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Hi. Of the letters, D stands for Demosthenes, so D is the first letter of the last word of the name of one of Thomas Anson's garden follies: the Choragic Lanthorn of Demosthenes: this is one part of the key. After deciphering the remaining letters, each letter is the first letter of the last word of each of Thomas Anson's garden and parkland follies. The dots are geometric alignment points. Combined with the carving of Poussin's Et in Arcadia Ego, the Shepherd's Monument represents a map of Shugborough estate. But these are just three of the 43 steps required to solve the mystery. A hint or three never hurts. Best wishes, Frank. PS: I think SH is great, but is that Sherlock Holmes or Shugborough Hall? Certainly the former. 🤠

To celebrate my 10th anniversary of meeting him for the first time, I've had my first actual, story-like dream with Sherlock. Sadly, I don't remember the story, but we spent a significant amount of time roaming through some ominous backstreets of Frankfurt, Germany. Sherlock was… tall and slightly annoyed, probably by my presence. It's so funny how I never dream about topics (or persons) I obsess about, no matter how I'd love to, but some slight, hardly noticed detail can trigger a dream the following night. Sometimes I'm even able to remember what a detail it was. This time, zapping through the channels, I caught a few seconds of Sherlock on TV. Didn't stop by, as the German version is still a no-go. Brain, you little rascal!

This may be irrelevant, but I just reread the second article that Enigma posted above. It's got a nice close-up shot of the inscription, and now I'm not so sure that the final "dot" isn't just a natural freckle in the stone. It's a bit further away from its letter than any of the others (even though that M is the widest letter of the bunch), plus it's right next to a cluster of smaller freckles.

Hi. This mystery has in deed been solved. Please read, Secrets of the Shepherd's Monument, by F E Robson (that'll be me). It is not easy to understand, but that does not make it wrong. It took 20,000 hours over the course of 16 years, but it is correct and will stand up to any amount of scrutiny. Best wishes, Frank.

Came here to post some news and coincidentally happened upon that post, which I had completely forgotten about. Well, they're apparently back to considering a "bridge movie." Don't offhand recall where I heard about it, but here's the IMDb page. It's said to cover "Aragorn's quest to capture Gollum between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring ... to keep the Ring's location [a secret] from Sauron," Philippa Boyens is listed among the writers, and so far, looks like they also have Andy Serkis onboard (as both Gollum and Director), plus Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood (yes, as Frodo) -- but no mention of Viggo Mortensen. They also say "The film explores Aragorn's early adventures as a ranger," so maybe they're hoping to avoid the dreaded Elrond-Legolas Syndrome, where a character looks older as you go back in time. Mortensen hasn't been in a Tolkien movie since 2003's Return of the King, and has meanwhile aged from his mid-40s to to his late 60s, a bit old to be playing a "young" Aragorn. I'd guess they're looking to cast a Mortensen-type actor who's somewhere around 30. As for the three actors listed, Serkis will doubtless be doing Gollum via motion-capture again, McKellen can simply forgo some of the aging makeup he used last time -- and I have absolutely no idea what Frodo would be doing in this story.

Then again, I recall when Brett was being compared to Rathbone. And presumably Rathbone started out being compared to somebody before that. But as you say, maybe in a few more years. Well, I could probably imagine it, but Moffat & Gatiss have been quite adamant that they would never recast either Cumberbatch or Freeman. If when you say "them" however you mean "somebody" in the relatively distant future -- who knows? I guess if the original show (hopefully as typified by the first couple of seasons) has made a sufficiently positive impression on the current younger generations, the concept might well outlive Cumberbatch & Co. So do I. Wasn't McKellen's Holmes struggling with the early stages of dementia? Barring the imminent development of a cure (yes, please!), I don't see how they could explain him being able to remember the case long enough to investigate it. Though -- hmm -- I'm pretty sure they "aged" him with makeup for that movie. If so, then perhaps (without the "old" makeup) they could do a prequel. He's only in his mid-80s and according to IMDb, currently has several projects lined up (including something called The Hunt for Gollum). Now that you mention it, so am I. (Though according to Wikipedia, "In 2000, Monica Dolan starred as Russell in a 4-part BBC Radio drama of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, with James Fox playing Holmes.") Apparently King is continuing to write the books (with the most recent one published just six months ago, in June 2025). A while back I did sort through several boxes of attic books, and now have one large boxful that I probably wouldn't mind giving away (but I want to look through once more, just to be sure), just need to grit my teeth and follow through. Then I can triage some more boxfuls. Fortunately I don't seem to be acquiring books very often nowadays (and I do hope that Alexander McCall Smith will wrap up his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series pretty soon). My big quandary is finding a good home for the books that I don't keep. When Mom died, I took several boxes of perfectly good, interesting books to the local used-book chain, but they were interested in only two (!) of the newer books. The charity shops and the library book sales are a lot more open-minded, I think, but I wish I knew how many donated books they actually find new homes for -- vs. how many they umm, don't.

The series might be a good one and I certainly shouldn’t pre-judge. It’s more a case of “how many different ‘angles’ can there be?” I loved House so there’s no reason why this one couldn’t be good too. I imagine that I’ll eventually get around to watching an episode at some point. I can’t see a traditional series coming any time soon either Carol. Things like the Watson series don’t have the baggage that a traditional series carries because there’s nothing for the viewers to compare it to so it’s judged as a standalone work, as it should be; individuals either like it or they don’t. A trad series is always going to be compared to the Granada series and anyone playing Holmes would be compared to Brett so I really don’t see anyone attempting it….not for a few years anyway. There’s certainly more chance of a new Sherlock at some point but, as you say, we may have a few years to wait. Here’s a hypothetical one for you Carol (and anyone else) could you imagine them doing a Sherlock at some point with someone other than Cumberbatch playing him?🤔 I always hoped that they might do another ‘older Holmes’ movie with McKellen but I doubt it. Talking of ‘older Holmes,’ I’m surprised that, as yet, we’ve seen no Mary Russell/ Holmes movie based on the Laurie King books. A few years ago it was said that an adaptation was being looked at and planned but there’s been nothing yet. It’s difficult to imagine why it’s such a difficult prospect. I’ve been moving books on over the past few years out of necessity Carol. I’d have loved to have had a proper library room but I just don’t have that kind of space so the local charity shops have been getting regular donations from me. It’s impossible to estimate how many books I’ve given away although it’s well over a 1000. I’ve probably got no more than 1000 left now (with around 330 being on the subject of Jack the Ripper) Do you know where I can buy a TARDIS cheap?😁

Hello Jedothek and welcome! Presumably those are among the cases Watson never writes about. The Adventure of the Three-Hour Consultation might make for rather dull reading.

Hi Carol, it’s certainly been a while. I hope that you’re well? Likewise Arcadia and everyone else of course. Yes I’ve quite a list although these days I’d struggle to follow all of the variations and follow-ons. The latest appears to be Watson (which I haven’t watched) then there was Enola Holmes (which I haven’t watched either) When I was last here I seem to recall the series where Holmes was a Japanese woman being discussed (I think that I saw one episode and didn’t like it) but I’m sure that there have been a few more. Maybe some of them are ok but there’s some heavy ‘cashing in’ going on and no sign of the two things that I’d actually like to see happen - a new traditional Holmes series and a new series of Sherlock - neither of which seem likely to occur as we speak; and I wouldn’t like to say which of the two was least likely (although I’d favour the Holmes series for that title) I get the feeling that any return of Messrs Cumberbatch, Freeman and Gatiss might be likeliest in the form of some kind of one-off programme but even that doesn’t appear to be in anyone’s plans at the moment. I’d just assumed that a third Robert Downey Jnr Holmes movie was in the making but checking online it doesn’t look like anything has begun yet and there appears to be some doubt as to whether it will ever surface. I’ve just seen that Guy Ritchie is doing a Young Sherlock movie now. I’m waiting for Sherlock the Toddler or Sherlock the Old Woman next. I’m only just getting over a very traumatic experience in that I had to make the decision to part with the vast majority of my Holmes book collection. They took up five x 6” bookshelves and I just needed the space. I keep a few of course and so now have just one shelf which I look at with a bit of sadness (how attached we get to possessions?) I have around 350 books on the ripper murders already taking up shelf space but they are going nowhere and I gave various other subjects which have now emerged from a couple of cupboards to fill the spaces. If I want to read some Holmes pastiches I’ll do it via Kindle. By the way, if anyone is looking for some good stories I can recommend The Six-Thirteen From Fairfield Junction and Other Cases of Sherlock Holmes by the brilliant Holmes pastiche writer Denis O. Smith. Quality stuff as ever. …………. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all on Sherlock Forum.👍🎅🥂

Hi all, It’s been a while. I hope that everyone is well? In reply to ElstonGunn - there are quite a few versions that are well worth looking at. Carol and Caya have already gone to the top of the pile by mentioning the Granada series with the finest Holmes ever imo Jeremy Brett. The Rathbone Bruce series gets a mention too as it always should. Rathbone is superb. Radio versions - The series created by Bert Coules starring Clive Merrison as Holmes is about as good as it gets but there are some others that are easy to access (and cheaply) First, Rathbone and Bruce recorded many radio adventures until Rathbone decided that he’d had enough of Holmes, but Bruce continued with an actor called Tom Conway as Holmes (it’s often difficult to distinguish him from Rathbone). Before Merrison probably the best radio series was with Carlton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson - well worth listening to. Finally on radio there were few episodes recorded with John Gielgud as Holmes and Ralph Richardson as Watson (two very eminent English actors) but one other to mention had John Stanley as Holmes - not as good imo but well worth a listen. All of the above are easy to find and will cost very little. You can probably listen to most of them on YouTube. There are a few others but I can’t recall them from memory. TV Series - Two classic UK series that are both available on dvd/blue ray are from the 60’s. The first stars Douglas Wilmer as Holmes with Nigel Stock as Watson. Wilmer is brilliant as Holmes and before Brett he was considered by many to be the definitive Holmes. You can buy the box set easily but there aren’t many episodes (Wilmer appeared in an episode of Sherlock of course). When Wilmer decided he’d had enough Peter Cushing took over but his series was in colour while Wilmer’s was black and White. Both great though. The celebrated Russian series is also easily available with Vasily Livanov as Holmes. Well worth watching although they would have been improved by having the subtitles done by someone that spoke English properly. An enjoyable TV series of shorts starred Ronald Howard. They aren’t faithful to the originals but they are worth watching, as is a later series (made by the same producer) starting Geoffrey Whitehead as Holmes. Movies - A Study in Terror - John Neville is an excellent Holmes trying to track down Jack the Ripper. The Hound of the Baskervilles made by Hammer and with Peter Cushing as Holmes is very good. One of Cushing’s TV episodes was also The Hound so he’s the only actor to have done it twice. The Seven Percent Solution with Nicol Williamson as Holmes is also good. Holmes meets Sigmund Freud in Watson’s attempt to cure him of his cocaine addition (Charles Grey who plays Mycroft in the Grenada series plays Mycroft in this too) Also easy to get are the 4 pre- Rathbone era Holmes movies starting Arther Wontner as Holmes. Not great movies but enjoyable and Wontner is an excellent Holmes. I hope that helps? Lots of good Holmes stuff out there (a fair bit of not-so-good too🙂)

Today I accidentally clicked into a video of the table re-read of Princess Bride, directly to the Battle of Wits. Watching it, isolated from the rest of the story (or just because I haven't rewatched it for ages), I realised that the reasoning reminds me of the showdown between Sherlock and the cabbie.

That is thought out and convincing. The code cracker even states that he tried to convince himself that he is wrong which is more than what some can say.