“An extraordinary assortment!”
Man on the moon
Sad to hear the news today that Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon has died (25 August 2012), aged 82.
Holmes maintained that if the earth travelled round the sun or the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to him or his work (Stud). Was he being serious or just pulling Watson’s leg?
Bangladeshi Sherlock Holmes
Alex Kane, writing in his latest ‘Viewing and Listening Guide’ (w/c 26 August 2012) has been letting his readers know about a rather different take on the great detective which aired on Channel Nine UK this morning (Sunday 26 August at 9am). Probably only a limited number of us have access to this channel, which broadcasts to the UK on Sky 834 but the following promo on You Tube will give a taste of what you might be missing.
There’s a translation facility available and more stuff on this, also on You Tube, if you look a little further.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJS8YXZ-zo0
More glittering prizes for Sherlock
For the second year running, the BBC’s Sherlock has picked up the Terrestrial Programme of the Year award at the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. The show also won the Network and Ones to Watch Programme Choice award. The star-studded ceremony took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 24 August 2012.
http://www.sherlockology.com/news/2012/8/24/mgeitf-channel-of-the-year-awards-2012-24082012
Benedict on parade
Benedict Cumberbatch was on the sofa on the One Show last Friday (BBC1, 24 August 2012), talking about his brand new costume drama Parade’s End and his upcoming roles in Star Trek 2 and The Hobbit. Did he slip in anything about Sherlock when he was chatting away to Chris Evans and Alex Jones? Click on this link to watch the show (limited time only).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01m696l/The_One_Show_24_08_2012/
You can also read about his controversial remarks concerning Downton Abbey here.
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-08-17/is-benedict-cumberbatch-heading-for-downton-abbey
Elementary Update
The pilot episode of Elementary will be shown on TV screens in the US and Canada on 27 September 2012. Series 1, which consists of 12 episodes, will follow (so that makes 13 episodes in total). No news of the UK date as yet but we would expect to see it on our screens before October is through. Sky Living has secured the UK rights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_(TV_series)
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20120810cbs02/
A Touch of Cloth
Charlie Brooker’s new spoof TV crime drama stars John Hannah as DCI Jack Cloth. A Touch of Cloth parodies the last decade of British police procedurals, good and bad. Part 1 is due to air on Sky1 tonight (Sunday 26 August) at 9pm, with the concluding part tomorrow (Monday 27 August) at the same time. You can catch BBC Radio4’s Front Row review here (for a limited time).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01m183k/Front_Row_Booker_T
_novelist_cricketers_and_Charlie_Brookers_new_comedy/
Here’s Sky’s link to the show.
http://sky1.sky.com/a-touch-of-cloth/a-touch-of-cloth-gallery
Cricket revival
AA Milne, JM Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle were among the writers who played in the Authors cricket team, a group of enthusiasts who last took to the crease in 1912. 100 years on, the team is being revived. Catch BBC Radio4’s Front Row item on this at the following link (limited time only). The programme also included an interview with the great Booker T.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01m183k/Front_Row_Booker_T
_novelist_cricketers_and_Charlie_Brookers_new_comedy/
Still A Point of View
In our last Bulletin (no.91) we told you about John Gray reflecting on ‘the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes’ in the A Point of View slot on BBC Radio4 (17 August 2012). Here’s an article about it which you may care to read.
You can still listen to the programme on the iPlayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lv7z1/A_Point_of_View
_Sherlock_Holmes_and_the_Romance_of_Reason/
Near the knuckle?
Billiards has been in the news this past week, which made us think about the various references to the game in the stories. We know from Danc that Watson played billiards with his friend Thurston. And there are no less than four mentions of billiard-rooms, including the one at Appledore Towers, home of “The worst man in London” (Chas). It was also said that Lord Mount-James “could chalk his billiard-cue with his knuckles” (Miss). Need we say more?
A sting in the tale
Holmes, who was the author of the Practical Handbook of Bee Culture (Last), and kept bees at his retirement home (Lion), would have appreciated the tale of how some thieves were chased-off by a swarm of bees.
Mastermind on the Master
One of the contestants on Mastermind (BBC2, Friday 24 August 2012) chose the ‘Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’ as his specialist subject. You can find how he got on at this link. It’s only available until Friday 31 August.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01m9l71/Mastermind
Dandy’s December Deadline
Following up our piece in Bulletin 90, we noted that the Dandy will make its last print appearance in December. However, some of the characters will get a new lease of life online and the Dandy Annual will continue.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/dandy-comic-print-last-issue-december-142109803.html