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Start giftingArthur Conan Doyle: A BBC Radio Drama Collection
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Learn moreBBC 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.