Valley of Fear (Version 4 Dramatic Reading)

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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