I have just ordered a collection of the Holmes radio show that was broadcast in Britain in 1954 and the US in 1955. John Gielgud played Holmes and Ralph Richardson played Watson. Has anyone heard any of these, and if so, what do you think?

Very good, faithful adaptations - probably more faithful and true to life overall than the Rathbone/Bruce shows. NOTHING, however, beats the more recent Clive Merrison/Micheal Williams BBC series.

I received the radio shows four days ago and have listened to five of them. The BBC was far behind American radio when it came to sound effects and music setting moods, but Gielgud and Richardson sound like they were having a great time.

Any idea where I might be able to order the Merrison/Williams and the Gielgud/Richardson recordings?

For my birthday, I recieved three box sets of the Rathbone/Bruce radio shows. I've heard many of them before, I had them on cassette, but there are MANY episodes I've never heard before. Man, these are great shows. If your a fan of the movie series, you'll love the radio shows.

Yes, those shows are very enjoyable. Much, much better and truer to the spirit of the original Holmes than any of the movies Rathbone and Bruce did. Although I'm not really a big fan of Bruce's phlegmatic portrayal of Watson.

I thought Bruce's Watson was TERRIBLE. Nothing like the Watson of the original stories. Interestingly enough, I'm now reading Rathbones's autobiography, and he stands by Bruce's portrayal. In fact, he credits him with making the movies such a success!!

A Study In Scarlet Episode 1 - Revenge:
This is the BBC Radio 4 adaption in 1989 of A Study In Scarlet starring Clive Merrison as Sherlock Holmes and Michael Williams as Dr Watson.
Very good adaptation of this story in which Holmes and Watson meet for the first time.
Thrilling that this starts brief with the war in Afghanistan that Watson which set the pathways to his partnership with Holmes.
Revenge is an intriguing first episode of Holmes and Watson’s first case together.