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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Gyles Brandreth chooses Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. With Matthew Parris and Andrew Lycett. From 2013.

Broadcaster and writer Gyles Brandreth nominates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as his "Great Life".

Matthew Parris chairs, assisted by biographer Andrew Lycett.

Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of the pipe smoking, deerstalker wearing, Sherlock Holmes.

Yet this irritated him, and he tried to kill off the great detective, only to bring him back by popular demand.

But Conan Doyle was a footballer, cricketer, skier, a campaigner against the Belgian atrocities in the Congo, and most startlingly, a practising spiritualist who also believed in fairies.

The paradox of Conan Doyle's life was that, having invented the most rational, cerebral fictional character of all time, he himself embraced superstition and behaved in ways that caused even his allies to despair of his credulity.

Producer Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in April 2013.

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30 minutes

On radio

Thursday 10:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Matthew Parris
Presenter Matthew Parris
Interviewed Guest Gyles Brandreth
Interviewed Guest Gyles Brandreth
Interviewed Guest Andrew Lycett
Interviewed Guest Andrew Lycett
Producer Jolyon Jenkins
Producer Jolyon Jenkins

Broadcasts

  • Tue 30 Apr 2013 16:30
  • Fri 3 May 2013 23:00
  • Thu 18 Jul 2019 18:30
  • Fri 19 Jul 2019 00:30
  • Thursday 10:00
  • Thursday 16:00
  • Next Friday 00:00

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