In the fifty-six short stories and four novels Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his great detective, there are many passing references to successful cases that are never actually written about. These four stories, written by the main dramatist on the complete BBC Radio 4 Sherlock Holmes canon, imaginatively flesh out the cases behind those references to wonderful effect. As in the complete dramatized canon, Clive Merrison plays the great sleuth, with the role of Doctor Watson played by Andrew Sachs. The cast includes Tom Baker, Eleanor Bron, Jane Asher, Tim West, and Toyah Willcox.
Bert Coules is an English writer, and dramatist, who has produced a number of adaptations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage.
Coules specializes in mystery and science fiction audio and radio drama, and has written a number of adaptations, most notably as the head writer of the Sherlock Holmes radio series (1989–1998) starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson (the first time the entire canon had been adapted with the same two lead actors throughout). He also wrote original Sherlock Holmes scripts for the following BBC radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, each based on a reference from the original stories. These were first broadcast between 2002 and 2010, and starred Merrison and Andrew Sachs as Watson, following Michael Williams' death in 2001.
He has also written adaptations of several of Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels, and of works by Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Isaac Asimov and other best-selling genre authors.
Using references to cases by Sherlock Holmes, but not recorded by Doyle; these are developed into a really good read of short stories. They also have the feel of the original characters.