Doings of Doyle - The Arthur Conan Doyle Podcast

The Nightmare Room (1921)

This episode, we discuss one of Conan Doyle’s little-known post-war stories, ‘The Nightmare Room’ from 1921.
Read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Nightmare_Room
Listen to an audiobook reading by Greg Wagland here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFZwsEE8ua8
The episode will be uploaded to our YouTube channel soon, where you can listen with closed captions. In the meantime, subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates here: https://www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle
Synopsis
The air of an ordinary if luxuriant and curiously incomplete living room hangs heavy with an atmosphere of sinister expectation. Its occupants, Lucille and Archie Mason, have reached a dangerous impasse in their society marriage. She is a famous dancer who gave up her art and career for the sake of love; he, a young and successful man of business. But there is also a mutual friend, a soldier named Jack Campbell. A source of poison, perhaps? But who then is the fourth figure watching from the shadows, watching and controlling…
Next time on Doings of Doyle…
We are joined by Roger Luckhurst, editor of the new Edinburgh Edition of Round the Red Lamp (1924), to delve into medical gothic...
Support the podcast
Please help us reach new listeners by leaving a rating or view on the podcast platform of your choice. And if you want to sponsor the podcast, please check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/doingsofdoyle
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

The Surgeon of Gaster Fell (1890)

Welcome to Episode 50! This month, we look at a deeply personal work that Conan Doyle suppressed for almost thirty years before reissuing in heavily redacted form, ‘The Surgeon of Gaster Fell’ from 1890.
You can the original 1890 version here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Surgeon_of_Gaster_Fell
Or listen to a Librivox recording of the 1918 version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PouWLBMO0E (starts at 3:27:50).
The episode will be uploaded to our YouTube channel soon, where you can listen with closed captions. In the meantime, subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates here: https://www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle
Synopsis
Following a life of adventure, James Upperton, whilst still only in his late thirties, has decided to retire to a quiet and secluded corner of North West Yorkshire where he intends to pursue a course of abstruse philosophical studies. His plans and his peace are however disarranged by the arrival of a mysterious young woman and the disturbing presence near his woodland retreat of a disparate and strange male duo, the younger of whom introduces himself as the Surgeon of Gaster Fell…
Next time on Doings of Doyle
We jump forward to 1921 to enter ‘The Nightmare Room’…
Support the podcast
Please help us reach new listeners by leaving a rating or view on the podcast platform of your choice. And if you want to sponsor the podcast, please check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/doingsofdoyle
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

The Pot of Caviare (1908)

Hello and welcome to Episode 49. This month, we look at a classic Conan Doyle short story, one the author felt was “gloomy but of [his] best” - ‘The Pot of Caviare’ from 1908.
You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Pot_of_Caviare
Or listen to an audio recording by Greg Wagland here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yah89KYMwr8
The episode will be uploaded to our YouTube channel soon, where you can listen with closed captions. In the meantime, subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates here: https://www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle
Synopsis
During the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, the small European garrison of Ichau is barely holding out against a besieging Boxer army. A relief force is expected but its progress is uncertain. Hope and fears both run high, and the defenders begin to weigh up their options: relief, death or capture by a merciless foe.
Next time on Doings of Doyle
We reach out fiftieth episode (good heavens) and spend it in the company of ‘The Surgeon of Gaster Fell,’ which first appeared in Chambers’ Journal in 1890, and which Conan Doyle sought to suppress in later life…
Support the podcast
Please help us reach new listeners by leaving a rating or view on the podcast platform of your choice. And if you want to sponsor the podcast, please check out our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/doingsofdoyle
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

The Great Shadow (1892)

This episode, we travel to the Scottish borders at the end of the Napoleonic Wars for Conan Doyle’s 1892 novella The Great Shadow.
You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Great_Shadow
Listen to the podcast below or at the Podcaster of your choice.
Read the show notes here.
The episode will be released on our YouTube channel and available for viewing with closed captions in a day or two. Subscribe to the channel here: www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle
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Visit our website to find out how to sponsor the podcast via Paypal or Patreon.
Next time on Doings of Doyle…
We talk to Glen and Cathy Miranker about their forthcoming facsimile edition of Conan Doyle’s notes for his 1910 speech ‘The Romance of Medicine.’
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
 

ACD 2023 - The Year in Review

This episode, we break from our usual format to take a look at the last twelve months in the Doylean universe and make some recommendations of adaptations, events, and publications you may have missed.
Apologies to anyone we have left out. So much happened last year, it was hard to keep track! If you know of something we have overlooked, please give it a mention in the comments.
You can read the shownotes at www.doingsofdoyle.com 
The episode will be released on our YouTube channel in the next few hours, with closed captions shortly after.
And if you are enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating or review on your podcaster of choice, or sponsor us on PayPal or Patreon. Thank you!
Next time on Doings of Doyle
We step back two hundred years to the Scottish borders and the Battle of Waterloo in The Great Shadow (1892). You can read the story at the wonderful Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
 

Selecting a Ghost: The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange (1883)

This episode, we return to a different incarnation of Goresthorpe Grange in ‘Selecting A Ghost’ from December 1883.
You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Selecting_a_Ghost
And read the show notes here: https://www.doingsofdoyle.com/2023/12/46-selecting-ghost-ghosts-of.html. 
Listen to the podcast on your podcaster of choice. 
The episode will be released on our YouTube channel in the next few hours, with closed captions shortly after.
And if you are enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating or review on your podcaster of choice, or sponsor us on PayPal or Patreon. Thank you!
Synopsis
After making his fortune in the grocery business, Argentine D’Odd has developed a raft of social pretension and acquired property and ancestry to match. He now lives in a moated Mediaeval castle, with his own coat of arms and a carefully chosen gallery of instant ancestor portraits. All his new and venerable home lacks is a resident ghost, and now his wife’s resourceful cousin, Jack Brocket, has met a man in a pub who can remedy that defect…
Next time on Doings of Doyle
2023 was an eventful year for Conan Doyle scholarship. We take a look at some of the highlights and look forward to 2024.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe (c.1877)

This episode, we discuss what is believed to be the first story Conan Doyle submitted to a publisher, ‘The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe’ (c.1877).
You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Haunted_Grange_of_Goresthorpe
This episode will also be released on our Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle. Closed captions will be available two days after the video is uploaded.
Synopsis
Following a particularly atrocious multiple murder in the mid-eighteenth century, Goresthorpe Grange in Norfolk has stood empty and uninhabited for a century, especially given the additional stories of vengeful ghosts who can drive the inquisitive over the brink of insanity. Yet Tom Holton, a friend of the estate’s young heir, has his own theories about the supernatural and wishes to test them by spending a night in the haunted grange. At first his friend demurs, but is soon caught up in Tom’s enthusiasm and together the two young men submit themselves to a terrifying ordeal…
Become a Patron
Visit our website to find out how to sponsor the podcast via Paypal or Patreon.
Next time on Doings of Doyle…
We return to a different Goresthorpe Grange in ‘Selecting a Ghost: The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange’ (1883), Conan Doyle’s pastiche of the genre. You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Selecting_a_Ghost
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes, with Andrew Lycett

This episode, we welcome to the podcast author, journalist, and biographer Andrew Lycett to talk about his latest book, The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes, released in October 2023.
The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes (2023)
Questing was Sherlock Holmes’s business. He famously adopted the latest forensic techniques, channelled the Victorian passion for enquiry, kept abreast of the key scientific breakthroughs of his age, and conducted his investigations in an enigmatic and stylised manner. And the brains behind it all was, of course, the great Arthur Conan Doyle.
In this deep dive into the contemporary world of Holmes and Conan Doyle, biographer Andrew Lycett explores all that encompasses the world of the great detective – tracing the infamous character’s own interests, personality and mythologised biography alongside that of his creator’s.
From the Victorian crazes for detection and séance, to contemporary developments in science and psychology, Lycett weaves together everything that inspired Conan Doyle in creating the world’s most famous detective and one of fiction's most enduring, enigmatic and recognisable characters.
Purchase from the publisher here.
Next time on Doings of Doyle
We take a look at one of Conan Doyle’s earliest works, ‘The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe (c.1877), which was unpublished in his day and finally printed in 2000. You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Haunted_Grange_of_Goresthorpe  
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
YouTube vide created by @headlinerapp.
 

The Adventure of the Empty House (1903)

This episode, we return to Baker Street at the same time as Sherlock Holmes. It’s ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’ from September 1903.
You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Adventure_of_the_Empty_House
An audiobook version read by Greg Wagland can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Hj_bi9Qto 
Listen here or at our Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/@doingsofdoyle. Closed captions will be available two days after the video is uploaded.
Next time on Doings of Doyle…
We are joined by Andrew Lycett, author of the excellent biography Conan Doyle – The Man who Created Sherlock Holmes (2007), to discuss his latest book The Worlds of Sherlock Holmes (2023), which is available from all good bookshops now.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Something of Themselves, with Sarah LeFanu

This episode, we welcome to the podcast biographer Sarah LeFanu whose wonderful book Something of Themselves: Kipling, Kingsley, Conan Doyle and the Anglo-Boer War was released in 2020.
About Sarah LeFanu
Sarah lives near Bristol in North Somerset and is a biographer whose subjects include the English writer and traveller Rose Macaulay; Samora Machel, the liberation leader and first president of Mozambique; and Marjorie Blandy, one of the early women who qualified as a doctor and who went to France in 1914 with the Women’s Hospital Corps.
More recently, Sarah added Conan Doyle to her growing list of subjects when he featured as one of three writers in Sarah’s group biography, Something of Themselves: Kipling, Kingsley, Conan Doyle and the Anglo-Boer War, which was published in 2020 and the following year shortlisted for the prestigious Elizabeth Longford Prize for historical biography.
She has recently completed an account of her research and writing of that book, which will be published in October this year - Talking to the Dead: Travels of a Biographer.
https://sarahlefanu.wordpress.com/
Something of Themselves: Kipling, Kingsley, Conan Doyle and the Anglo-Boer War (Hurst Publishing, 2020)
In early 1900, the paths of three British writers—Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle—crossed in South Africa, during what has become known as Britain’s last imperial war. Each of the three had pressing personal reasons to leave England behind, but they were also motivated by notions of duty, service, patriotism and, in Kipling’s case, jingoism.
Sarah LeFanu compellingly opens an unexplored chapter of these writers’ lives, at a turning point for Britain and its imperial ambitions. Was the South African War, as Kipling claimed, a dress rehearsal for the Armageddon of World War One? Or did it instead foreshadow the anti-colonial guerrilla wars of the later twentieth century?
Weaving a rich and varied narrative, LeFanu charts the writers’ paths in the theatre of war, and explores how this crucial period shaped their cultural legacies, their shifting reputations, and their influence on colonial policy. (Source).
You can buy the book here.
Next time on Doings of Doyle
Our return to Baker Street coincides with that of Sherlock Holmes in ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’ (1903). You can read the story here: https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/The_Adventure_of_the_Empty_House
Acknowledgements
Thanks to our sponsor, Belanger Books (www.belangerbooks.com), and our supporters on Patreon and Paypal.
Image credits: Thanks to Alexis Barquin at The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopaedia for permission to reproduce these images. Please support the encyclopaedia at www.arthur-conan-doyle.com.
Music credit: Sneaky Snitch Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
YouTube vide created by @headlinerapp.