Enjoy two free detective episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes A) 2/10/47 The Strange Case of the Persecuted Millionaire w/ Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce B) 4/18/48 The Case of the Very Best Butter w/ John Stanley and Alfred Shirley Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the legendary, violin-playing detective and his loyal companion were first heard on the air in a 1922 local production of “The Sign of the Four” by pioneer station (Schenectady, New York). Doyle wrote 56 short stories and four novels based on the Holmes character. Radio scriptwriter Edith Meiser handled all the adaptations during the first decade and when material was running low, the Conan Doyle estate gave her permission to create original mysteries. The stories have been dramatized so often and by so many performers in every known entertainment medium that listing them would require volumes of footnotes. Of all the Sherlock Holmes dramas broadcast on radio, however, the most popular starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce (broadcast from 1939 until 1946). To many, these fine Hollywood actors represented the quintessential Holmes and Dr. Watson. Nigel Bruce, playing a retired Watson, usually functioned as the narrator, entertaining listeners with accounts of his adventures alongside the eccentric detective. Following Rathbone’s departure from the role in 1946, Tom Conway played Holmes to Nigel Bruce’s Dr. Watson. In 1947, both Conway and Bruce were replaced by John Stanley and Alfred Shirley, with Shirley replaced by Ian Martin for the 1948-49 season. Regardless of who performed the roles of Holmes and Watson, the quality of the stories remained constant. Well-crafted, atmospheric, and never sensationalized, these were good, solid mysteries and the millions of listeners who sat back in their easy chairs, cup of hot tea or coffee in hand, thoroughly enjoyed them.