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The Rivals: Tales of Sherlock Holmes’ Rival Detectives

16 BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramas

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The Rivals: Tales of Sherlock Holmes’ Rival Detectives

By: Robert Barr, Julius Chambers, R. Austin Freeman, Arthur B. Reeve, Matthias McDonnel Bodkin, Jacques Futrelle, Arthur Morrison, Ernest Bramah, Louisa Pirkis, Chris Harrald, Anna Katherine Green, Edgar Allan Poe
Narrated by: Tim Piggott-Smith, John Sessions, Andrew Scott, Tim McInnerny, Honeysuckle Weeks, Paul Rhys, James Fleet, Anton Lesser
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About this listen

The complete collection of all 16 episodes from this gripping BBC Radio crime series

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard was made to look a fool in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Now he gets his own back, introducing 16 tales of detectives whose abilities rival that of the great Sherlock Holmes.

Starring James Fleet (series one, three and four) and Tim Piggott-Smith (series two) as Lestrade, with casts featuring Andrew Scott, Paul Rhys, Anton Lesser, Honeysuckle Weeks, Rupert Vansittart, John Sessions, Marcia Warren and Tim McInnerny.

Dramatised for radio by Chris Harrald, these stories are written by masters of the crime and thriller genre, all contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle.

They include:
"The Murders on the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle
"Murder by Proxy" by Matthias McDonnel Bodkin
"The Mystery of Redstone Manor" by Catherine Louisa Pirkis
"The Problem of the Superfluous Finger" by Jacques Futrelle
"The Clue of the Silver Spoons" by Robert Barr
"The Intangible Clue" by Anna Katharine Green
"The Game Played in the Dark" by Ernest Bramah
"The Kinght's Cross Signal Problem" by Ernest Bramah
"A Snapshot" by Matthias McDonnel Bodkin
"Seven, Seven, Seven - City" by Julius Chambers
"The Moabite Cipher" by R Austin Freeman
"The Clairvoyants" by Arthur B. Reeve
"The Stanway Cameo Mystery" by Arthur Morrison
"The Secret of Dunstan's Tower" by Ernest Bramah
"The Mystery of the Scarlet Thread" by Jacques Futrelle

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko (series one) and Liz Webb (series two, three, four)

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Anthologies & Short Stories Historical Suspense Traditional Detectives Funny
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What listeners say about The Rivals: Tales of Sherlock Holmes’ Rival Detectives

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BBC radio at its finest

As with any collection of stories, there is some you like better than others, putting Lestrade in all of the different detective stories, was a great way of tying them together. A definite recommendation, for anyone who likes classic detective fiction.

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Great listening- narration and stories

These are great. Came to an end all too soon! More of these would be great.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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A fun segway into the world of Holmes

An interesting version of the Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed the TV telling of a lot of these stories, and it was fun to relive each adventure in a more consise audio form. Good casting and overall strong storytelling make for a good listening experience.

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fantastic storytelling

fantastic storytelling, well adapted from the original works. typical bbc adaptation of the highest quality

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Enjoyed this

Adaptations of various detective stories contemporary with Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes with an added bonus of Inspector Lestrade either as narrator or collaborator. I'd caught a few on R4 extra and enjoyed them so decided to get the collection. I'll definitely listen again.

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Not enough variety.

These stories were written by different people in different years but the adapter has tried to fit them into a book about Sherlock Holmes. First, Holmes was not in any of the original stories and second, we get Lestrad. Lestrad was not an interesting character in Doyle's stories and he is worse here. I prefer Gregson. The adaptor has made the stories too similar. Although I love Honeysuckle Weeks she swears. She is an Edwardian lady journalist, not Elisa Doolittle Perhaps Edwardian lady journalists swore when men were not present but I do not think that Loveday Brooke would have sworn at Inspector Lestrad even if he had deserved it and this Lestrad is more competent than Doyle's. There were several places where I stopped and thought, "Would an Edwardian lady say that?" and " He's a hefty British bobby. Would he do that? "

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