Valley of Fear (Version 4 Dramatic Reading)

The Valley of Fear is the fourth novel Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about private detective Sherlock Holmes. First published serially in The Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, this novel was published as a book three months before its serialization was complete. Doyle went on to write more Sherlock Holmes stories, but The Valley of Fear was his last novel about the character. This novel is the only one of the four in which criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty appears, and one of only two stories by Doyle in which Moriarty plays a direct role; despite the prominence that later Sherlock Holmes adaptations have given to Moriarty, this antagonist plays a minor role in Doyle’s original oeuvre.

In writing The Valley of Fear, Doyle used a similar structure to that of his first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet; both novels are divided into two seven-chapter parts, the first part focusing on Sherlock Holmes’s investigation of a murder and the second part exploring the murder’s backstory. Inspiration for The Valley of Fear came from the life of real-world private detective James McParland and his investigation of the Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society. Further inspiration came from Groombridge Place, a moated manor house in England on which the novel’s Birlstone Manor is closely based. This novel has sometimes attracted controversy due to its negative depiction of trade unions. For example, the 1930s radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes dramatized all of Doyle’s canonical Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels except The Valley of Fear, which was excluded because its depiction of trade unions was considered too political. Consequently, a radio adaptation of this novel did not appear until 1960. Other media adaptations have included films, television episodes, and a stage play. - Summary by David Purdy

Cast List:

Sherlock Holmes: Peter Yearsley

Dr. Watson: David Purdy

John Douglas: Algy Pug

Jack McGinty: Greg Giordano

Cecil Barker: larryhayes7

Alec MacDonald: Adrian Stephens

White Mason: Craig Franklin

Mike Scanlan: ToddHW

Ivy Douglas: Jenn Broda

Ettie Shafter: TJ Burns

Ted Baldwin: Yoganandh T

Carter: bwg1214

Ames: James R. Hedrick

Brother Morris: Chuck Williamson

Tiger Cormac: rssmith121999

Harraway: Farzan

Sergeant Wilson: john warren hart

Teddy Marvin: Joe Bergin

Arthur Willaby: chuckconvr

Gower: Beeswaxcandle

Manders: lorda

Fred Porlock: Larry Wilson

Dr. Wood: Michael Broomhill

Policeman Evans: Jaime Kurzweg

Policeman Hunt: Ted Perkins

Jenkins: KevinS

Jacob Shafter: arbycoors

James Stanger: Tad Davis

J.W. Windle: Tomas Peter

Reilly: Scott Caulkins

Mansel: Alan Dove

Young Wilson: John Payton

James Murdoch: Peter Dann

Mrs. Larbey: Carol Sutton

Josiah H. Dunn: Rich Brown

Lawler: Keith Salis

Operator: Michelle Purdy

Telegrapher: redrun

Professor Moriarty: Cavaet

Narrator: Michele Eaton