Honor Among Punks on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Honour-Among-Punks-Complete-Collection/dp/1596878029
And we're back with the third of Lyndsay's four classes on the Sherlock Holmes stories at the Center for Fiction in Manhattan. This time: Hounds, Points, and Baker Street Irregulars.
Enjoy!
SESSION 3: The Hound.
Readings:
--The Hound of the Baskervilles
--"The Hound Isn't the Point" by Lyndsay Faye
Arguably the best of the four novels and certainly the most famous, The Hound of the Baskervilles was published serially between Holmes's "death" and his later resurrection; Doyle suggested that the events took place previous to his demise in Switzerland at the hands of Professor Moriarty.
We'll discuss the iconic legend of the ghostly death hound, Doyle's mastery of Gothic atmosphere, the most famous adaptations of the work, the function of absence and its effects on great suspense writing, and ways in which the novel-length form is singularly ill-suited to Holmes as a character.
At SHERLOPALOOZA, Babes Curly, Kafers, Maria, & Ardy were joined by Sherlock composer Michael Price and blog writer Joe Lidster for a fun filled Q&A. Mostly questions from the audience, it's a fabulous and unlikely double act.
SHERLOPALOOZA was an all day screening of the second series of Sherlock plus a Q&A with two of the artistic crew. It took place on November 17th at the Prince Charles Cinema in London and was hosted by The Baker Street Babes with support from The Sherlock Holmes Society of London.
You can find Michael at www.michaelpricemusic.com, on twitter at @michael__price, and on facebook.
Joe is on twitter at @JoeLidster.
On episode 34, Babes Ardy and Maria get to chat it up with Amy, Maz and Trills, three fabulous ladies who, like many other Holmes fans, have written fan fiction about various incarnations of Holmes and Watson.
We want to know all sorts of things from them! What drives a person to write fan fiction in the first place? What kinds of things do they like to read and write? What do they think about pastiches? How do Holmes and Watson work in an alternate universe where they're pilots, or cats, or space cowboys? What makes them so attractive and enduring to writers and readers?
Our guests have also been involved in fandom as a community, so we talk about the sorts of things that can happen when organising and attending fan events (also known as Lessons in Herding Cats 101).
There are a lot of giggles in this episode, and discussions of all manner of fan fictions. Join us for an interesting and entertaining discussion, and feel free to add your voice to it.
You can follow our guests on Twitter at @flawedamythyst, @mazarin221b, and @trillsabells. Or you can look up these usernames on Archive of our Own to have a look at their fic, if the podcast has whetted your appetite.
We have a new sponsor: Scintillation of Scions! Make sure you check them out at scintillation.org or on Twitter at @scint_of_scions.
Welcome to the second part of Lyndsay Faye's Sherlock Holmes class at the Center for Fiction in Manhattan! This time: Death! Below is Lyndsay's course description for you to follow along.
SESSION 2: The Fall.
--The Final Problem
--The Adventure of the Empty House
--"Fan Fictions: On Sherlock Holmes" by Michael Chabon from Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands
--The Bruce-Partington Plans
--The Creeping Man
--"A Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed himself to be shackled to Holmes to the point of inhibiting projects he deemed more important and artistic; as a result, he summarily killed his most famous character at the Reichenbach Falls. For ten years, the public believed Sherlock Holmes to be deceased.
This circumstance has led to an array of fascinating phenomena within the cult of Sherlockian study. Not only did Doyle inadvertently turn Holmes into a Christ figure who, like all great heroes as explicated in Joseph Campbell's The Hero with A Thousand Faces, confronts death only to rise again, but gaping holes in the plot of both "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" have led to endless fan speculation.
How does "The Final Problem" break numerous rules of good storytelling, and how did these authorial failures transform Holmes from a consulting detective to a mythical hero? In what ways does Michael Chabon's essay illuminate what we love about great literature, and how does Neil Gaiman's award-winning pastiche reflect these concepts?
Michael Chabon's Maps and Legends is available as a book and e-book from Amazon.
Neil Gaiman's short story is collected in the short story anthology A Study in Sherlock, also available from Amazon as hardcover or paperback.
WEARSHERLOCK: A blog that revolves around the wardrobe and props department of the BBC show 'Sherlock', featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Mark Gatiss. This blog showcases the clothes and props seen in the show as well as providing links as to where to buy them. They often host Sherlock related giveaways.
The amazing Caz, who founded and runs Wear Sherlock joins Curly & Kafers (and later on Lyd!) to chat about fashion, props, jumper patterns, and dimsum.
Contains Elementary Spoilers
Elementary, the newest player on the Sherlock Holmes market, premiered on CBS on September 27th. A modern take on Holmes starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu (as femme!Watson), many feared it was a cheap BBC knockoff. Not the case. The Babes take a good look at Elementary, how it relates to the canon and other adaptations. Baseball and the lack of exploding trees make appearances, as does an earnest message that new Holmes is always a good thing. Now about those shoes Joan...
Welcome to a very special series of BSB podcast specials with our very own Lyndsay Faye!
Lyndsay teaches a class about the Sherlock Holmes stories at the Center for Fiction in Manhattan and has kindly agreed to record it for posterity. So now you can listen to her introduction to the Sherlock Holmes canon wherever you are. Here's Lyndsay's class description for the week—and don't forget to do your homework for next month's ![]()
SESSION 1: The Adventures
--A Scandal in Bohemia
--The Red-Headed League
--The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
--The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Sherlock Holmes mysteries are timeless adventure stories, still more popular today than upon their initial appearance in the Strand Magazine. While the two novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four were published first, Holmes as a cultural phenomenon exploded when Doyle adapted the character into a short form hero.
Three of these tales are included in Conan Doyle's "Top Five" List of his own favorite stories, while "The Blue Carbuncle" offers a deliciously atmospheric account of Holmes's deductive abilities.
We'll discuss the style and efficiency of Doyle's prose, the real life inspiration for the character of Holmes, the effect these works wrought on the mystery genre, Victorian London as a major character, and the inherent vigilantism of Holmes's moral compass.
As part of Fandom Summer, Babes Maria, Ardy and Sarah talk to Alicia, Elliot and Matt, who are the masterminds behind the Sherlock Fan Orchestra, a wonderful project that brings the musicians of the Sherlock fandom together to play pieces from the official soundtrack.
Look at their latest video, Pursuit, and make sure you follow them on Twitter: @elliotorin, @matterhines and @alicemundy.
Find out how the logistics of a big fan project work, how long it takes and what work is involved in wrangling a mass of musicians from across the globe to play a piece as a symphonic orchestra. (Hint: it's a lot, and it still sounds like pure magic to us). Also, what crazy instruments have people submitted, and what can we hope for from the orchestra in the future? Listen to the podcast for answers to all these questions and more.
The Sherlock Fan Orchestra is endorsed and supported by the show's cast and crew, including Michael Price and David Arnold, the composers of the soundtrack.
Fandom Summer is upon us!
To kick it off, Babes Ardy, Lyndsay, Taylor and Amy chat it up with Betsy Rosenblatt, who works with the Legal committee of the Organization for Transformative Works.
The OTW runs a lot of fandom-based projects, including the Archive of our Own, a scholarly journal about fan cultures, and a fandom wiki—and they also provide legal advice and advocacy for and on behalf of fannish creators, which is where Betsy (and people like her on the committee) comes in.
We talk to her about the legal issues surrounding fanworks, how much trouble they can potentially get you into, and we discuss listener questions such as the reasons why people create them in the first place, and what it is that makes fandoms like Sherlock Holmes so enduring. Also, we really want to know: what drove her to invest much of her time in this project and how successful is it?
The answer to all these questions lies but a click and a listen away. Enjoy, and let us know your own thoughts on these issues, if you feel so inclined—we love getting listener mail ![]()
In Episode 29, Babes Jenn and Lyndsay sit down with Susan Rice and Mickey Fromkin to talk about The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes and how ASH came to be.
Who are The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes you may ask?
Founded by a group of women students at Albertus Magnus College in the late 1960s and led by Principal Unprincipled Adventuress Evelyn Herzog, ASH achieved early notoriety when its members picketed the Annual Dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars in protest of the BSI policy of excluding women. For the next 25 years ASH thrived with its own (coeducational) dinner on the same January night as the BSI event. When women were finally invited into the BSI in 1991, selected Adventuresses were among the first to be invested.
Both Susan and Mickey not only share the story of ASH, but also their own personal stories of how they became members and found other like-minded women who share their love for our favorite consulting detective.
For more information on The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes you can visit their website or you can email Susan Rice at susan221bee@gmail.com.
You can also subscribe to the ASH publication, The Serpentine Muse.
The Muse is a quarterly journal of ASH activities and (mostly) light-hearted Sherlockian and Victorian topics. Contents include event reports, short articles, toasts, contests, poetry, drawings, and photos of, and by, ASH members and others. It is not necessary to be a member of ASH to subscribe or contribute material for publication in the Muse.
For more information, click here.
A Study In Bart's: Holmes, Watson, and England's Great Hospital. Recorded lecture by Alistair Duncan at St. Bartholomew's Pathology Musuem on 27/06/2012
The famous meeting place of Holmes and Watson, St. Batholomews Hospital is surprisingly rarely featured in adaptations of the stories. Why is this? What series finally gave St. Bart's its due credit? A fantastic lecture by Alistair in which he likens Sherlock Holmes to Britain's super hero.
A PDF of his slides can be found [HERE]
Follow Alistair on twitter at @alistaird221b ¦ His blog is at http://alistaird221b.blogspot.com/
Louise Brealey, who plays Molly Hooper on BBC's Sherlock, was at Collectormania Milton Keynes on a VERY cold Sunday in early June. Without too much of a plan, Babes Curly, Maria, Ardy, and Joanne drove up and nabbed an interview with the incredibly funny and charming actress. Dancing around the stadium in attempts to keep warm, they wandered the stalls, met fans, and danced with Storm Troopers. After a quick interview with a Scottish Darth Vader, they were able to sit down with Louise and chat Sherlock and matching tape recorders. It's delightful.
[Full transcript of this episode]
On New Year's Day 2012, a facebook post stopped The Baker Street Babes in their tracks. Amanda Abbington was asking how to become a Baker Street Babe. After we recovered (it took some time), we began a delightful conversation with Amanda about Sherlock and beyond. After a few months of schedule dancing, work, school, and New Zealand, The Babes (Curly, Ardy, Turk, & Kafers) and Amanda were finally able to meet up and what you're about to listen to and read is what came of it.
We can honestly say this was such a delight and a treat. Not only was it just fun, but it was insightful. Amanda has been dubbed The Queen of Fandom by BBC Sherlock enthusiasts, and rightfully so. she's reached out to fans unlike anyone else, breaking The Fourth Wall and embracing fan culture. Incredibly charming, witty, and caring, she has become quite special to many of us.
Please note this episode was recorded at the end of April and in a restaurant. While perfectly listenable, it may be worthwhile to follow along in the transcript.
For those who don't know, Amanda Abbington is an English actress and comedienne who has appeared on television and stage. She is best known for her roles in the 2005 comedy sketch show Man Stroke Woman and the 2007–2008 comedy After You’ve Gone with Nicholas Lyndhurst. She has also appeared in recurring series such as Coupling, Casualty, and Dream Team. She is the longtime partner of British actor Martin Freeman, who plays John Watson in Sherlock.
She has a facebook group devoted to her, suitably entitled: Amanda Abbington is made of trolls, wit, and perfection. (A partner to her husband's Martin Freeman is made of jam, kittens, and rage.)
You can follow her on twitter at @amandaabbington and her and Martin's delightful (and hysterical) dogs @JodieArchie1
In Sherlock she was the dominatrix that brought a nation to its knees. A far cry from the Adler of canon, but with the same essence of adventure and mischief. Lara Pulver's Irene turned heads and caused controversy, and we feel that's just what Adler of the canon would have wanted. Lara Pulver chats with Curly, Lyndsay, Maria, and Jenn about her turn as The Woman. We geek out about McQueen and sexual identity, and reveal the secret to beating Benedict Cumberbatch at word games.
Lyndsay & Curly do a brief introduction which has Star Trek casting spoilers for Benedict, so if you want to avoid that, skip to 10 minutes in.
A full transcript of this episode is [HERE]
Make sure you watch Sherlock on PBS Masterpiece: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/ And follow along with our live tweets during the show! Next up is The Hounds of Baskerville!
You can follow Lara on twitter at @larapulver
Babes Jenn, Lyndsay, and Amy have a chat with three of the people behind the Steampunk Holmes project. Producer Richard Monson-Haefel, author P.C. Martin, and artist Daniel Cortes talk about how the idea of mashing Sherlock Holmes and steampunk together came to life. Holmes rides a steampunk motorcycle with sidecar! Watson has a bionic arm! Mycroft is a female! How cool is that?!?
The Steampunk Holmes project is authorized by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate and is a labor of love for these three. Currently, they are in need of your help. Steampunk Holmes has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help raise funds to complete their interative iPad application of Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus. Everyone who donates gets some amazing gifts for helping. You can donate here.
As a special thank you to our listeners, the Steampunk Holmes creators are offering a FREE download of the e-pub version of Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus. To claim the free download, go to Smashwords, choose your perferred format of the e-book, and enter the code UN78D when you check out. It's as simple as that!
Trust us. You won't be disappointed.
Our very own Amy Thomas talks to Ardy, Jenn and Sarah about her pastiche The Detective and The Woman, originally written for NaNoWriMo 2011. A short summary: Irene Adler finds herself a widow at thirty-two, wealthy but emotionally broken. At the same time, Sherlock Holmes finds himself unable to return to England after faking his death at Reichenbach Falls and is drawn into an investigation of two men with designs on Irene Adler. The Detective and The Woman throw their lot in together to uncover a dangerous plot. In the process, they meet legendary inventor Thomas Edison and experience life in Florida at the turn of the 20th century.
We want to know all! How did she come up with the idea? What was it like writing a pastiche in the cracks of the Canon? How did she go about getting it published? And did she sleep at all during November last year? There's lots of laughter, lots of love for Holmes and Watson, and Amy finally gives her answers to the BSB questions.
This novel is now available from MX Publishing—we’d appreciate it if you got it from our bookshop because that way, you get a great book and we get some pennies towards bandwidth!
In other news, we are hosting a meetup and flashmob in Trafalgar Square on April 21 in support of the Undershaw Preservation Trust—more information and link to RSVP [HERE]. This is in conjunction with AnotherBohemianSoul’s costumed walk on the same day, more about that [HERE]. We hope to see lots of you there!
Wear Sherlock are inviting contributions for a photo montage to raise awareness of the cause as well—if you want to participate, [HERE]’s how!
Babes Ardy, Amy, Jenn, Maria, Sarah and Taylor chat to Mattias Boström, a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, about “New” and “Old” Sherlockians. Mattias is working on a book about the Sherlock Holmes success story at the moment, so we have plenty to talk about! What does it mean to be a Sherlockian or Holmesian these days? Do people still play The Game? What’s the difference between Sherlockian societies’ meetings and Sherlock meetups? What will happen to the Sherlock Holmes societies when the “Old” and the “New” Sherlockians meet? While we discuss these questions and more, one thing is certain: we are all united in our love for Sherlock Holmes.
As we found out, Mattias is always happy to chat to people about Holmes, so go follow him on Twitter @mattiasb221b!
Special thanks go to Roger Johnson and Carrie Chandler from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, who could not be there in person but provided us with questions for the discussion. You can follow Carrie on Twitter at @carriechandler or @SHSLBakerStweet for official SHSL news.
The book that Mattias mentioned in the episode is Steven Doyle and David Crowder’s Sherlock Holmes for Dummies, which you can buy from the bookseller of your choice.
Michael Price is one half of the brilliant composing team behind BBC's Sherlock. That enough should recommend this episode as a must for any Sherlock fan, let alone music fan. He's composed, edited, and helped with dozens of amazing scores including Lord of the Rings, Band of Brothers, and Casino Royale. He joins Babes Curly, Ardy, Marie, Maria, Amy, and Sarah for a delightful chat about everything Sherlock and beyond. How did he and David get started with the score? What are their favourite tracks? Just how much does he love the fan orchestra, and does he have a cat?
Afterwards Babes Curly, Maria, Ardy, Amy, and Turk chat about their favourite tracks, the pilot, Series 3 hopes, and even a bit about CBS' Elementary. It's full of laughs, quirks, and tons of Sherlock Holmes loving.
Note: You can learn more about and submit things to The Art of Deduction Fanbook by visiting their information page [HERE] It's in support of The Undershaw Preservation Trust (www.saveundershaw.com)
Be prepared for old fashioned English humor, some Bram Stoker chatter, Southern twang, and lots of Sherlock Holmes love (as always). Holmesian authors Gerry O'Hara and Tracey Revels chat with Babes Maria & Taylor about Sherlock Holmes and the supernatural. From Dracula to Titania with a dash of Lord of the Rings and bunnies (what?).
Gerry O’Hara is an English film and television director. O’Hara was an assistant director on Laurence Olivier’s film, Richard III; the Carol Reed film, Our Man in Havana and the Academy Award-winning Tom Jones. O’Hara’s directorial debut was the 1963 cautionary tale That Kind of Girl, about the dangers of contracting venereal disease. During the 1960s, he directed episodes of The Avengers and a film based on a Van Der Valk novel by Nicolas Freeling, Amsterdam Affair. O’Hara directed the highly controversial film The Brute. O’Hara directed and wrote the screenplay for the 1979 film, The Bitch, an adaptation of the Jackie Collins novel. Later television credits include directing and writing episodes of The Professionals, script editor for the ITV series C.A.T.S. Eyes and directing an episode of Press Gang. Most recently he has become a published author, writing Sherlock Holmes & The Affair of Transylvania.
Sherlock Holmes and The Affair In Transylvania is a complete re-telling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, incident by bloody incident. When Dr Watson tells Holmes the distressing news that his niece’s husband is missing on a visit to Count Dracula, the great detective decides that he and Watson should journey to Transylvania.
Tracy Revels is a professor of history at Wofford College in South Carolina, and author of a few Sherlock Holmes pastiches! The most notable is Shadowfall.
When the sacred relics and mystical objects of London begin disappearing, Sherlock Holmes must call on more than his powers of deduction to solve a mystery that threatens the safety of the British Empire and Doctor Watson’s mortal soul.
And we’re happy to say a sequel was written, entitled Shadowblood.
A sequel to Shadowfall, this novel continues the adventures of Holmes as a man of two worlds, gifted with both deductive and magical powers. The convalescing Watson’s country holiday is brought to an abrupt end when an eccentric recluse named Edgar Telfair demands that Holmes investigate his daughters disappearance. Holmes’ refusal to take the case is followed by Telfair’s sudden, horrific slaying. The act revives Watson’s suppressed memories of the Shadows and reintroduces him to Holmes s double life. Together Holmes and Watson must find Alice Telfair, a witch whose shocking powers are obtained through blood magic, the vilest form of sorcery. Tracking her from Paris to Prague to America, they soon learn that she is traveling with a shadowy figure equally as dangerous. Old friends, including Lestrade and Mycroft, assist Holmes and Watson in their quest. In America the pair enlists new allies: a Pinkerton agent with a past, a Seminole showman, a blind photographer whose cameras capture the spirit world, and a strange little boy destined for a frightening future. But Holmes and Watson are being stalked, not only by Alice Telfair and her hideous assistant, but also by a mysterious interloper whose quest for justice stretches from beyond the grave.
Joe Lidster is the talent behind BBC Sherlock's blogs (John Watson's Blog, The Science of Deduction, Molly Hooper's Blog, & The Connie Prince website). With a fabulous writing repetoire including Doctor Who & Torchwood, it's no wonder he is a BBC fav. Babes Curly & Marie (plus Curly's snarky flatmate/BSB Science guru Stephen) got to sit down with Joe after hearing his great talk at BAFTAGames' Transmedia Meetup.
It’s a brilliant episode and loads of fun. We chat with him about our love for Molly Hooper, how he got into Sherlock Holmes, jellyfish, viagra, getting into character, and generally a lot of gushing about Sherlock. We talk a bit about the #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK campaign as well. Warning, there are spoilers for Sherlock Series 2.
You can follow Joe on twitter at @joelidster , he loves getting new followers haha, though apologizes if he only talks about lunch and going to the pub.
The event was hosted by @BAFTAGames, and the folks there are amazing. Seriously, if you’re in London, you need to follow them on twitter. They have tons of free events and talks.
It's John Watson Appreciation Hour (and a half!) Spoilers for Sherlock Series 2 and A Game of Shadows. This episode is dedicated to John Watson, the steadfast soldier and friend. To the man who is always there, even to the bitter end. He is the man who is a friend to Sherlock Holmes, the man who calls him out on being an annoying dick, and the man who believes in him. John Watson is more than the everyday man, he is each and every one of us, the audience surrogate taking us along on the wild ride of his misadventures in and out of London. He is the best friend of the cleverest man in the world, the healer, the soldier, and the lover. He is John Watson and we fucking love him.
What are your favorite Dr. Watson moments from the canon? Who is your favorite John Watson on screen? If you could go on a date with Dr. Watson where would you go (because let’s be honest, Dr. John “Three Continents” Watson would definitely take you on a date)? Any questions about the good doctor?
Nearly all the Baker Street Babes take you through an episode of John Watson love. THANK YOU to everyone who helped donate and our new sponsor, The Baker Street Journal!
Additional content, including media, for this episode is on our website and tumblr.
"It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Sherlock Holmes was distinguised."
- The Final Problem
SPOILERS FOR THE REICHENBACH FALL!
On the 15th of January, 2011, we and upwards of 8million other people in the UK (and beyond) were staring at out television, tissues and wine in hand. It is the night of The Reichenbach Fall and The Final Problem. "My best friend, Sherlock Holmes, is dead..." a broken John Watson reveals to his therapist, and we start our emotional roller coaster of the Sherlock Series 2 finale.
Babes Curly, Ardy, Jenn, Turk, Amy, Maria, and Marie mull over Reichenbach. We console, we laugh, we theorize, and we declare our everlasting love for Molly Hooper. Why did Mycroft do what he did? Did Sherlock really believe he was going to die? We discuss so much and with such passion because this is the show that started off this podcast. So we discuss the brilliant directing and editing and performances, as well as the larger impact, and how we've all been hit by an emotional bus of crying and heartbreak.
How did he do it? Moriarty in Sherlock's clothes? Well places rubbish truck? Rhodedendrun a la Guy Ritchie? Magical unicorn? We discuss our theories, our hopes for The Empty House, and our continual heartbreak over this amazing piece of television.
In all seriousness, this is what acting and storytelling is about. Sherlock is the epitome of what television should be, what art should be. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Andrew Scott, and everyone involved in this production deserve every award possible. Thank you Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat for an amazing series, and thank you Steve Thompson for Reichenbach.
SPOILERS FOR THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLE!
As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor. It's Episode 17! 17 steps in Baker Street! This makes us happy. Anywho... join Ardy, Curly, Marie, Turk, Taylor, and new BSBs Amy and Maria as we discuss, flail over, and debate the second episode of Sherlock's new series. The modern update of Hounds is clever and full of intense character development. Rife with canon references, it's still recognizable as the ACD classic, but with some twists. We discuss how Sherlock's breakdown is crucial to what is to come, why the experiment on John needed to happen, and how poor dear Russell Tovey broke our hearts. Pleased with the Undershaw and Fletcher Robinson references, and debate over some other scenes, this is a full on discussion episode that we promise you'll enjoy.
We also take questions from listeners. Does Sherlock have Aspergers? Why do we call next week's episode The-Episode-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named? And is a new dance craze sweeping the nation? #DoTheMindPalace and find out.
Ardy has written up a fantastic annotated accompainment to The Hounds of Baskerville, which you can read here
SPOILERS FOR A SCANDAL IN BELGRAVIA! It's been a year and a half since The Great Game pitted Sherlock and Jim Moriarty against one another, and we finally find out how it was resolved...
BBC Sherlock's hotly anticipated return came in with 11million viewers on New Year's Day, and blew our minds away with Irene Adler. Join Curly, Kafers, Taylor, Marie, Turk, and Sigita as they chatter on about the episode, what they loved, what (some) hated, and how much we love Paul McGuigan... seriously Paul, marry us.
We suspect not all of you will agree with us, hell, we don't agree with each other (which is fine!). Please talk with us on our facebook page, tumblr site, and twitter. We'd love to continue the debate.
Towards the end we get a little silly, but we're allowed to. So deal
.
And let it be known, if you want to kidnap John Watson, just send a pretty girl.
SPOILERS FOR GAME OF SHADOWS! Babes Curly, Ardy, Taylor, and Marie chat with Honorary Babe Lyndsay Faye about the Guy Ritchie sequel. We fawn over Jared Harris, applaud antithesis, bitch over the ladies, and laugh a ridiculous amount, as well as get a little sad. But most importantly we discuss Guy Ritchie's alarming hatred of trees. Star Wars and Batman make appearances, as Lyndsay's monkey voice.
As a BONUS, we also talk about the new Sherlock Series 2 trailers (that were out as of 12/20), our excitement bubbling over about the new series, and how, when it comes to it, Sherlock will always beat Guy Ritchie's films. Maybe if he didn't hate trees so much. There are NO SPOILERS for Sherlock Series 2 discussed if you have seen the trailers released by the BBC. Don't worry, we wouldn't do that to you.
Stay tuned for a message about SherlockNYC's AMAZING events in The Big Apple. http://www.sherlocknyc.com/
Just in time for Game of Shadows, our interview with Les Klinger is a knock out. Sherlockian scholarship and Brad Pitt jumping his neighbor's fence, this episode is as much of us interviewing him as it is just a full on discussion of why we love Sherlock Holmes, in all his forms. Learn all about his dinner date with Robert Downey Jr, A Study in Sherlock, and quite a bit of banter!
Babes: Curly, Ardy, and Jenn.
Stayed tuned also from a message from Maria (from Episode 2!) about The German Sherlock Holmes Society, Undershaw, and Sherlocon! A Sherlock Holmes convention happening at the end of August, 2012! Find out more at http://www.dshc.de/
You can follow Les on Twitter @lklinger and go to his website http://www.lesliesklinger.com
Les Klinger is a legend in the Sherlockian world. He is the editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, a three book edition of all of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes fiction with extensive annotations, “hailed as the definitive exegesis of Holmes and his times;” the book won an Edgar Award.
He is the consultant of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. He also edited the scholarly ten-volume Sherlock Holmes Reference Library, a heavily annotated edition of the entire Sherlock Holmes canon, and The New Annotated Dracula, an annotated version of Bram Stoker’s novel.
He published two collections of classic fiction in 2011, In the Shadow of Dracula and In the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes, both from IDW. In 2011, he co-edited with Laurie R. King The Grand Game, a two-volume collection of classical Sherlockian scholarship, published by The Baker Street Irregulars, and A Study in Sherlock, a collection of stories by all-star writers inspired by the Sherlock Holmes tales (Random House).
Klinger is a member of the Sherlock Holmes literary club called The Baker Street Irregulars, as well as numerous other Sherlockian societies. He served three terms as chapter president of the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. He is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Horror Writers Association (and currently serves on the Board of HWA), the Dracula Society, and the Transylvanian Society of Dracula.
He’s also just a really nice guy.
Never have we had a more important episode than this. Undershaw was the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1897 to 1907, and the residence where he wrote The Hound of The Baskervilles and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, as well as his piece on The great Boer War which earned him a knighthood. Many literary giants visited him within these personally designed walls, including J.M. Barrie, Bram Stoker, and Virginia Wolfe... not to mention his own illustrator Sidney Paget. This episode speaks with The Undershaw Preservation Trust's Lynn Gale and author of "An Entirely New Country," Alistair Duncan about the plight of Undershaw, why it needs to be saved, and how we're trying to do that.
The Waverly Borough Council wants to chop up this historic home into blocks of flats while The Undershaw Preservation Trust and its supporters want to preserve the home as a museum, working literary center, and a place for Sherlock Holmes fans to walk in the footsteps of the prolific writer.
The date for the Judicial Review to try and stop the developers is announced during this episode, as well as the airing of Caitlin Obom's anthem for Undershaw, "Not Our Glory." Listen also for details on Alistair's new book about Conan Doyle's time at Undershaw and the surrounding country. There's a lot of passion in this episode, but also a lot of laughs, and even some anger. It's an important one.
Babes: Curly, Ardy, and Marie
Guests: Lynn Gale and Alistair Duncan
For information on Undershaw please go to...
www.saveundershaw.com
Follow @spiritangel04 and @Save_Undershaw
The Undershaw Preservation Trust on Facebook
For news from Alistair Duncan...
http://alistaird221b.blogspot.com/
Follow @alistaird221b
Buy "An Entirely New Country" here

Anthony Horowitz in the author of The House of Silk, a book that has the Sherlockian and Holmesian world reeling. Endorsed by The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate, some have called it canon, while others say it's just another pastiche. Babe, Jenn sits down with the popular author of the Alex Rider series and talks the story, how it came about, what fueled it, and who Anthony would have tea with.
Please note that while the majority of background noise has been removed, this interview took place in a hotel lobby and there may be some doors slamming.
You can buy The House of Silk now at all major bookstores and online.
Remember, we're online! Facebook - Twitter - tumblr and of course at www.bakerstreetbabes.com
The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate took place on November 10th, featuring audience members from over 20 countries and panelists from all walks of Sherlockiana, including yours truly! The Baker Street Babes captained Team 1: BBC Sherlock in the debate to see which Sherlock Holmes adaptation has the most prolific effect on the 21st Century audience, keeping the spirit of Sherlock Holmes alive and expanding its notoreity.
We had an AMAZING team, which included;
Babes Curly, Ardy, Taylor, and Jenn, Jules, Emma, and David from Sherlockology, Roger Johnson of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, Charlotte Ann Walters (Barefoot on Baker Street) and Dan Andriacco (Baker Street Beat) of Episode 10, and Kate Workman.
Seriously, thank you all SO much. We are happy to share this with you all, and we hope you enjoy!
You can read more about the debate at MX Publishing's tumblr here
You can find the slides with expanded arguments at the following link: Final Slides This way you can even follow along with the audio!
Many thanks to Steve Emecz for organizing the debate, which was no small feat.
The iconic illustrator of Sherlock Holmes was accidentally Sidney Paget. In this episode we take a look at the image he created for Sherlock Holmes that still resonates today, as well as why poor Watson isn't known for anything other than his mustache, and why Moriarty can't swim. Some Chinese, some Christmas wishlists, and enough laughter to go around as always, Episode 11 features Babes Curly, Jenn, and Kafers.
Stick around for a message from Ardy and a beautiful song called 'Science of Deduction' by Rhiannon, aka http://kitten-rage.tumblr.com
And be sure to check out our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TheBakerStreetBabes
Curly speaks with authors Charlotte Walters, of Barefoot On Baker Street, and Dan Andriacco of Baker Street Beat about their writing, their love of Holmes, and The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate. Listen to find out who Charlotte would have tea with from the canon, how Reichenbach Falls turns off and on, and some insight on the arguments Team BBC Sherlock will be putting up for The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate. This plus a special birthday announcement and a Hound Of The Baskervilles parody song from A Study In Scandal in Toronto, performed by Karen Campbell and Craig Brink of The Bootmakers of Toronto.
Info on The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate
The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate takes place online on Thursday 10th November at 8pm GMT (3pm EST).
Charlotte's Blog: Barefoot On Baker Street
Dan's Blog: Baker Street Beat
Baker Street Babes' Bookshop: http://www.bakerstreetbabesbookshop.com/
In this episode the Babes discuss television shows that are inspired by Sherlock Holmes, including House, The Mentalist, Doctor Who, Monk, and Psych. We also welcome Honorary (and Lithuanian) Babe, Sigita, to help with the analysis.
In this episode, Babe Ardy, with her Helpers Sarah and Amy take on board Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, fresh off a two-week promotional tour for the latest book in the series, The Pirate King. Apart from the world of swashbuckling on the silver screen and women in the canon (with a particular emphasis on blondes), we also talk about Sherlockian scholarship, Russell on screen, and how to successfully cross the worlds of Edwardian England and modern-day San Francisco.
For your further edification, links to things we mention in this episode:
You can find out all about Laurie on her website, and if you’re on Twitter, you can follow Mary Russell and Les Klinger.
In the great battle of nefarious naughty boys, will Charles August Milverton or Professor Moriarty prove victorious? Babes Curly, Ardy, Jenn, & Kafers tackle the villains of the Sherlock Holmes world in this chatty and slightly cracky episode. We talk about everyone from darling Milvy to dark and dastardly Stapleton to maybe sympathetic Jefferson Hope.
Moriarty, of course, gets his time to shine as we talk about the various incarnations of his character including BBC Sherlock's Andrew Scott and the slightly corpse-like Russian version. On a scale of one to ten, how likely is this John Watson to shoot a tiger? Oh, don't know what we're talking about? Well, obviously you need to listen!
There is a fun new song about Moriarty at the end by the ever so talented Caitlin Obom, and MAJOR thanks to everyone who sent in questions and comments. Enjoy! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Taylor got to sit on the BritTrack/Sherlock panel at Dragon*Con the first weekend in September in Atlanta, Georgia and recorded the whole thing! While the panel wasn't spoiler-free, this recording is, in respect to those of you who don't want to know the details of Series 2.
Listen for interesting questions, comments, and discussions on not only BBC's Sherlock, but for the canon, Basil Rathbone, and Granada as well. Enjoy the deep Southern accents, the snickers, the boos, the mumbles, and everything in between (including some Doctor Who)... and to the poor soul who kept coughing, we hope you feel better!
btw, not to bug... buuut we're dangerously close to going over our bandwidth again.. our insanely upgraded bandwidth. Please consider donating or buying something from the shop! Love you! xx
Lyndsay Faye, author of the Sherlock Holmes pastiche Dust & Shadow, graces us with her amazing presence in NYC for a fantastic interview. Babes Curly & Jenn talk with Lyndsay at length about our favourite Consulting Detective, pastiche work, why there can't be a Watson without a Holmest (and vis versa), sexuality, and cake... what? This interview is seriously fantastic and every Sherlock Holmes fan needs to listen.
Afterwards Ardy, Taylor, and Curly talk more about pastiches, as well as fan fiction, telling you where to find some good ones and where to find some rather interesting ones. Learn everything you need to know about the Sherlock Holmes copyright, and join Jenn & Curly for a "Watson Adventure" with out report on our amazing scavanger hunt in Greenwich Village, NYC.
Lyndsay Faye can be found at http://www.lyndsayfaye.com/ and @LyndsayFaye
Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes has caused a lot of controversy with Sherlockians and Holmesians alike, so Babes: Curly, Kafers, Ardy, and Taylor take it on. Why they love it, what they don't love about it... and why is the Bromance JUST SO AMAZING?!
We welcome new BSB Taylor into the crew, rescue Ardy from Skype Purgatory, weigh in on Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler, and let you know about some fabulous things including a Rupert Graves shot glass and a bunch of Scots that are making Sherlock Holmes headway of their own. It's Episode 5 and it's less than an hour long!! Also listen to the hauntingly beautiful Ghosts of Baker Street by Sam Hoare at the end. It's quite lovely.
The Sherlock Holmes Society of Scotland (The Self Important Scotland Yarders) can be found @SHolmesScotland and Barry's blog is here! http://bit.ly/qGtkgI
Sam Hoare: I'm 16, from Oxford, UK. I sing, and have done basically since I discovered the function of vocal chords, and I've written song since I could hold a pencil. I play the guitar (self taught) and I write my own songs, an equal mix between fandom and original. I write stuff for Doctor Who, Sherlock and Harry Potter. They're basically my life. I love Sherlock, and the original Sherlock Holmes books, and have found that the fandom has very quickly become my favourite of all time, because the people are so creative and lovely, and so supportive of whatever random creation I throw at them to give opinions on. And, I hope to definitely move out to London and attempt to make a career out of writing and performing my own songs, be them about silly things that I become obsessed with or real, serious musician things. Listen to more of Sam's songs at Soundcloud and @SamSailsShips
Babes: Curly, Ardy, and Jenn look at the Women in Sherlock Holmes, both canon and BBC, beyond Irene Adler (though we chat about her too!) Join us as we look at the role of women in Victorian times and the stories themselves, compare them with other Victorian heroines, look at the strong ones and weak ones alike, and try and grapple with the BBC!Verse women. Most importantly though! We answer questions from all of you!! We have some news to tell as well, a favour to ask, and a song about a snarky and sexy Blackberry loving lady at the end. It's The Baker Street Babes and it is Episode 4!
Babes: Curly, Kafers, Ardy, Jenn
Special Guest: Trudi
We're geeking out this episode with discussions on Victorian England and London, as well as a proper ode to the Granada Television Series! Join along as we giggle about chamber pots, the workhouses of London, and poisonous French ladies! We've got a Sherlock Season 2 Set Report, a PA about Undershaw, more fabulous news, more fabuous canon, and a fabulous song in honor of the fabulous Martin Freeman!
Make sure to check out the reading list and 1892 Strand Magazine companion piece on our website! http://bakerstreetbabes.blogspot.com/
Yay! Episode 2!!!
(Babes: Curly, Kafers, Turk)
We get the chance to talk with legendary Caitlin Obom of Purple Shirt and Martin: Jumpers and Jam fame. We also have a special guest from Germany, Maria! A grand interview with Caitlin as well as a discussion on the fans of Sherlock Holmes and how fandom has remained strong from the Victorian Age to Today. We review Emperor & Gallilean with Andrew Scott and give you the full details from Mark Gatiss' Q&A at the screening of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. We've added a new special section and have tacked on Caitlin's newest song at the end.
Enjoy! xx
Check out more of Caitlin's work! Twitter + Tumblr + YouTube
Disclaimer: This episode will be remastered to fix sound issues, also, we now realize we are not the first Sherlock Holmes podcast. Apologies to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, our Google-fu failed us.
Our very first podcast! Meet the Baker Street Babes! In our first episode we talk about how we got into Sherlock Holmes, our favourite stories and characters, as well as taking a look at BBC's Sherlock's Series Two titles... we know the canon, now what are they going to do with it? Plus! News from the cast of Sherlock as well as the Undershaw Preservation Trust. We have songs, we have German, we have French, we have laughs and theories! We hope you enjoy!
The Baker Street Babes theme song was composed and recorded by Caitlin Obom
Listening to podcasts on your mobile devices is extremely convenient -- and it's what makes the podcasting medium so powerful.