Young Adult Classics--The Hound of the Baskervilles

Starred review from November 24, 2014
Of all Doyle’s stories about the redoubtable Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and chronicler Dr. John Watson, arguably the best known is their investigation into what appears to be a homicidal “gigantic hound” pursuing the Baskerville clan. There have been numerous film, radio, and television adaptations, but rarely has one been as flat-out entertaining as this radio-like full-cast performance, directed by Alexis Jacknow and recorded before a live audience. Much of this is due to the clever script by Pichette and Wright, which includes most of Doyle’s original plot but manages to be as humorous as it is thrilling and, though set in Victorian times, ends with a refreshingly contemporary noirish twist. Assisted by splendid sound effects, the cast performs with energy, enthusiasm, and invention. For example, Moira Quirk portrays the 221B Baker Street housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, with an amusingly flippant attitude. Seamus Dever is a sharp-witted and sharp-tongued Holmes, but, as in the novel, the character spends quite a bit of time observing events from afar (and is therefore often away from the mike). In his absence, Watson and potential victim Sir Henry Baskerville carry the plot, with Geoffrey Arend presenting the good doctor as a capable and humane straight man considerably out-charmed by actor James Marsters’s Sir Henry. The production also features comments by Leslie S. Klinger, editor of the Edgar Allan Poe Award–winning New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.

Attentive listeners may find themselves checking their ears as they listen to this classic Sherlock Holmes story. Is it a full-cast recording? Actually, no. All of these marvelously individualized voices are the work of David Timson, whose Sherlock Holmes speaks with arrogance and crackling intelligence and whose Scots country folk speak in pronounced accents. Aided by judiciously orchestrated music to set the mood and signal transitions, Timson brings this classic tale of suspense to vivid life. He understands Conan Doyle's pacing and even makes some of the author's blockier expository passages flow smoothly. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine