THE FINAL PROBLEM & THE EMPTY HOUSE

For those who aren’t already aware, The Final Problem and The Empty House are two Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes short stories that feature the death of Holmes, followed by his subsequent resurrection some three years later.

The Final Problem was Conan Doyle’s way off killing of his most famous character that had become a bit of an albatross around his neck.  There’s very little detective work involved as is more a continental runabout of Holmes & Watson trying to stay out of the clutches of Professor Moriarty for as long as it takes for Holmes’ net to capture all of Moriarty’s gang once and for all.

In hindsight, it shows itself up as having several shortcomings, not least of which is Moriarty himself.  For, like Irene Adler as “the woman”, Moriarty has subsequently been turned into some kind of recurring mega-villain in Holmes lore when, again like Adler, he only actually appeared in this one small tiny adventure.  He doesn’t really do a lot beyond grimacing at Holmes in flashback at Baker Street before meeting him again at the ill-fated Reichenbach Falls.

In short, Moriarty was introduced for one single purpose – to end Sherlock Holmes.

And so Sherlock Holmes is dead.

Except that he isn’t.

Other than The Hound of the Baskervilles, set before The Final Problem but released due to public demand for more Sherlock Holmes, the very next adventure saw the return of Holmes in The Empty House.

For all the posturing about The Final Problem playing for time whilst the police capture all of Moriarty’s gang, it appeared that the net didn’t capture all of Moriarty’s gang.  And, having caught the most dangerous man in London, it appears that there is now another most dangerous man in London to catch.  Hmm.

The return of Sherlock Holmes, and his meeting with Watson, is perhaps the highlight of The Empty House, particularly with Holmes’ disguise.  As with the previous story, there’s very little observational deduction going on in this one and, also like the previous story, much of it is told by Holmes in flashback to explain how he survive the tussle with Moriarty.

This Big Finish double-release is, as near as my faded memory can recall, a fairly faithful retelling of these two stories/adventures.  If you’re not the world’s biggest Holmes aficionado, they make for a good two-parter by virtue of Holmes death/resurrection, the menacing use of Moriarty, and the reliable way the story is told through the pen (and voice) of Dr Watson.  It is, however, a little difficult to hear Watson talk about putting pen to paper “for the last time” at the start of The Final Problem once you’re aware that Holmes will return for further adventures later, and so it isn’t the “last time”.  I suppose if we’re believing that this is Watson writing in the present tense then we can let it go.

Over all, I would recommend this Big Finish release.  Richard Earl continues to delight as the stalwart and steadfast Watson, with Nicholas Briggs enjoying the role of Holmes – complete with a very good turn as the old bookseller.

The shortcomings in the story, the characters, and the lack of observational deductions are down to the original writing that this production sticks to.