The Tale of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Midnight Society

Explicit content warning

11/21/23 • 41 min

1 Listener

Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals

Arthur Conan Doyle stumbles upon the Midnight Pals' storytelling circle and reluctantly agrees to bring beloved supersleuth Sherlock Holmes back for one last, final, final case. A locked-room murder mystery turns to metafictional highjinks as the Pals are embroiled in the world of Holmes's adventures, sort of like when the holodeck malfunctions on Star Trek.

Content notes: swearing, raised voices, drug references, portrayal of psychologically abusive relationships, threats of violence, guns, discussion of death, loss, grieving and murder.

CAST

Edgar Allan Poe — RODRIGO BORGES
Mary Shelley — REBECCA D'SOUZA
Clive Barker — SISTER INDICA
HP Lovecraft/Arthur Conan Doyle — ROBIN JOHNSON
Dean Koontz — WREN MONTGOMERY
Stephen King — JASON ROBINSON

with

Sherlock Holmes — LOU SUTCLIFFE
Dr Watson — CANAVAN CONNOLLY
Professor Moriarty/Ian Fleming — JOEL A.S. BUTLER
Inspector Lestrade — LISELLE NIC GIOLLABHÁIN
Old-timey radio announcer — NOMI IBSEN
Raymond Chandler — DEXTER HOWARD

Script by Robin Johnson, edited by Bitter Karella, based on the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Production and music by Robin Johnson. Daisy McNamara was an audio consultant.

Most of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories (as well as his Professor Challenger ones) are in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenberg at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69

A transcript of this episode can be found at https://midnight-pals.simplecast.com/episodes/s01e04-the-tale-of-sherlock-holmes/transcript

The Midnight Pals is the creation of Bitter Karella ©

Subscribe to Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Cast, or wherever you find podcasts. If you enjoy the show, please consider leaving us a rating or review. For more information, see https://midnightpals.com

Content notes: swearing, raised voices, drug references, portrayal of psychologically abusive relationships, threats of violence, guns, discussion of death, loss, grieving and murder.

CAST

Edgar Allan Poe — RODRIGO BORGES
Mary Shelley — REBECCA D'SOUZA
Clive Barker — SISTER INDICA
HP Lovecraft/Arthur Conan Doyle — ROBIN JOHNSON
Dean Koontz — WREN MONTGOMERY
Stephen King — JASON ROBINSON

with

Sherlock Holmes — LOU SUTCLIFFE
Dr Watson — CANAVAN CONNOLLY
Professor Moriarty/Ian Fleming — JOEL A.S. BUTLER
Inspector Lestrade — LISELLE NIC GIOLLABHÁIN
Old-timey radio announcer — NOMI IBSEN
Raymond Chandler — DEXTER HOWARD

Script by Robin Johnson, edited by Bitter Karella, based on the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Production and music by Robin Johnson. Daisy McNamara was an audio consultant.

A transcript of this episode can be found at https://midnight-pals.simplecast.com/episodes/s01e04-the-tale-of-sherlock-holmes/transcript

The Midnight Pals is the creation of Bitter Karella ©

Previous Episode

The Tale of Dracula

Neurotic closet-dweller Bram Stoker visits the campfire to tell his iconic vampire story. In Transylvania, hot twink Jon "Jonathan" Harker shacks up with a rich older man who wants to consume his bodily fluids. Meanwhile in England, notorious strumpet Lucy Westenra attempts to ensnare her innocent friend Mina into the dangerous and disgusting world of sex. A cautionary tale about the perils of horniness, as Bram attempts to prove once and for all that vampires are in no way sexy. Mary Shelley invites Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer just to stir the pot.

Content notes: swearing, raised voices, violence, death, guns, gory sounds, Victorian institutionalisation of mental health patients, strong sexual content.

CAST

Edgar Allan Poe/Dracula — RODRIGO BORGES
Mary Shelley/Mina Murray — REBECCA D'SOUZA
Clive Barker — SISTER INDICA
HP Lovecraft — ROBIN JOHNSON
Dean Koontz — WREN MONTGOMERY
Stephen King — JASON ROBINSON

with

Bram Stoker/Quincey Morris — JOEL A.S. BUTLER
Jonathan Harker — THADDEUS STRANGE
Lucy Westenra — MARNIE WARNER
Dr Van Helsing/Dr Seward — CASSIE VULPINE
Renfield — JOHN SERRANO
Anne Rice — LORETTA CHANG
Stephenie Meyer — NOMI IBSEN
Additional voices — EMILY HANNAK, LOU SUTCLIFFE, DAVID COURT

Script by Bitter Karella, edited by Robin Johnson, based loosely on Dracula by Bram Stoker. Production by Robin Johnson. Music by Alex Rancourt, Robin Johnson and Lou Sutcliffe.

Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula is the codifying example of the vampire story in popular culture. The book is in the public domain and can be found on Project Gutenberg at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345

Stoker's completely normal letter to Walt Whitman, written on Valentine's Day of 1876, can be read at https://www.themarginalian.org/2019/01/09/bram-stoker-walt-whitman-letter/

A transcript of this episode can be found at https://midnight-pals.simplecast.com/episodes/s01e03-the-tale-of-dracula/transcript

The Midnight Pals is the creation of Bitter Karella ©

Subscribe to Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Cast, or wherever you find podcasts. For more information, see https://midnightpals.com

Next Episode

The Tale of the Strangers on a Train

1 Recommendations

Patricia Highsmith, crime writer, snail friend, and lovable weirdo known for her shabby trenchcoat, eccentric habits, and possibly imaginary wife, investigates a bizarre double murder. Two people who don't know each other, or if you will, "strangers", meet on a rail vehicle, or as it were, "train", and plan the perfect crime. What really happened with Mary Shelley and her polycule at Lake Geneva last summer?

Content notes: swearing, violence, murder, death including by train and drowning.

CAST:

Mary Shelley — REBECCA D'SOUZA
Edgar Allan Poe — RODRIGO BORGES
Clive Barker — SISTER INDICA
HP Lovecraft — ROBIN JOHNSON
Dean Koontz — WREN MONTGOMERY
Stephen King — JASON ROBINSON

with

Patricia Highsmith — KATE DAVOLI
Jane Williams — HANNAH BROWN
Percy Shelley — LOU SUTCLIFFE
Mrs Cleveland — JULIA DRAKE
Edward Ellerker Williams — DAVID COURT
Train engineer — CANAVAN CONNOLLY
Human Guy — DEXTER HOWARD
Human Bruno — BRAD BARNES

plus special guest stars

HELEN ARNEY as Mary Wollstonecraft's ghost
MIKE McSHANE as William Huskisson MP

Helen Arney is a science presenter and musical comedienne who has appeared in TV, radio and theatre across the world with her unique mix of stand-up, songs and science. For more information, see helenarney.com.

Mike McShane, veteran of Whose Line is it Anyway?, kindly agreed to record a cameo scream in support of Waverley Care, who provide help to people living with HIV and hepatitis in Scotland. Donations can be made at https://waverleycare.org

Script by Robin Johnson, edited by Bitter Karella, inspired by Patricia Highsmith's novel Strangers on a Train and its film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock. Elements from copyrighted works are used for purposes of parody and comment.

This episode takes many liberties with history, the Midnight Pals characters are not necessarily representative of the real-life authors with whom they share names (except when they are), and Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals should on no account be regarded as a historical source... but...

The story that the real Mary Shelley had sex on her mother's grave is often dismissed as myth, but happens to be surprisingly plausible—see this unrolled social media thread by the London Vagina Museum: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1588162489858117634.html
Shelley, despite centuries of historical gal-pal-ization, was certainly bisexual and probably did have an affair with Jane Williams, the widow of the man who drowned alongside Percy. See https://bi.org/en/articles/famous-bis-mary-shelley
William Huskisson, member of parliament for Liverpool, was indeed killed by the first train locomotive, Stevenson's Rocket, during a technical demonstration. He'd probably have survived if he hadn't stopped halfway across the tracks to dither over whether to go left or right, which ought to be a lesson for all politicians. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Huskisson#Death

A transcript of this episode can be found at https://midnight-pals.simplecast.com/episodes/s01e05-the-tale-of-the-strangers-on-a-train/transcript