Conan Doyle Investigates

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Review and cast in The Stage
(22 april 1971, p. 14)
Photo from The Birmingham Post
(18 march 1971, p. 2)

Conan Doyle Investigates: A Reconstruction of the Edalji Case is a British play written by Roger Woddis and directed by Peter Cheeseman, performed at the Victoria Theatre (Stoke-on-Trent, UK), premiered on 6 april 1971 and running for 4 weeks, starring Alan David as Arthur Conan Doyle.

The programme described the play as a « compilation of the speeches and conversations which were recorded fully in the Staffordshire Advertiser (24 and 31 october 1903) and the dialogue for scenes of the police's arrival at breakfast time at the Vicarage, of George's attempted arrest at the station, and his actual arrest at Birmingham as well as the trial itself are as set down there. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's two full page articles in the Daily Telegraph (11 and 12 january 1907) provided much material for his reaction to the case, a long letter from him in a subsequent issue (11 june 1907) describes Dr. Lyndsay Johnson's report on the handwriting, and George's six articles in copies of the old Manchester Sunday newspaper The Umpire (11 november to 16 december 1906) gave us an account of his reactions and imprisonment... The parliamentary scenes are from Hansard. The Cannock Express and Star and the Birmingham Post are two other newspapers which have made important contributions. »

The play was also performed on radio in 1972 : Conan Doyle Investigates, with Carleton Hobbs as Arthur Conan Doyle and Brian Hewlett as George Edalji.


Cast


Crew