The Seamstress of Peckham Rye is a Sherlock Holmes audio play from Big Finish Productions. Jonathan Barnes is the script writer with Ken Bentley serving as director. Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl return as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The guest cast includes Lucy Briggs-Owens, India Fisher, James Joyce, and Glen McCready.
Watson has fallen in love with an American actress just as the twentieth century is about to commence. Holmes appears to be slipping into a state of depression. Then a murder occurs, and Holmes begins a new investigation. He encounters a most unusual stage performance. Watson may have to tell an egregious lie in order to be with the woman he loves. Holmes has a young inspector as an ally as he learns of a new potential leader of the criminal underworld in London.
I so want to like Briggs’ interpretation of Holmes more than I do, but Richard Earl’s performance as Watson is really a saving grace here. Briggs isn’t terrible, but when he has to portray Holmes in one of more manic phases, it just doesn’t flow as convincingly as I expect. The story itself dragged a bit. I do think that a crime boss known as the Seamstress just doesn’t seem as foreboding as the writer intends. The actors performed well enough for the most part. The sound effects were well constructed. The technical aspects of this episode all worked out well enough.
The story is set to continue in the next episode. The friendship between Holmes and Watson was well depicted here. Barnes didn’t get everything wrong in his script. He is a reliable enough writer for the most part. It’s just this particular script didn’t hold my attention as thoroughly as it should have. Hopefully the next episode goes better.
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