Monthly Meeting Minutes – 27th November 2024

Date of Meeting: 27th November 2024

Location of Meeting:

The Sherloft, My House, Portsmouth, UK

 

Attendees:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller)

 

Apologies:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) decided to accept any apologies offered in the next half hour. No questions asked.

 

Toast:

With butter and Bovril.

 

Presentation:

Paul Thomas Miller (The Entire Canon) presented the following contemplation about how great next year will be.

Why 2025 Will Be the Best Holmesian Year Ever.

 2025 is destined to be a great year for Holmesiana simply because of all the incredible Sherlockian anniversaries which will take place. Consider the following.

In 2025:

· it will have been 138 years since the first publication of a Sherlock Holmes story. (1887)

· it will have been 137 years since the case Watson called "A Scandal in Bohemia" took place. (1888)

· it will have been 136 years since The Sign of the Four was commissioned for Lippincott's Monthly at a dinner in the Langham Hotel with Joseph Marshall Stoddart and Oscar Wilde. (1889)

· it will have been 135 years since the first appearance of The Sign of the Four in Lippincott's Monthly magazine. (1890)

· it will have been 134 years since J. M. Barrie penned his Holmes parody - "My Evening with Sherlock Holmes". (1891)

· it will have been 133 years since The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were first published in book form. (1892)

· it will have been 132 years since a report of the death of Sherlock Holmes (in the form of “The Final Problem”) was first published in The Strand Magazine. (1893)

· it will have been 131 years since Holmes returned from the grave (according to Watson in "The Empty House"). (1894)

· it will have been 130 years since “always” (according to Vincent Starrett's poem 221b. (1895)

· it will have been 129 years since the original publication of "The Field Bazaar" in The Student. (1896)

· it will have been 128 years since Holmes was forced to take a Cornish holiday, according to an account Watson called "The Devil's Foot". (1897)

· it will have been 127 years since the original publication of two apocryphal Holmes stories - "The Man with the Watches" and "The Lost Special". (1898)

· it will have been 126 years since the William Gillette Sherlock Holmes play premiered on Broadway. (1899)

· it will have been 125 years since Sherlock Holmes Baffled was first released - it is believed to be the first film to feature Sherlock Holmes. (1900)

· it will have been 124 years since The Hound of the Baskervilles began serialisation in The Strand. (1901)

· it will have been 123 years since "The Illustrious Client" case took place, according to Watson's account. (1902)

· it will have been 122 years since "The Empty House" was first published in Collier's. (1903)

· it will have been 121 years since "The Original of Sherlock Holmes" by Harold Emery Jones was published in Collier's, proving that Sherlock Holmes is based upon Joseph Bell. (1904)

· it will have been 120 years since Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom (the first "serious" Holmes film) was released. (1905)

· it will have been 119 years since Maurice Leblanc published the first Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin story: "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late". (The name "Sherlock Holmes" would later be changed to "Herlock Sholmes" for copyright reasons.) (1906)

· it will have been 118 years since Doyle's work on the Edalji case helped establish the Court of Criminal Appeal. (1907)

· it will have been 117 years since Sherlock Holmes in the Great Murder Mystery was released. It is believed to be the first appearance of Dr Watson on film. (1908)

· it will have been 116 years since Viggo Larsen's The Grey Lady was released. (1909)

· it will have been 115 years since Doyle's play - The Adventure of the Speckled Band - premiered at the Adelphi Theatre, London with H. A. Saintsbury as Sherlock Holmes. (1910)

· it will have been 114 years since Ronald A. Knox first read his paper "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" to members of the Bodley Club at Merton College, Oxford. (1911)

· it will have been 113 years since the first of the Georges Tréville movies - The Speckled Band - was released. (1912)

· it will have been 112 years since "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" first appeared in Collier's and paved the way for S.P.O.D.E. and P.O.O.P. (1913)

· it will have been 111 years since the latest Holmes case Watson recorded took place - "His Last Bow". (1914)

· it will have been 110 years since the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary," was first published in book form by P. G. Wodehouse in Psmith, Journalist. (1915)

· it will have been 109 years since the William Gillette movie version of his play Sherlock Holmes was released. (1916)

· it will have been 108 years since "His Last Bow" was first published in The Strand. (1917)

· it will have been 107 years since early blaxploitation film A Black Sherlock Holmes was released. (The lead character is a tribute to Holmes rather than a representation of him. It is not a proud moment for Sherlockiana.) (1918)

· it will have been 106 years since the German film Echte Perlen, starring Ferdinand Bonn as Sherlock Holmes, was released. (1919)

· it will have been 105 years since Vincent Starrett first privately printed his pastiche - The Unique Hamlet. (1920)

· it will have been 104 years since the first batch of the Stoll Pictures' Sherlock Holmes films starring Eille Norwood were released. (1921)

· it will have been 103 years since Sherlock Holmes - a silent film starring John Barrymore (grandfather of Drew Barrymore) - was released. (1922)

· it will have been 102 years since Eille Norwood's version of The Sign of Four was released. (1923)

· it will have been 101 years since "How Watson Learned the Trick" was handwritten by Doyle for the library of Queen Mary's Dolls' House. (1924)

· it will have been 100 years since Stan Laurel first appeared on screen dressed as Holmes (in The Sleuth). (1925)

· it will have been 99 years since the first Holmes story purported to be penned by Holmes - The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier - was debuted in Liberty. (1926)

· it will have been 98 years since Doyle published his last Sherlock Holmes story - "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place". (1927)

· it will have been 97 years since the famous talking picture footage of Doyle speaking about Holmes and spiritualism was filmed by William Fox. (1928)

· it will have been 96 years since the silent German film Der Hund Von Baskerville, starring Carlyle Blackwell Sr. as Sherlock Holmes, was released. (1929)

· it will have been 95 years since William Gillette played Holmes on the radio for the first time. It was in a version of “The Speckled Band”. (1930)

· it will have been 94 years since the first of five films starring Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes - The Sleeping Cardinal - was released. (1931)

· it will have been 93 years since Clive Brook's film Sherlock Holmes was released by Fox. (1932)

· it will have been 92 years since Harpo and Chico Marx both appeared on screen dressed as Sherlock Holmes in Duck Soup. (1933)

· it will have been 91 years since the Baker Street Irregulars was formed. (1934)

· it will have been 90 years since Arthur Wontner's The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes was released. (1935)

· it will have been 89 years since the Holmesian play Christmas Eve by S. C. Roberts was first printed. (1936)

· it will have been 88 years since Der Mann, Der Sherlock Holmes War was released. (1937)

· it will have been 87 years since Orson Welles played his version of Holmes in a radio version of the Gillette play. (1938)

· it will have been 86 years since the first of the Fox Studios' Basil Rathbone films (The Hound of the Baskervilles) was released. (1939)

· it will have been 85 years since Anthony Boucher's book The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars was first published. (1940)

· it will have been 84 years since Rex Stout first delivered his paper “Watson Was a Woman” at a BSI dinner. (1941)

· it will have been 83 years since the first of the Universal Studios' Basil Rathbone films - Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror - was released. (1942)

· it will have been 82 years since "Dr. Watson’s Christian Name" by Dorothy L. Sayers first appeared, arguing that Watson's middle name is Hamish. (1943)

· it will have been 81 years since The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, compiled by Ellery Queen, was first published. (1944)

· it will have been 80 years since In Re: Sherlock Holmes: The Adventures of Solar Pons - a collection of Holmes pastiches by August Derleth - was first published. (1945)

· it will have been 79 years since The Baker Street Journal was first published. (1946)

· it will have been 78 years since Sherlock Holmes and Music by Guy Warrack was first published. (1947)

· it will have been 77 years since the American Cosmopolitan magazine published "The Man Who Was Wanted", erroneously claiming it to be a lost ACD Holmes story. It later turned out to be by Arthur Whitaker. (1948)

· it will have been 76 years since Alan Napier (best known for playing Adam West's Alfred) played Sherlock Holmes in a version of "The Speckled Band" for the TV series Your Show Time. (1949)

· it will have been 75 years since Art in the Blood by James Montgomery was published for Christmas 1950 and set up an enduring connection between Aunt Clara and Irene Adler. (1950)

· it will have been 74 years since My Dear Holmes by Gavin Brend was first published. (1951)

· it will have been 73 years since the first issue of The Sherlock Holmes Journal was published. (1952)

· it will have been 72 years since a Holmesian ballet called The Great Detective was staged by the Sadler's Wells troupe. (It seems to have never been repeated.) (1953)

· it will have been 71 years since Ronald Howard's excellent portrayal of Holmes in the TV series Sherlock Holmes first aired. (1954)

· it will have been 70 years since Boris Karloff played a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes in the "Sting of Death" episode of The Elgin Hour. (1955)

· it will have been 69 years since Daffy Duck played Sherlock Holmes for the first time in Deduce, You Say. (1956)

· it will have been 68 years since Alfred Hitchcock appeared as Sherlock Holmes while introducing the "The Perfect Crime" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. (1957)

· it will have been 67 years since Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus was published with illustrations by Paul Galdone. (1958)

· it will have been 66 years since the Hammer Horror version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, was released. (1959)

· it will have been 65 years since The Valley of Fear got its first radio dramitisation as part of the BBC series with Carleton Hobbs as Holmes. (1960)

· it will have been 64 years since In Action Comics Vol. 1, #283, Superman accidentally wished Sherlock Holmes into being. (1961)

· it will have been 63 years since Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective by William S. Baring-Gould was first published. (1962)

· it will have been 62 years since Alan Wheatley appeared in a radio version of The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes. (1963)

· it will have been 61 years since the pilot version of Douglas Wilmer's BBC series Sherlock Holmes first aired. (1964)

· it will have been 60 years since Douglas Wilmer's BBC series Sherlock Holmes began in earnest with "The Illustrious Client". (1965)

· it will have been 59 years since The Monkees saw Micky Dolenz dress as Sherlock Holmes in the episode "Monkee See, Monkee Do". (1966)

· it will have been 58 years since William S. Baring-Gould published The Annotated Sherlock Holmes in two volumes. (1967)

· it will have been 57 years since Peter Cushing took over from Douglas Wilmer as Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock Holmes. His first episode was "The Second Stain". (1968)

· it will have been 56 years since the release of The Best House in London - which saw Sherlock Holmes attend a brothel. (1969)

· it will have been 55 years since Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes, was released. (1970)

· it will have been 54 years since They Might Be Giants, which stars George C. Scott as a delusional judge who believes he is Sherlock Holmes, was released. (1971)

· it will have been 53 years since A Sherlock Holmes Commentary by D. Martin Dakin was first published. (1972)

· it will have been 52 years since John Cleese appeared in an episode of Comedy Playhouse - Elementary, My Dear Watson - as Holmes with Willy Rushton as his Watson. (1973)

· it will have been 51 years since Robert Powell played Sherlock Holmes in a radio version of A Study in Scarlet. (1974)

· it will have been 50 years since Gene Wilder's dreadful film - The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - was released. (1975)

· it will have been 49 years since the film version of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer was released. (1976)

· it will have been 48 years since Exit Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective's Final Days by Robert Lee Hall was first published. And eminent Holmesian Paul Thomas Miller was born. (1977)

· it will have been 47 years since Paul Giovanni's play The Crucifer of Blood premiered on Broadway with Paxton Whitehead as Holmes and Timothy Landfield as Watson. (1978)

· it will have been 46 years since Murder by Decree was released. It is one of many pastiche tales about Holmes and Jack the Ripper and is most notable for James Mason's excellent portrayal of Dr. Watson. (1979)

· it will have been 45 years since The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson starring Vasily Livanoc as Sherlock Holmes was first aired on Russian TV. (1980)

· it will have been 44 years since Vasily Livanov's version of The Hound of the Baskervilles got its first airing on Russian TV. (1981)

· it will have been 43 years since Tom Baker's widely panned TV version of The Hound of the Baskervilles was first shown on the BBC. (1982)

· it will have been 42 years since Ian Richardson appeared in two TV movies as Sherlock Holmes - The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles. (1983)

· it will have been 41 years since Jeremy Brett's TV portrayal of Sherlock Holmes made its debut with a version of "A Scandal in Bohemia". (1984)

· it will have been 40 years since Stephen Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes was released and saw a schoolboy Holmes (played by Nicholas Rowe) on a distinctly Indiana Jones style adventure. It was the first full-length movie to feature a completely computer-generated character. (1985)

· it will have been 39 years since the Disney animated film Basil the Great Mouse Detective (loosely based on the Basil of Baker Street books by Eve Titus) was released. (1986)

· it will have been 38 years since The Return of Sherlock Holmes, which starred Michael Pennington as a cryogenically frozen Sherlock Holmes, was first aired. (1987)

· it will have been 37 years since the comedy film Without a Clue, starring Michael Caine as Holmes and Ben Kingsley as Watson, was released. (1988)

· it will have been 36 years since the BBC Radio 4 series Sherlock Holmes starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Dr Watson debuted. (1989)

· it will have been 35 years since the Sherlock Holmes Museum opened in Baker Street. (1990)

· it will have been 34 years since "The Consulting Detective Mystery" episode of Father Dowling Mysteries first aired, allowing Father Dowling to meet the ghost of Sherlock Holmes. (1991)

· it will have been 33 years since Christopher Lee played Holmes travelling in South Africa in Incident at Victoria Falls - a TV movie. (1992)

· it will have been 32 years since a series of commemorative stamps designed by Andrew Davidson were released by the Royal Mail. (1993)

· it will have been 31 years since Laurie R. King's series of Mary Russell books debuted with The Beekeeper's Apprentice. (1994)

· it will have been 30 years since the Holmesian Wishbone episode - "The Slobbery Hound" - aired for the first time. (1995)

· it will have been 29 years since Patrick McNee presented a documentary about Sherlock Holmes called In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes. (1996)

· it will have been 28 years since the kid's TV series The Adventures of Shirley Holmes began on YTV. (1997)

· it will have been 27 years since Spike Milligan published his reworking of The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1998 under the title The Hound of the Baskervilles According to Spike Milligan. (1998)

· it will have been 26 years since the kid's cartoon series Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century was first aired. (1999)

· it will have been 25 years since Matt Frewer's debut film as Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles - first aired. (2000)

· it will have been 24 years since O Xangô de Baker Street was released and became famous for its Holmesian diarrhoea scene. (2001)

· it will have been 23 years since Frogwares released the first of their Sherlock Holmes video games - Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy. (2002)

· it will have been 22 years since Neil Gaiman's Cthulhu-Holmes mash up "A Study in Emerald" was published for the first time in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street. (2003)

· it will have been 21 years since The Final Solution: A Story of Detection - a brilliant Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Michael Chabon - was first published. (2004)

· it will have been 20 years since the docudrama The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, starring Douglas Henshall as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first aired. (2005)

· it will have been 19 years since the first of the Enola Holmes books by Nancy Springer - Enola Holmes and the Case of the Missing Marquess - was first published. (2006)

· it will have been 18 years since the first episode of BBC kid's TV show Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars, starring Jonathan Pryce as Holmes, originally aired. (2007)

· it will have been 17 years since the first of J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec's excellent Gaslight anthologies - Gaslight Grimoire - was published. (2008)

· it will have been 16 years since the first film starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes - Sherlock Holmes - was released. (2009)

· it will have been 15 years since the Benedict Cumberbatch series Sherlock debuted on the BBC. (2010)

· it will have been 14 years since Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles by Kim Newman was published (2011)

· it will have been 13 years since the Jonny Lee Miller series Elementary debuted on CBS. (2012)

· it will have been 12 years since the Deadpool: Killustrated comics were first published and saw Sherlock Holmes take on Deadpool as he attempted to kill all of fiction. (2013)

· it will have been 11 years since the Polish metaphysical thriller movie Sherlock Holmes and People of Tomorrow was released. (2014)

· it will have been 10 years since Mr. Holmes - a film adaptation of A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin - was released. (2015)

· it will have been 9 years since Pikachu first donned a Sherlock Holmes costume for the Japanese release of the Nintendo 3DS game Detective Pikachu. (2016)

· it will have been 8 years since the amazing collection of short stories The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye was published. (2017)

· it will have been 7 years since the greatest of all Sherlock Holmes films was released - Holmes & Watson starring Will Ferrell as Sherlock Holmes and John C. Reilly as Dr. Watson. (2018)

· it will have been 6 years since Sherlock: Untold Stories debuted on Japanese television with Dean Fujioka playing the main character, Shishio Homare. (2019)

· it will have been 5 years since the first of the Enola Holmes films - Enola Holmes - was released on Netflix. (2020)

· it will have been 4 years since The Irregulars, a Holmesian fantasy series, was released on Netflix and immediately upset all the miserable old wankers who can't wrap their heads around the idea of an alternate universe. (2021)

· it will have been 3 years since Netflix released Enola Holmes 2. (2022)

· it will have been 2 years since Mark Gatiss's radio version of The Hound of the Baskervilles first aired, with Gatiss as Holmes and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Watson. (2023)

· it will have been 1 years since Karl Coppack recorded a show about “The Abbey Grange”. (2024)

Any Other Business:

"The Entire Canon" (Paul Thomas Miller) did nothing for 45 minutes. But he did it really well.