released on CD by the BBC. Many of the episodes that originally aired in 1959 or later have been rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Background Before playing Sherlock Holmes in the series, Carleton Hobbs had played Watson, with Arthur Wontner (who played Holmes in the 1931–1937 film series) as Holmes, in a radio adaptation of "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" in 1943. Norman Shelley, who played Watson in the series, had previously played Watson with Laidman Browne as Holmes in a radio adaptation of "Silver Blaze" in 1945. Both of these adaptations aired on the BBC Home Service. In addition to playing Watson and Holmes, Carleton Hobbs would later play Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle in a BBC radio drama that aired in 1972. During the same period that some of the dramatisations with Hobbs and Shelley were broadcast on the BBC Home Service, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson played Holmes and Watson respectively in a separate series of dramatisations of twelve Sherlock Holmes stories for the BBC Light Programme. The series was titled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and aired in 1954. Episode list Most of the episodes were thirty minutes long. Aside from the six-part adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, the episodes adapted from novels were ninety minutes long. Hobbs and Shelley also played Holmes and Watson respectively in a radio dramatisation of the play Sherlock Holmes, adapted for radio by Raymond Raikes. The production aired on the BBC Home Service on 3 January 1953. Series 1 The following episodes aired on Children's Hour in 1952–1953 on the BBC Home Service. Series 2 The following episodes aired on Children's Hour in 1954–1955 on the BBC Home Service. Series 3 The following episodes aired on Children's Hour in 1957 on the BBC Home Service. Series 4 The following episodes aired in 1958 on the BBC Light Programme, and are all parts of a six-part adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Series 5 The following episodes aired on Thirty-Minute Theatre in 1959 on the BBC Light Programme. Series 6 The following episodes aired in Thirty-Minute Theatre in 1960 on the BBC Light Programme. Series 7 The following episodes aired in 1960–1961. "The Valley of Fear" and "The Hound of the Baskervilles" are each ninety minutes long and first aired on the BBC Home Service. "Black Peter" is thirty minutes long and first aired on the BBC