Events

 Ship's Logs

All our online meetings (starting 2021) are available on The Passengers YouTube channel.

Minutes of recent Passengers meetings:

The Last Case Of Dr Watson with Micah Cover

3td May 2026 via Zoom

The Captain opened the meeting at 2:05pm, with eleven attendees. He welcomed our speaker and guest for the day, and also  issued a special welcome to Paul Metcalfe, attending his first meeting.

Media News

• The Young Sherlock TV series is now available on Amazon Prime and also commissioned for a second season.  It has had mixed reviews amongst Sherlockians but overall has been received favourably.
• Netflix has announced that Enola Holmes 3 (still without a real title) will be released on 1^st July.  The storyline for this movie, set in Malta, is not based on one of the books by Nancy Springer and was specifically written for the movie.
• No more news on Sherlock Holmes 3, the next instalment in the movie series starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. 

Anniversaries

• 2^nd May 1883 – Elias Openshaw was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan (‘The Five Orange Pips’).
  
• 4^th May 1847 – Joseph and Lucy Ferrier are saved from dying in the wilderness by the passing Mormons (The Valley of Fear).
  
• 4^th May 1882 – an advertisement appeared in The Times newspaper asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan, stating that it would be at her advantage to come forward. She took out her own advertisement and published her address and shortly after received a very large pearl in the mail, with no details of who sent it or why.  This was the first of what turned out to be an annual occurrence (The Sign of Four).
  
• 4^th May 1891 – the fateful encounter at the Reichenbach Falls between Holmes and Moriarty (‘The Final Problem’).
  
• 9^th May 1985 – The Sydney Passengers was formed – our 41^st anniversary.
  
• 22^nd May 1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Montpellier Award

There were four nominees for the 2025 Carole Dukes Montpellier Award. Ten votes were received, up on last year – many thanks to those who voted. The winner by a good margin was Matthew Hall for his article ‘Where Did You Get That Hat?’. The award statuette will be held in the Captain’s Cabin on Matt’s behalf, as it’s a bit too big to post to Matt in the USA. Due to the high marks achieved in the Australian connection section of the marking, Matt will also receive the ‘Admirable Cobber’ Award.

Show and Tell

Paul Jenkins visited London recently, including a trip to the Sherlock Holmes Museum where he purchased some Holmes related books. He also taste tested some Arsene Lupin short stories (purchased elsewhere), but did not consider them as good as Sherlock Holmes.

Officer of the Watch Rosane McNamara is currently in Meiringen on tour with Sherlock Holmes Society of London, who are celebrating their 75^th anniversary this year. Rosane joined from Meiringen late in the meeting, sitting in front of her window with a view of Reichenbach Falls. She gave a brief summary of the tour so far.

Guest Speakers

The Captain introduced guest speaker Micah Cover talking and answering questions about the Holmes play he wrote, starred in, co-produced, and co-directed: The Last Case Of Dr Watson.  Also attending as a guest was actor Zander, who appeared in the play as Mycroft Holmes. Both were joining the meeting from Los Angeles, late on their Saturday evening. Micah began writing the play in 2019, with editing continuing up to the opening night. It was performed in November 2025 for five performances. The play (recorded on the final night) is available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PO66YVwTrM

The questions put to Micah and Zander covered a wide variety of topics covering the play, including how it might deviate from the Canon, and the role of the original stories as inspiration for pastiche writing. At Micah’s suggestion, the Passengers who had authored pastiches also discussed their own stories, including Paul Jenkins, still working on his manuscript; Paul Metcalfe now on his second volume; and Leigh Blackmore whose written some pastiches in both the Holmes and Solar Pons universes.

The meeting closed at 3:05pm.

An Afternoon With Mycroft Holmes

8th February 2026 via Zoom

The Captain opened the meeting at 2:02pm with nine attendees Zooming in, plus Edward Howard/Orlando Pearson as guest presenter, joining us from 3am in London.

 Welcome was made to new Passenger Tony Longano, attending his first meeting.

 The Captain reminded attendees that the deadline for submissions to the next Passengers’ Log is 10^th March.

 Media News:

•    The Young Sherlock television series, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin will begin on 4^th March on the Amazon Prime streaming service.
• Enola Holmes 3 is scheduled for release on Netflix in mid 2026. Millie Bobbie Brown reprises her title role, along with al the other main actors from the first two instalments. The final title is not yet known
• Sherlock Holmes 3 with Roberty Downey Jr and Jude Law is reportedly back in development.

 Anniversaries

• 4th February 1875: Pinkerton detective Birdy Edwards, alias John McMurdo, arrives in Vermissa Valley to infiltrate the Scowrers and bring them down (The Valley of Fear).
• February 1891: Holmes was successfully thwarting Moriarty’s plans, as described by Professor Moriarty during his meeting with Holmes at Baker Street a few months later, stating that “by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you” (‘The Final Problem’).
• According to Dr Watson it was “a bright crisp February morning” when Alexander Holder of the banking firm of Holder & Stevenson of Threadneedle St called on Holmes in connection with a matter which Dr Watson later published as ‘The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet’
• In Dr Watson’s narrative it was on “a gloomy February morning” that Cyril Overton called upon Holmes at Baker Street, very upset about his “missing three-quarter”.  Dr Watson later used this term in his story title.

 Show and Tell

·         Leigh Blackmore had acquired an envelope which included a reprint poster from the Basil Rathbone version of House Of the Baskervilles with replica signatures of both Rathbone & Nigel Bruce. Leigh was also part way through reading Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong by Pierre Bayard, alleging that Holmes had identified the wrong criminal in the book.

·         Edward Howard mentioned his story rehabilitating Macbeth (from The Scottish Play), in which Macbeth comes to Holmes for help in discovering the true killer of King Duncan, as opposed to what happens in Shakespeare’s play.

 Montpellier Award

The Captain announced the upcoming voting for the Carole Dukes Montpellier Award for the best article published in the Passengers’ Log the previous year. Voting, open to all members, will be open until the end of April and is able to be done online, via email, or via post. Four articles by Keith Suter, Stuart McMartin, Matt Hall & Michael Duke make up the nominees. Passengers should look out for voting forms in their email or by post soon, and the articles will be available online for Passengers to review before placing their vote.

 
Guest Presentation

After a few technical issues with Zoom (giving some attendees flashbacks to the early days of online work meetings), Edward Howard began his presentation: ‘An Afternoon With Mycroft Holmes’. Edward, under his Orlando Pearson pseudonym, is the author of various book series, including The Redacted Sherlock Holmes, Mycroft Holmes: A Study in Statecraft and Mycroft Holmes: The Secret Memoirs.

 The presentation began by setting the scene, listing what we know about Holmes and Watson from the Canon, and also the information given in the stories about Mycroft Holmes both directly and indirectly. Edward speculated as to why Mycroft Holmes does not appear again after ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’ and made some suggestions about why this might be. He also discussed Mycroft’s potential role within the British Government, with a comparison to Sir Humphrey Appleby from the Yes, Minister  and Yes, Prime Minister television series. Edward finished by discussing how he had placed Mycroft Holmes in his stories, inserting him into real life historical events.

 In response to questions after the main presentation Edward made a comparison between real civil servants and Mycroft Holmes. He also discussed whether there were any real life versions of The Diogenes Club, but concluded the members of the real ones were not so ‘unclubbable’. Edward gave some insight into how Mycroft can be used in pastiche writing and the difficulties of doing so.

 Edward finished by reading his poem The Diogenes about Mycroft Holmes.  

 Edward has a further volume of his Redacted Sherlock Holmes in the works, bringing the number of stories in this series up to fifty-six – the same as the original stories. There will also be a third volume of his A Study In Statecraft series hopefully towards the end of the year.

 The meeting closed at 3:05pm.  A recording is available on the Passengers’ YouTube channel.

The Secret Origins Of Sherlock Holmes
 7th December 2025 via Zoom

The final Passengers meeting of 2025 opened promptly at 2pm, with nine attendees.

The Captain welcomed Daniel Friedman, joining us from New York, to the meeting as the main presenter, and also thanked our new video editor, John Rewald, who was attending a meeting for the first time.

In media news

• Production has completed on the third tele-movie in the Enola Holmes series. Netflix has not yet announced a release date but is speculated to be released in the first half of 2026
• Also coming sometime in 2026 is the Young Sherlock TV series directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin as a nineteen year old Holmes
• It was announced some time ago that filming of the True Sherlock series would being in January 2026, but the only recent news is that an animated series is also being developed. This is the series aimed at adult viewers with each season focusing on a main mystery, with individual episodes tying in to some of the original stories.

  Canonical anniversaries for December:

•  3rd December 1878 – Mary Morstan’s father returned to London and disappeared the same night.
•   22nd December – John Horner was accused of stealing the blue carbuncle from the Countess of Morcar.
•   22^nd December – Mr Breckinridge of Covent Garden bought twenty four geese from Mrs Oakshott and sold them to Mr Windigate of the Alpha Inn.
• · December 1894 – Miss Violet Smith first met Mr Carruthers and Mr Woodley, which eventually drove her to seek help from Holmes in April the following year, which Dr Watson recorded as ‘The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist’.

 Show & Tell

Leigh Blackmore alerted the meeting to audio recordings of both Sherlock Holmes and other stories by Conan Doyle, including those voiced by Christopher Lee and Orson Welles. Stuart McMartin also gave a brief review of pastiches he had recently read.

Main Presentation

The main presentation for the meeting was given by prolific researcher and author, Passenger Daniel Friedman. Dan’s fascinating talk was on the secret origins of Sherlock Holmes, specifically detailing how experiences from the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, and also events from the period which he would have known about, inspired various characters and situations which appeared in the Holmes stories. These included Doyle’s time in Edinburgh, how he came to become a Doctor, the influence of Doyle’s mother and also his mother’s friend Mary Hill Burton, amongst others. Dan’s research found a wide variety of real life people and locations with clear links to the stories, some of which were familiar to the attending  Sherlockians, and others which were new. Dan also detailed interesting comparisons between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Doyle’s A Study In Scarlet. Dan finished by giving a quick rundown of his next research projects, including a forthcoming article in The Baker Street Journal.

 For anyone who missed the meeting, it’s well worth viewing the YouTube video to fully appreciate the level of detailed research which went into Dan’s talk.

Sherlock Holmes Into the Fire

Nine Passengers gathered virtually for the August meeting, along with ten guests, all authors attending for a special group presentation.

The meeting started with the sad news announced earlier in the week of the death of long time Passenger, Doug Elliott, following a battle with cancer. Doug was a member of the Passengers for twenty three years, and also part of the Crew as Anchor Watch. Some Passengers were able to attend his farewell.

Media News

•   Filming has concluded on the third, as yet unnamed, movie in the Enola Holmes series for Netflix. This time the story is set in Malta. A release date has yet to be announced, but possibly later this year or first half of 2026.
• The Young Sherlock  TV series is now being reported as “Coming to Amazon Prime Video in 2025”.  This is the Guy Ritchie directed series starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin playing a 19 year old Holmes.
• Production is underway on The Final Problem, a Spanish language five episode TV series with a tenuous Sherlockian connection. Set in 1959, thirteen people are stranded by a storm at a hotel on a small island in the Mediterranean. Someone is murdered and it falls to one of the guests, Basil, a retired actor who once played Sherlock Holmes, to investigate.

Anniversaries

• 2^nd August 1914 – The German spy Von Bork was apprehended by Holmes and Watson thanks to the effort of Holmes in the guise of the Irish-American Altamont.
• 4^th August 1860 – John Ferrier killed by the Mormons and Lucy Ferrier carried off to be married, as regaled by Dr Watson in A Study in Scarlet.

• 26^th August 1903 – one of Professor Presbury’s outbreaks after taking monkey serum, which involved Holmes and Watson in ‘The Adventure of the Creeping Man’.
• 30^th August 1889 – Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde had dinner at Langham’s Hotel in London with J. M. Stoddart, the editor of the American Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, which led to Doyle writing The Sign of the Four and Wilde writing The Picture of Dorian Gray, which the magazine published the following year and which provided a boost to both author’s careers.

For the ‘Show and Tell’ portion of the meeting, Leigh Blackmore showed some recent purchases, including two volumes of pastiche by Stephen Herczeg, one of the authors featured in today’s presentation.

Rather than having one main presenter, this meeting gathered together a collection of authors who all contributed to Sherlock Holmes Into the Fire, a two volume anthology released this month. The project was inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s book Round the Fire Stories, which contains seventeen short stories, all with themes concerned with the grotesque and the terrible. This new project from Belanger Books takes those gothic horror stories of Doyle’s and pairs them with brand new Sherlock Holmes stories, each by a different author.  The series is edited by Margie Deck. Margie and a number of the contributing authors were welcomed to the meeting.

Margie interviewed each of the other authors in turn to talk about what they wrote and why and what other writing projects they are currently involved in.

The original idea for the anthology came from (Passenger) Mark Jones in the UK and he wanted to do it with both Margie Deck and Nancy Holder (another of the authors joining in for the session), but he wasn’t able to fit it into his schedule, so Margie took it over and rounded up all the fellow authors to contribute.

Each author chose which Doyle story they wanted to pair with and Margie pleasantly found that she didn’t have much trouble in allocating all seventeen of Doyle’s stories. It turned out that around half the authors wrote a sequel and the other half wrote a reimagining of the original. One author chose a supernatural story by Doyle and then had to find a way to fit Holmes and his maxim of “no ghosts need apply” into her story.  Apparently she turned in a great effort and her story has had lots of compliments. Another writer started writing a story that didn’t include Watson, then discovered that the story needed Watson, so had to go back and start again. Many comments from the authors indicated that their story was a lot of fun to write, and one writer serendipitously found that the real-life discovery of a forensic technique fitted neatly into her story’s timeline so was able to use that in her story.

Many thanks to the authors who joined in for this meeting: Margie Deck, Paul Hiscock, Liese Sherwood-Fabre, Rebecca Buchanan, Katie Magnusson, Naching Kassa, Nancy Holder, Stephen Herczeg, Katy Darby and Derrick Belanger (also the publisher). The two volume anthology is available from Belanger Books  and Amazon.

The meeting was recorded and has been uploaded to YouTube.