Summer Radio Mystery Theatre preview: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by <user site="livejournal.com

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The following is the final entry in our preview of the plays being featured in the Post-Meridian Radio Players' Summer Radio Mystery Theatre, taking place July 27th - 28th. For more information on the show and for tickets, visit srt12.pmrp.org!

CBS Radio Mystery Theater: The Hound of the Baskervilles

The world is in love with Sherlock Holmes. Of course, we all know that he is a fictional character and not a particularly nice fictional character at that, but there is something about him—his arrogance, his towering intelligence, his mania, moodiness, and darkness juxtaposed with his infallibility—that makes him so entrancing.  Watson sees it; as the narrator of nearly all of the stories, he speaks reverentially (if occasionally exasperatedly) about Holmes. Watson is our watcher, our everyman, our window of human nature, and through him we (also reverentially) witness the super-human Holmes. Through Watson, Holmes is presented to us as a hero.

In the first page of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes allows Watson the opportunity to try his hand at the deduction that Holmes has patented and perfected. Watson does admirable work—but of course, he is no Holmes—he makes some “erroneous conclusions”. Holmes praises him but corrects him. He says of Watson, “It may be that you are not yourself luminous but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt.” In our rehearsals, this line always garners laughter, due in part to the actor’s thoroughly good-natured delivery of it. It sums up Holmes so well; it’s unbelievably arrogant but with merit. It plays on Holmes’ detachedness from humanity and his ineptness in basic social situations as it is deeply, if unwittingly, insulting. But stripped of the insinuations, it is high, glowing praise of Watson. Watson understands this compliment for what it is—he is only gratified by it and is exceedingly proud to have been a consistent help to his friend. Holmes always speaks the truth and he confesses here his own reverence for Watson; he could not be the famous Sherlock Holmes without him.

Holmes rewards Watson by thrusting upon him the task of traveling to Baskerville Hall to investigate (on his own!) the possibly supernatural death of Sir Charles Baskerville and to protect the heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, from a mysterious threat and a giant, spectral hound. Watson had never been trusted in this fashion before and is quite moved by the gesture. He accepts the challenge, and we see his valiant efforts as an investigator. Like his attempts at deduction at the beginning of the story, he is a steadfast observer and a fearless man of action, but he cannot make the Holmesian connections that are required to solve the mystery. Only together can Holmes and Watson solve the case and save Sir Henry’s life.

In this production it was very important to me to show the complementary nature of the Holmes/Watson relationship. This is sometimes difficult—Watson has most of the lines, but they are often exposition. Holmes has the insights, the wit, and the inexplicable charm, but he is absent from the story for some time. Watson has the human warmth and emotional reactions, and he is reliably confused just when the audience needs something explained. Watson saves the day, but Holmes makes the call. The solution to my problem was to make sure that a sense of mutual reverence underlies their every interaction. It isn’t just a camaraderie—they are two parts of one hero.

About the Series

By 1974, radio drama in America had been off the airwaves for nearly 12 years, but legendary producer Himan Brown convinced CBS Radio to try for a comeback with CBS Radio Mystery Theater, an anthology series patterned off of Brown’s long-running show, Inner Sanctum Mysteries (1941-1952). The new program ran every weekday and was hosted by actor E.G. Marshall (and later by Tammy Grimes). Episodes featured both well-known and up-and-coming stars like Mason Adams, Howard Da Silva, Morgan Fairchild, Fred Gwynne, Margaret Hamilton, Kim Hunter, Casey Kasem, John Lithgow, Jerry Orbach, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mandy Patinkin and Jerry Stiller. The show’s inaugural program, “The Old Ones Are Hard to Kill”, featured Agnes Moorehead, just a few short months before her death. By the end of the series’ run in 1982, CBS Radio Mystery Theater had aired 1399 original episodes and made 2969 total broadcasts. You can find MP3s of virtually every episode of the series at http://cbsrmt.com.