I Grok Sherlock

  The Speckled Band comes first on all sorts of Sherlockian ‘Best Of’ lists. It was Conan Doyle’s favourite Holmes story, even though, by his own admission he couldn’t always remember its name. Julia Stoner has died from something so terrifying she cannot name it, screaming only ‘It was the band, the speckled band!’ Now […] The post Ep. 10 – The Speckled Band Part 1 appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985, Dir. Barry Levinson) is showing at 6pm Thursday, Sept 14 2017 at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St. just north of Bloor). It’s in the Hinton Learning Centre and its FREE as part of the excellent POP Sherlock Exhibit. Mike and Geordie will be there getting streeter-style reactions from viewers […] The post Sept. 14 2017 – Young Sherlock Holmes at Toronto Reference Library appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

The Blue Carbuncle asks how a precious gemstone finds its way into the probably chimerical gullet cavity of a Christmas goose. And in the summary, Geordie completely forgets to explain this. The only Holmes story set at Christmas time, it is much adapted and a great favourite for underlining seasonal sentiments. That’s why we’re presenting […] The post Ep. 9 – The Blue Carbuncle appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

The Man with the Twisted Lip is Geordie’s favourite Holmes story – so here is over 2 hours of why. Was Neville St. Clair murdered in an opium den by the vile beggar Hugh Boone? How do the various TV and film versions stack up? And why does Mrs. Watson refer to her husband as […] The post Ep. 8 – The Man with the Twisted Lip appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

This is really a preface to The Man With the Twisted Lip, coming on July 17. Happy listening! The post Footnote 6 – Types of London Beggar appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

OK, it’s really only one addendum, but I couldn’t resist. Our listener(s) write(s) in to help us remember things we can’t. If I write any more there will be no need to actually listen. The post The Five Orange Addenda appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

The Five Orange Pips is one of a handful of Sherlock Holmes stories in which Holmes completely fails. He sends client John Openshaw out the door at Baker Street only for Openshaw to be murdered minutes later. Indeed, far from seeming to be remorseful about the client’s death, Holmes takes the murder as an affront […] The post Ep. 7 – The Five Orange Pips appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Playwright Harold Pinter (1930-2008) was famous for writing as people really spoke. Or at least how people spoke in the Britain of the 1950s/60s/and ’70s. There is almost no exposition to explain what is happening. Context comes from stage direction and what, inevitably perhaps, became known in the world of theatre as a “Pinter pause”- […] The post Footnote 5 – What if Holmes had been written by Harold Pinter appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

That famous hat that Holmes wears? It’s called a deerstalker cap. Part 2, of The Boscombe Valley Mystery in which we indulge our curiosity about the origins of the deerstalker and do our best to factually verify or debunk different theories about why this type of hat has become so indelibly associated with Sherlock Holmes. […] The post Ep. 6A – The Boscombe Valley Mystery Part 2 – Enter the Deerstalker appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Today, a chilling story called ‘Nothing of Value’ by Alan Bradley. It’s to be found in the anthology Beyond Baker Street, edited by Michael Harrison. It was the inspiration for a story by Geordie Telfer, To Be Young Again, presented on Feb. 21, or 2/21. Happy Listening! The post Footnote 4 – Nothing of Value by Alan Bradley appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

This one has everything – a gory murder, a callow youth, a lovely young woman, and mysterious cries of ‘Cooey’ in the woods. As they have in the past, Mike and Geordie have so much to say that they’ve split this one in two – we could say it’s for greater thematic clarity (which it […] The post Ep. 6 – The Boscombe Valley Mystery Pt. 1 – Yellowbacks on the Outback appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Yay! Listeners write in to correct us on errors we made (some of which we suspected, but were not positive, we were making.) We’re always pleased to hear from listeners! Thanks, everyone.     The post Correction to Footnote #3 appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Mike and Geordie realize they’ve never asked each other how they got into Sherlock Holmes. Hilarity ensues. Well, not  hilarity so much as plenty of banter in our usual inimitable way. Television and pop-culture play a perhaps not-so-surprising role in introducing our past selves to the man in the hat. You’ll also get to hear Mike’s […] The post Footnote #3 – How We Met Sherlock appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

Our first guest! Author, journalist, and co-host of the podcast Ada’s Sisters, Angela Misri joins Mike and Geordie to discuss her Portia Adams Mysteries book series – and this week’s short story, A Case of Identity. We all agree that this is a frustrating story, in which the deception is ingenious, but all (and we […] The post Ep. 5 – A Case of Identity with guest Angela Misri appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

To celebrate February 21st being 2/21, here is the story of the first piece of writing that Geordie ever got published, fittingly a Sherlock Holmes short. Upon listening back, at least one of the podcasters finds the story of the story to be more entertaining than the story itself–but you can judge for yourselves. The post Footnote 2 – February 21 is 2/21 appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

The Red Headed League was one of Conan-Doyle’s 12 favourite Holmes stories and it regularly makes Sherlockian Top 10 lists. Here at igroksherlock, we believe that is for the following reasons: it’s an ideal example of short story writing; it’s rich with the jabs of sharp comedy that pop-up in early Holmes stories, but fade […] The post Ep. 4 – The Red Headed League appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

So urgently did we need to tell you all the stuff we forgot about ‘A Scandal in Bohemia,’ that we’re giving you this bonus of 10-ish minutes of …  more stuff, really. The post Ep. 3A – A Scandalous Addendum appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ is the first of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories. Published monthly in the new Strand Magazine, starting in 1891, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes turned Holmes into a phenomenon. They also made Conan Doyle famous and, eventually, rich. It is in this story that we first meet the infamous Irene […] The post Ep. 3 – A Scandal in Bohemia appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

January 6th is reckoned by some to be Holmes’ birthday, mainly because it’s the 12th day / night of Christmas and Twelfth Night is the only Shakespeare play that Holmes quotes twice. Also, in the opening of The Valley of Fear, which takes place on January 7th, Holmes comes across as (according to some, but […] The post Footnote 1 – Happy Birthday Sherlock! appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.

In this episode, we pick up from where we left off last time – about to discuss ‘Adaptations in Different Media’ for The Sign of Four. To our surprise Sign of Four is one of the most frequently filmed stories. You’ll discover the largely forgotten (by non-Sherlockians) actor Arthur Wontner, who put in five solid […] The post Ep. 2B – The Sign of Four Part 2 appeared first on I Grok Sherlock.