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Michael Hardwick

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For other people named Michael Hardwick, seeMichael Hardwick (disambiguation).

John Michael Drinkrow Hardwick(10 September 1924 − 4 March 1991[1]), known asMichael Hardwick,was an English author who was best known for writing books and radio plays which featuredSir Arthur Conan Doyle's creationSherlock Holmes.He adapted most of the episodes of the Sherlock HolmesBBC radio series1952–1969.[2]

Personal life[edit]

Hardwick was born on 10 September 1924 inLeeds,Yorkshire[3]and married fellow authorMollie Hardwickin 1961.[1]Together they co-wrote numerous different books, not just on the subject of Sherlock Holmes, but alsoCharles Dickens,Anthony Trollope,George Bernard Shawand other giants of the literary landscape. Between them they also producednovelisationsfrom successful television series such asUpstairs, Downstairs,The Cedar Tree,Bergerac,The Chinese DetectiveandTenko.[4]

Sherlock Holmes[edit]

Hardwick penned a dramatisation of "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"for theBBC Light Programmein 1959,[5]which starredCarleton Hobbsas Sherlock Holmes andNorman Shelleyas Doctor Watson. With his wife he wrote a 1963 radio playThe Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes.[6]The two also authored a novelization ofBilly Wilder's film,The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.[7]In 1968, they dramatizedThe Adventure of the Dancing MenandThe Sign of the Fourfor the BBC'stelevision adaptationof Sherlock Holmes, starringPeter Cushingas Holmes andNigel Stockas Watson, but only the latterexistsin the BBC's archives.

In 1979, Hardwick wroteThe Prisoner of the Devilwhich features Holmes called in to solve the case of theDreyfus affair.[8]The 1980s brought Hardwick's sequel toThe Hound of the Baskervilles,entitledThe Revenge of the Houndpublished byVillard Books,[9][10]as well asThe Private Life of Dr. Watson[11]andSherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes.[10][11]

List of works[edit]

Fiction[edit]

  • Sherlock Holmes Investigates(1963); with Mollie Hardwick, editors – selected from Conan Doyle's original stories & introduced for new readers
  • Four Sherlock Holmes Plays: One-Act Plays(1964); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Game's Afoot: Sherlock Holmes Plays(1969); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes(1970); with Mollie Hardwick – from the original screenplay byBilly WilderandI. A. L. Diamond
  • ThePallisers(1973); introduction – abridged omnibus edition of Anthony Trollope's series of six novels
  • Mr. Hudson's Diary –Upstairs, Downstairs(1973)
  • Mr. Bellamy's Story – Upstairs, Downstairs(1974)
  • The Inheritors(1974)
  • On With the Dance – Upstairs, Downstairs(1975)
  • Endings and Beginnings – Upstairs, Downstairs(1975)
  • The Upstairs Downstairs Omnibus(1975); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Four Musketeers(The Revenge of Milady)(1975)
  • The Gaslight Boy(1976); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Cedar Tree– vol. 1(1976)
  • Autumn of an Age – The Cedar Tree, vol. 2(1977)
  • A Bough Breaks – The Cedar Tree, vol. 3(1978)
  • Regency Royal(1978)
  • Prisoner of the Devil(1979)
  • Regency Rake(1979)
  • Regency Revenge(1980)
  • The Chinese Detective(1981)
  • Bergerac.The Jersey Cop(1981)
  • The Barchester Chronicles(1982); editor – abridged omnibus edition of Trollope's series & based on theTV series
  • The Private Life of Doctor Watson: Being the Personal Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.(1983)
  • Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes(1984)
  • LastTenko(1984)
  • The Revenge of the Hound(1987)
  • Nightbone(1989)

Non-fiction[edit]

  • Emigrant in Motley: The Journey ofCharlesandEllen Keanin Quest of a Theatrical Fortune in Australia and America, as told in their hitherto unpublished letters(1954); editor, with a foreword byAnthony Quayle
  • The Verdict of the Court(1960); editor, with an introduction byLord Birkett– six famoustrials
  • The Jolly Toper: A Light-Hearted Social History of Drinking(1961); with Mollie Greenhalgh/Hardwick
  • Doctors on Trial(1961) – the trials ofSmethurst,Pritchard,Lamson,CrippenandRuxton
  • The Sherlock Holmes Companion(1962); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes(1964); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Charles Dickens Companion(1965); with Mollie Hardwick
  • ThePlagueand theFire of London(1966); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The World's Greatest Sea Mysteries(1967); with Mollie Hardwick
  • Alfred Deller:A Singularity of Voice(1968); with Mollie Hardwick
  • Writers' Houses: A Literary Journey in England(1968); with Mollie Hardwick – US edition:A Literary Journey: Visits to the Homes of Great Writers
  • Discovery of Japan(1969) –HamlynAll Colour book
  • The World's Greatest Air Mysteries(1970)
  • As They Saw Him: Charles Dickens(1970) – "the great novelist as seen through the eyes of his family, friends, and contemporaries"
  • Dickens' England: The Places in his Life and Works(1970); with Mollie Hardwick
  • TheOspreyGuide toGilbert and Sullivan(1972)
  • The Osprey Guide toOscar Wilde(1973)
  • The Osprey Guide toJane Austen(1973)
  • The Bernard Shaw Companion(1973); with Mollie Hardwick
  • The Charles Dickens Encyclopedia(1973); with Mollie Hardwick
  • A Literary Atlas and Gazetteer of the British Isles(1973)
  • The Osprey Guide to Anthony Trollope(1974)
  • The Charles Dickens Quiz Book(1974); with Mollie Hardwick
  • Cars of the Thirties and Forties(1979)
  • The Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes(1986)

References[edit]

  1. ^abNewley, Patrick (19 January 2004)."Mollie Hardwick".The Stage.Retrieved21 November2018.
  2. ^Redmond, Christopher (2009).Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition.Dundurn. p. 229.ISBN9781459718982.
  3. ^"Michael Hardwick, co-author w/ his wife Mollie, of many Sherlockian plays & books, born #OTD 1924".The Baker Street Journalon Twitter. 10 September 2016.Retrieved21 November2018.
  4. ^"Michael Hardwick, GoodReads".Good Reads.Retrieved8 June2022.
  5. ^"Sherlock Holmes".BBC iPlayer Radio.Retrieved21 November2018.
  6. ^"The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (radio 1963)".The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia.Retrieved21 November2018.
  7. ^Hardy, Phil (1997).The BFI Companion to Crime.University of California Press.p.168.ISBN9780520215382.
  8. ^"The plot thickens".The Herald.1 January 2016.Retrieved21 November2018.
  9. ^"Revenge of the Hound".Publishers Weekly.30 September 1987.Retrieved21 November2018.
  10. ^abReynolds, Stanley (19 August 1988)."Elementary imitation, my dear Watson".The Guardian.Retrieved21 November2018.
  11. ^ab"Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes".Kirkus Reviews.9 November 1984.Retrieved21 November2018.

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