In Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" Holmes claims to be related to Vernet, stating, "My ancestors were country squires... my grandmother... was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.", without further clarifying whether this is Claude Joseph Vernet, Carle Vernet, or Horace Vernet.
Horace Vernet self portrait 1835
I meant to post one of these two plays, Absolute Discretion, in 2015 when 4Extra dusted it off for a repeat. Then I forgot!
4Extra aired it again recently, this time with the sequel, The Salamander Chest.
If you're wondering what connection these have to Sherlock Holmes, I'd like to quote Roger Johnson from The District Messenger (no.174 7 Nov 1997).
"Absolute Discretion is a novel by our own Grant Eustace, chronicling an investigation by an undergraduate who just might be the young Sherlock Holmes."
Absolute Discretion started out as this Radio 4 play but about 4 years later it appeared as a novel. There doesn't appear to be an ebook but Amazon have the deadtree version. A bit pricey though starting at around £25.
Absolute Discretion book
In 1983 Grant Eustace penned Second Holmes for Radio 4 with Peter Egan and Jeremy Nicholas as grandsons of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.
In 1993 he adapted 24 of Conan Doyle's short stories for Daedalus Productions. They starred Roy Marsden as Sherlock Holmes and John Moffatt as Dr. Watson. They were released on cassette and I've read somewhere that it was also possible to listen to these stories on British Airways.
Onedrive link Daedalus Productions cassette rips
The BBC World Service aired 6 of the 24 Daedalus Productions stories as well. When the BBC put the World Service Radio Archive website up they had the 6 stories for download. They have removed them now. The cassette rips are better quality but I do have the 6 World Service stories already up on my Onedrive.
Onedrive link Daedalus Productions World Service
Synopsis for both plays.
Absolute Discretion
by Grant Eustace
2nd October 1873: Arthur Vernet, a chemistry student at Oxford in the 1860s,
is sent to investigate a mystery surrounding the Earl of Warminster's family.
He is soon embroiled in blackmail, murder and the love of a good woman ...
BBC Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse
12 January 1991 14.30 - 16.00
Contributors:
Arthur Vernet: Ben Daniels
Warminster: Brett Usher
Alice Selwood: Jane Slavin
Edith Gratton: Maxine Audley
Maude Gratton: Elizabeth Kelly
Elaine: Terence Edmond
Buckmaster: Ronald Herdman
Amos Saddler: Michael Turner
Rev Denison: Timothy Carlton
Mrs Denison: Danielle Allen
Mrs Selwood: Auriol Smith
William: Stephen Garlick
Miss Staples: Jane Whittenshaw
Walters: Timothy Bateson
Mitchell: David Bannerman
Mrs Lamont: Jenny Howe
********************
The Salamander Chest
by Grant Eustace
In a sequel to Absolute Discretion, Alice Selwood strives to seek out the true
identity of her father and in the course of her adventures finds that 1870s England
can be a dangerous place. But first she must find her beloved Arthur in Oxford.
BBC Radio 4 Monday Play
11 January 1993 14.00 - 15.30
Contributors:
Arthur Beresford: Ben Daniels
Alice Selwood: Jane Slavin
Arbuthnot: Philip Latham
Ryder: Jonathan Adams
Priestley: David Brierley
Blennerhom: John Baddeley
Cunningham: Andrew Branch
Murchison: Sean Barratt
Mrs Wiseman: Geraldine Fitzgerald
Potem: Terry O'Brien
Brecknell: Philip Anthony
Goatcher: Snoo Wilson
********************
I've uploaded these 2 plays to Dropbox. Not enough space on my Onedrive. They are both 320kbit mp3 files. Each around 200MB.
I will try to keep them available as long as possible but if you're reading this sometime in the future and the Dropbox links below don't work then send me a message and I will upload them again.
Replies
Jake, you're a hero! Thanks very much for posting these.
Roger
thanks for sharing these rare items.
Thank you, Jake
Brilliant Jake!
A Feast!! Thanks so much!!!