A Study in Scarlet: Part One

Sherlock Holmes Short Stories

The first part of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's debut Sherlock Holmes story introduces Dr. Watson, a wounded veteran returning from India, and hi

Key takeaways

• Watson's wartime trauma and financial struggles lead him to seek affordable lodgings in London.
• Holmes is introduced as an unconventional genius with deep knowledge in obscure sciences but no formal medical training.

Main topics

• Introduction of Sherlock Holmes
• Dr. Watson's backstory

Notable quotes

"You are the second man to-day that has used that expression to me." – Stamford, highlighting the shared search for lodgings.

Conclusion

The episode ends with Watson and Holmes setting off to investigate a b

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:03) I'm Hugh Bonneville, and welcome to A Study in Scarlet, Part 1. Speaker 3 (0:09) Originally published in its entirety in Beaton's Christmas Annual 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story, and his first novel of any description, was written when he was just 27 years old. Little did he know that it would go on to define his career for the next four and a half decades. Or that his central character, a consulting detective called Sherlock Holmes, would prove to be one of the most enduring figures in all of literature. When Doyle wrote this story, over the space of about three weeks at the tail end of 1886, he was still working as a doctor in Hampshire. He based the character of Sherlock Holmes in part on one of his university lecturers, a brilliant physician called Joseph Bell. Combined with a more literary nod to Edgar Allan Poe's popular French detective Auguste Dupin, a man whose fierce intellect and attention to detail allow him to seemingly read his companions' minds. But a study in Scarlet was far from an instant hit. Doyle received multiple rejection letters before Beaton's agreed to publish the story. Even then, his request for a royalty was rejected. He was paid a flat fee of just £25 for the rights. It was an inauspicious start to the young doctor's new career as a novelist. In fact, it wasn't until four years later, with his first Holmes and Watson short story, A Scandal in Bohemia, that he truly began to capture the public's imagination. But with the benefit of hindsight, this debut feature-length adventure for the redoubtable duo is a worthy beginning to their enduring partnership. A dark and sinister tale of passion, power and revenge. And a mystery that spans two continents. From the foggy streets of London to the baking desert plains of Utah. Over the next seven episodes, we'll be bringing you the adventure that started it all. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is A Study in Scarlet, Part One. Speaker 3 (2:25) In the year 1878, I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers as assistant surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at the time, and before I could join it, the Second Afghan War had broken out. On landing at Bombay, I learned that my corps had advanced through the passes and was already deep in the enemy's country. I followed, however, with many other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded in reaching Kandahar in safety, where I found my regiment and at once entered upon my new duties. The campaign brought honours and promotion to many, but for me it had nothing but misfortune and disaster. Speaker 3 (3:21) I was removed from my brigade and attached to the Berkshires, with whom I served at the fatal battle of Maiwand. There I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I should have fallen into the hands of the murderous Ghazis, had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across a packhorse and succeeded in bringing me safely to the British lines. Worn with pain, and weak from the prolonged hardships which I had undergone, I was removed with a great train of wounded sufferers to the base hospital at Peshawar. Here I rallied, and had already improved so far as to be able to walk around the wards, and even to bask a little upon the veranda, when I was struck down by enteric fever, that curse of our Indian possessions. For months my life was despaired of. And when at last I came to myself and became convalescent, I was so weak and emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be lost in sending me back to England. I was dispatched accordingly in the troop-ship Orontes, and landed a month later on Portsmouth Jetty, with my health irretrievably ruined, but with permission from a paternal government to spend the next nine months in attempting to improve it. Speaker 3 (4:47) I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air, or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained. Speaker 3 (5:10) There I stayed for some time at a private hotel in the Strand, leading a comfortless, meaningless existence, and spending such money as I had considerably more freely than I ought. So alarming did the state of my finances become that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in my style of living. Choosing the latter alternative, I began by making up my mind to leave the hotel and to take up my quarters in some less pretentious and less expensive domicile. Speaker 3 (5:48) On the very day that I had come to this conclusion, I was standing at the Criterion Bar when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round I recognised young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Bart's. The sight of a friendly face in the great wilderness of London is a pleasant thing indeed to a lonely man. In old days, Stamford had never been a particular crony of mine. but now I hailed him with enthusiasm, and he in his turn appeared to be delighted to see me. In the exuberance of my joy, I asked him to lunch with me at the Hoban, and we started off together in a hansom. Speaker 3 (6:28) Whatever have you been doing with yourself, Watson? he asked in undisguised wonder as we rattled through the crowded London streets. You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut. I gave him a short sketch of my adventures and had hardly concluded it by the time that we reached our destination. Speaker 3 (6:53) "'Poor devil,' he said commiseratingly, after he had listened to my misfortunes. "'What are you up to now?' "'Looking for lodgings,' I answered, trying to solve the problem as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable price. "'That's a strange thing,' remarked my companion. "'You are the second man to-day that has used that expression to me.' "'And who was the first?' I asked. "'A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital. "'He was bemoaning himself this morning "'because he could not get someone to go halves with him "'in some nice rooms which he had found "'and which were too much for his purse. "'By Jove!' I cried. "'If he really wants someone to share the rooms and the expense, "'I am the very man for him. "'I should prefer having a partner to being alone.' "'Young Stamford looked rather strangely at me over his wine-glass. You don't know Sherlock Holmes yet, he said. Perhaps you would not care for him as a constant companion. Why? What is there against him? Oh, I didn't say there was anything against him. He is a little queer in his ideas, an enthusiast in some branches of science. As far as I know, he is a decent fellow enough. A medical student, I Speaker 2 (8:12) suppose, said I. Speaker 3 (8:14) No, I have no idea what he intends to go in for. I believe he is well up in anatomy, and he is a first-class chemist, but as far as I know he has never taken out any systematic medical classes. His studies are very desultory and eccentric, but he has amassed a lot of out-of-the-way knowledge which would astonish his professors. Did you never ask him what he was going in for? I asked. No, he is not a man that it is easy to draw out, though he can be communicative enough when the fancy seizes him. I should like to meet him, Speaker 2 (8:49) I said. Speaker 3 (8:50) If I am to lodge with anyone, I should prefer a man of studious and quiet habits. I am not strong enough yet to stand much noise or excitement. I had enough of both in Afghanistan to last me for the remainder of my natural existence. How could I meet this friend of yours? He is sure to be at the laboratory, returned my companion. He either avoids the place for weeks, or else he works there from morning to night. If you like, we shall drive round together after Speaker 2 (9:18) luncheon. Speaker 3 (9:19) Certainly, I answered, and the conversation drifted away into other channels. Speaker 1 (9:31) I'm Julie Andrews, and it is my great pleasure to return to Jane Austen Stories. This time, I'll be reading another beloved classic, Emma. Join me as we step into the village of Highbury, home to the handsome and clever Emma Woodhouse. But as new visitors arrive and quiet mysteries unfold, what will our strong-willed heroine learn? both of the secrets of others and of her own heart's desires. Listen to Jane Austen Stories now wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 3 (10:16) As we made our way to the hospital after leaving the Hoban, Stamford gave me a few more particulars about the gentleman whom I proposed to take as a fellow lodger. Speaker 2 (10:25) You Speaker 3 (10:26) mustn't blame me if you don't get on with him, he said. I know nothing more of him than I have learned from meeting him occasionally in the laboratory. You proposed this arrangement, so you must not hold me responsible. If we don't get on, it will be easy to part company, I answered. It seems to me, Stamford, I added, looking hard at my companion, that you have some reason for washing your hands of the matter. Is this fellow's temper so formidable, or what is it? Don't be mealy-mouthed about it. Speaker 3 (10:59) It is not easy to express the... Inexpressible, he answered with a laugh. Holmes is a little too scientific for my tastes. It approaches to cold-bloodedness. I could imagine him giving a friend a little pinch of the latest vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, but simply out of a spirit of inquiry in order to have an accurate idea of the effects. To do him justice, I think that he would take it himself with the same readiness. He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge. Very right, too. Yes, but it may be pushed to excess. When it comes to beating the subjects in the dissecting rooms with a stick, it is certainly taking rather a bizarre shape. Beating the subjects? Yes. To verify how far bruises may be produced after death. I saw him at it with my own eyes. And yet you say he is not a medical student. No. Heaven knows what the objects of his studies are, but here we are, and you must form your own impressions about him. As he spoke, we turned down a narrow lane and passed through a small side door, which opened into a wing of the great hospital. It was familiar ground to me and I needed no guiding as we ascended the bleak stone staircase and made our way down the long corridor with its vista of whitewashed wall and dun-coloured doors. Near the further end, a low arched passage branched away from it and led to the chemical laboratory. This was a lofty chamber, lined and littered with countless bottles. Broad, low tables were scattered about, which bristled with retorts, test tubes, and little Bunsen lamps with their blue flickering flames. There was only one student in the room who was bending over a distant