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Where to start with Sherlock Holmes

The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh where he qualified as a doctor, but it was his writing which brought him fame, with the creation of Sherlock Holmes, the first scientific detective. He was also a convert to spiritualism and a social reformer who used his investigative skills to prove the innocence of individuals.

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Great Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 
 
Investigate thrilling mysteries with the world's most famous private detective, Sherlock Holmes! 
 
From the strange case of 'The Red-Headed League' to the extraordinary tale of 'The Engineer's Thumb', Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson grapple with treachery, murder, and ingenious crimes of all kinds. But no case is too challenging for the relentless detective's unique powers of deduction.

The Extraordinary Cases of Sherlock Holmes

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child 
Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Extraordinary Cases of Sherlock Holmes. 
 
Through the foggy streets of Victorian London to the deepest countryside, Sherlock Holmes uses his unique powers of deduction in eight thrilling investigations, including the mysteries of 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Reigate Puzzle'.

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Extraordinary Cases of Sherlock Holmes. 
 
Through the foggy streets of Victorian London to the deepest countryside, Sherlock Holmes uses his unique powers of deduction in eight thrilling investigations, including the mysteries of 'The Speckled Band' and 'The Reigate Puzzle'.

The Lost World

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child 
 
Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this bold edition of The Lost World. 
 
Journalist Ed Malone is looking for an adventure, and that's exactly what he finds when he meets the eccentric Professor Challenger - an adventure that leads Malone and his three companions deep into the Amazon jungle, to a lost world where dinosaurs roam free.

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this bold edition of The Lost World. 
 
Journalist Ed Malone is looking for an adventure, and that's exactly what he finds when he meets the eccentric Professor Challenger - an adventure that leads Malone and his three companions deep into the Amazon jungle, to a lost world where dinosaurs roam free.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child 
Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles 
 
When Sir Charles Baskerville is found mysteriously dead in the grounds of Baskerville Hall, everyone remembers the legend of the monstrous creature that haunts the moor. The great detective Sherlock Holmes knows that there must be a more rational explanation, but the difficulty is to find it before the hellhound finds him.

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this thrilling edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles 
 
When Sir Charles Baskerville is found mysteriously dead in the grounds of Baskerville Hall, everyone remembers the legend of the monstrous creature that haunts the moor. The great detective Sherlock Holmes knows that there must be a more rational explanation, but the difficulty is to find it before the hellhound finds him.

Arthur Conan Doyle: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

BBC Radio dramatisations and readings of some of Arthur Conan Doyle's other works - plus extracts from his letters and a bonus drama by Bert Coules 
 
Arthur Conan Doyle is well known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but he also wrote numerous works in which the great detective played no part. Included here are a selection of the best, ranging from science fiction to tales of supernatural terror and rip-roaring adventures set in Jacobean and Regency England. 
 
Our collection opens with the first of three dramas featuring the hot-tempered, larger-than-life scientist and explorer Professor Challenger. 'The Lost World' stars David Robb as Challenger, he heads on an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon Basin. Following this drama we have two further dramatisations starring Bill Paterson as Challenger this time. In 'When the World Screamed', he sets out on a bold mission to be recognised by Mother Earth, while 'The Disintegration Machine' sees him investigating dastardly Latvian inventor Theodore Nemor. 
 
'The Captain of the Polestar' drama tells the chilling story of a ship trapped in the Arctic, and stars Alec Heggie as Craigie, a man haunted by a strange apparition. 
 
Also included are the short stories 'Playing With Fire', 'How It Happened', 'One Crowded Hour', 'The Fall of Lord Barrymore', 'The Sealed Room' and 'The Lost Special' (read by Edward de Souza, Sam Dale, Christopher Harper and David Schofield), and the fascinating series Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, in which Forbes Masson and John Dougal read extracts from his correspondence to his mother about marriage, fatherhood, killing off Holmes and going into politics. Finally, how the author ran for Parliament in 1900 and lost is explored in Bert Coules' biographical drama Vote For Conan Doyle!, starring John Sessions. 
 
First published 1883 ('The Captain of the Polestar'), 1898 ('The Sealed Room', 'The Lost Special'), 1900 ('Playing With Fire'), 1911 ('One Crowded Hour'), 1912 ('The Lost World'), 1912 ('The Fall of Lord Barrymore'), 1913 ('How It Happened'), 1928 ('When The World Screamed'), 1929 ('The Disintegration Machine'), 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
 
Track list 
Dramatisations 
1. Professor Challenger: The Lost World - Episode 1 - A Bridge to the Unknown 
2. Professor Challenger: The Lost World - Episode 2 - Our Eyes Have Seen Great Wonders 
3. Professor Challenger: When The World Screamed 
4. Professor Challenger: The Disintegration Machine 
5. The Captain of the Polestar 
Short Stories 
6. Playing With Fire 
7. How It Happened 
8. One Crowded Hour 
9. The Fall of Lord Barrymore 
10. The Sealed Room 
11. The Lost Special 
Bonus content 
12. Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters 
13. Vote for Conan Doyle! 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer travelling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing. 
 
Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study of Scarlet, published in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including The Lost World and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism. 
 
Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.

BBC Radio dramatisations and readings of some of Arthur Conan Doyle's other works - plus extracts from his letters and a bonus drama by Bert Coules 
 
Arthur Conan Doyle is well known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but he also wrote numerous works in which the great detective played no part. Included here are a selection of the best, ranging from science fiction to tales of supernatural terror and rip-roaring adventures set in Jacobean and Regency England. 
 
Our collection opens with the first of three dramas featuring the hot-tempered, larger-than-life scientist and explorer Professor Challenger. 'The Lost World' stars David Robb as Challenger, he heads on an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon Basin. Following this drama we have two further dramatisations starring Bill Paterson as Challenger this time. In 'When the World Screamed', he sets out on a bold mission to be recognised by Mother Earth, while 'The Disintegration Machine' sees him investigating dastardly Latvian inventor Theodore Nemor. 
 
'The Captain of the Polestar' drama tells the chilling story of a ship trapped in the Arctic, and stars Alec Heggie as Craigie, a man haunted by a strange apparition. 
 
Also included are the short stories 'Playing With Fire', 'How It Happened', 'One Crowded Hour', 'The Fall of Lord Barrymore', 'The Sealed Room' and 'The Lost Special' (read by Edward de Souza, Sam Dale, Christopher Harper and David Schofield), and the fascinating series Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, in which Forbes Masson and John Dougal read extracts from his correspondence to his mother about marriage, fatherhood, killing off Holmes and going into politics. Finally, how the author ran for Parliament in 1900 and lost is explored in Bert Coules' biographical drama Vote For Conan Doyle!, starring John Sessions. 
 
First published 1883 ('The Captain of the Polestar'), 1898 ('The Sealed Room', 'The Lost Special'), 1900 ('Playing With Fire'), 1911 ('One Crowded Hour'), 1912 ('The Lost World'), 1912 ('The Fall of Lord Barrymore'), 1913 ('How It Happened'), 1928 ('When The World Screamed'), 1929 ('The Disintegration Machine'), 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
 
Track list 
Dramatisations 
1. Professor Challenger: The Lost World Episode 1- A Bridge to the Unknown 
2. Professor Challenger: The Lost World Episode 2 - Our Eyes Have Seen Great Wonders 
3. Professor Challenger: When The World Screamed 
4. Professor Challenger: The Disintegration Machine 
5. The Captain of the Polestar 
Short Stories 
6. Playing With Fire 
7. How It Happened 
8. One Crowded Hour 
9. The Fall of Lord Barrymore 
10. The Sealed Room 
11. The Lost Special 
Bonus content 
12. Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters 
13. Vote for Conan Doyle! 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Captain of the Pole-Star

A classic ghost story illustrated by acclaimed cartoonist, Seth.When the Pole-Star is trapped in Arctic ice, its voyage comes to a halt and the lives of the crew are in danger. Superstition soon takes hold as the frightened men claim to hear ghosts in the darkness – but it’s the captain’s increasingly strange behaviour that concerns them the most.

Arthur Conan Doyle (Author) 
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and began to write stories while he was a student. Over his life he produced more than thirty books, 150 short stories, poems, plays and essays across a wide range of genres. His most famous creation is the detective Sherlock Holmes, who he introduced in his first novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). 
 
Seth (Illustrator) 
Seth's comic book series, Palookaville, has been collected into It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken and Clyde Fans. He is an illustrator for The New Yorker and the designer of best-selling The Complete Peanuts. His humorous graphic novel about the obsession for comic-book collecting, Wimbledon Green, was published by Cape in 2006.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Abridged Edition

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. 
 Sherlock Holmes is an intelligent detective who works with his friend Dr Watson. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Watson and Holmes find the answer to four different and exciting mysteries.

Penguin Readers Level 4: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (ELT Graded Reader)

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