Sherlock & Co. - The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part Five

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

THE STAPLETONS OF MERRIPIT HOUSE - I was miserable and, despite the company, I felt totally alone. The absence of Sherlock Holmes and a recent illness to Mariana was leaving me feeling very exposed. That isolation and the darkness of the Moors was driving me crazy. Literally.  Part 5 of 10 This episode contains swearing, references to distressing themes, dread, haunting scenes, animal cruelty, references to killing of young women and death. Listener discretion is advised. For merchandise and transcripts go to: www.sherlockandco.co.uk For ad-free, early access to adventures in full go to www.patreon.com/sherlockandco To get in touch via email: [e-mail] Follow me @DocJWatsonMD on twitter and BlueSky, or sherlockandcopod on TikTok, instagram and YouTube.  This podcast is property of Goalhanger Podcasts. Copyright 2025.SHERLOCK AND CO. Based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Paul Waggott as Dr. John Watson Harry Attwell as Sherlock Holmes Marta da Silva as Mariana Ametxazurra Omari Douglas as Dr. Jamie MortimerMarc Rico Ludwig as Henry BaskervilleDominic Sandbrook as Frank BarrymoreLauren Ingram as Rosemary Barrymore Luke Jasztal as Jack StapletonNalân Burgess as Beryl StapletonAdditional Voices:Tara ElizabethRobert DeanJoel EmeryAdam Jarrel Written by Joel Emery Directed by Adam Jarrell Editing and Sound Design by Holy Smokes Audio Produced by Neil Fearn and Jon Gill Executive Producer Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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For just six pounds a month, you can get early access to ad-free episodes. Just binge those full adventures immediately. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more over at patreon.com forward slash Sherlock & Co. There they are. How are you doing, guys? Yeah, good, good. This is Mariana, Henry, Mariana, Henry. Hi, Mariana. Are you guys all set for, well, you know, big, creepy, Gothic manor in the remote wilderness?

Oh yeah, sure, can't wait. Oh, this place is something. It's... I mean, it's fast. Yeah, there must be a hundred rooms in there. Your uncle utilised very little of it come the end. just those two rooms at the end of that wing. I thought it was going to be like going back to an old school

and seeing how small it was, but this place, the only thing that feels small is me. Well, come on, Sherlock says we should talk with the Barrymore's. The Barrymore's? Frank and Rosemary.

Okay. And they tend to the house? Rosemary does. And Frank? He's the underkeeper. Good to meet you. You're right. meeting anybody, lad, set for the dogs. Last time I saw you, you was crying in your own pits.

Drawing off in the half. I guess this place is yours now, then. Um, that's, uh, yeah, I'm figuring all that out. Well, good look with it. Rosemary's your staff. Cheers. Yeah, cheers.

Cheers. Cheers to to Baskerville Hall. to Dartmoor and to our poor pony friend. Yeah, here. And cheers to an incredibly beautiful woman. Do we know who that is? As you may have noticed out there on the moor, Henry, we are not locals, not one bit.

No, no, I meant like she looks like famous or celebrity. Oh, Jesus. Okay, okay. Okay. Hello? Hello? Oh, come on. Good morning.

Oh, man. Nice fire. I'd really like some time in front of that. Um, rude. Hello. Hi, hey, morning. You okay? Sick.

Oh, I feel so, so crap. Oh, did you sleeper? I mean, yeah. Oh, I'm so achy, I'm tired. I just passed out. You, you slept fine, whole night? Yeah. You? You? No. No. Oh, hey. Good morning. Hey, you got to see this upstairs. I'm going to go back to bed, I think. Uh, don't come too close. Oh, damn. That freezing cold fog got you, huh? Mm-hmm. John, you want to come up? Give me a man. Marianna some piece. Mariana.

I'm going to get a coffee or tea or something. Oh, did Mrs. Barrymore makes up or... The passive-aggressive-aggressive, Rosemary. That's one part passive and two parts aggressive, by the way. Said yesterday, she's not our cook. Right. Yeah. I guess she doesn't make us coffee either.

She was making all that food in the tubs. Did you eat it? No, just saying. Jeez. I think she'd murder us in her sleep if you did. I'll go see if we got coffee. Sure. Mariana, wait.

Wait. What? Did you... Did you hear anything last night? Like what? Like a... Like a... Like a woman sobbing.

Sorry, sobbing. Yeah. Like crying, sobbing. Yeah, what other kind of sobbing is there? You guys have a lot of strange words, and they all sound similar, so... Mariana, there was a woman in this house, bawling her eyes out. Well, it wasn't me. Wasn't it?

Of course not. Why would it be? You tell me. John, I had three glasses of wine and the flu. I slept like a baby. I'm sorry. Are you shaking your head and me? I'm just annoyed. With what?

Oh, maybe it was Mrs. Barrymore. Oh, do me a favor. What? Why can't it be her? Have you met the Barrymore's? They make a GP reception team sound like the fucking wiggled. Wiggles. I know what I heard. What do you want me to say, John?

Go and ask her. I feel you're being... Look, if you're embarrassed... Sorry... What the hell is wrong with you? Why would I be embarrassed? About what? Crying?

Yeah. That does not embarrass me, okay? I'm not English. If I need to cry, I cry. I don't know if it was the pony thing or the guy, the convict on the loose. I'm gonna go get coffee. Okay, yeah, sure.

Ignore me then. Yeah, I'm ignoring you. Because you are ignoring me. You're not listening to what I'm telling. Morning. Hello. Morning, Frank. Ross are yelling.

Yeah, no, we, it's a... It's a work thing. Good thing about my colleagues. The dogs, you mean? Yeah, they don't answer back. Dog or bitch, they're getting a smack. Yep. Man's best friend.

That's the second you lose them. When you call them friends, canines are there to serve your commands. Sit, run, fetch, point. Anyway, we were... Mr. Barrymore, is everything all right with your wife? Uh, with, uh, Roseberry. Mm-hmm.

Because we heard crying last night. My wife? Mm-hmm. That's right. You're hearing things. Yeah, it wouldn't be the first to do so around here. It's a problem with you lot. You're a generation. Nothing scares you more than silence.

Nothing. So you fill it. You fill it. Oh, we're nonsense. Hatcher. Heel. It was pretty clear. I don't know what to tell you then.

That she's okay? Not okay? Can we do anything to help? I ain't seen my wife cry since 1996. And that's when she had to pull her own tooth. So, no. I don't think she was up crying in the night. Good.

Have a good. Hatcher! Cheers, Frank. You. You? Go get your coffee. I will. Gladly. Stupid, idiot face. Oh, yeah, stupid idiot face. Ooh, that really hurt my feelings. Hey, did you open Sir Charles's chest? What, no, I didn't open his chest. We didn't. Who said that I did? What? Oh, storage chest. Sorry, I thought you meant something else. What did you think I meant? Nothing doesn't matter.

Still looking for that phone service, huh, Doc? Yeah, I thought it came back for a second and need to get in touch with Sherlock and just report a few things back. Well, seeing as you haven't had a peek inside, I'll show you this storage chest. Check this out. Wow. Lot of stuff. A ton of papers, but this, this is what I want. Oh, Tweed jacket, nice.

Have you ever seen anything more British countryside than that? It's very distinct. I know. Look at this red lining. Well, you look like some cavalrymen and be able to see you through the fog. What? Look at that. Peabaskerville. Who's P. Baskerville? That's my dad. Peter Baskerville.

Wow, he was kind of big for 18 or 20. Hey, looking sharp. Thanks. That girl at the pub's got no chance, mate. But the rest of this chest, sadly, doesn't look like any more fancy dress-up, sorry mate. Lots of light reading from the looks of it, legal stuff, historical bits and pieces. Yeah, just stuff. What?

What was that paper? Just some scribbles, doodles. Of what? Hounds. Yeah. Wow. I was fascinated by these when I was a kid. Cool, right?

It's a mine, right? Old mine, not okay. That's right. What are they mine? Tin. And then later, arsenic. I know that because I was pretty creeped out. about arsenic being a poison.

Amazing. And this is on Basqueville land, too. They're everywhere. Not many entryways, but they kind of have lots of labyrinths underground all across here. That's why Grimpen Meyer is so dangerous. They flooded a lot of these things. You don't realize you're walking over a swamp that could be 10, 12, 15 foot deep if it's broken the cave wall. Crazy. I think creepy? Yeah. Even without the stories.

What are the stories? That the old mine shafts is where the hellhounds hide. And that's how they move unseen. Ha, how long you've been keeping that secret? Secret. Yeah, I thought all this hound stuff was all new to you. Is something that's not true able to be a secret? Well, a secret is the hiding of knowledge.

I'd say the knowledge requires truth. And that's why we're here today. The search for truth. Onwards! You left for the moor that day. We did. Just Henry and myself. No Mariana.

She started to feel worse through that morning. I thought it was a hangover and a cold. But you were wrong. I was. Do I look like a shepherd? Because I feel like I look like a shepherd. Well, the question is, Henry, is there anything wrong with looking like a shepherd? Good point.

So, what are we looking for, huh? First job from Mr. Holmes, neighbors. Why would Sir Charles leave his house and who would he meet in the night? Yeah. So, we head towards the nearest property. That's not a pub, obviously. And that's that one over there. Cool.

Oh, hey. There's some other neighbours. Further away, though, thank God. What? Dartmoor Prison. So, like, dark. Do you know what I mean? Ominous.

Yeah. Look around. It's so... remote. Yeah, I was reading about it this morning. Oh, what, the escape murderer? Selden? Stephen Selden? No, not really. The prison itself.

It was made because of the Napoleonic wars. We had so many French prisoners. We didn't know what to do with them. In fact, a lot of Americans, too. Because we were at war with them. That's right, yeah. They teach that in Canada. I bet they do. We did some damage.

I think. And yeah, yeah, they built this place to keep them all in. It's basically a giant graveyard too. Really? Yeah, yeah, sanitation wasn't really introduced until much later. I think it said 11,000 French soldiers died. Yeah, usual poxies, typhoids and stuff. And then it was closed when the war ended, reopened 20 years later as a conventional, you know, prison for evil British bastards.

Oh, butterflies again, look. Yeah. Wow, loads. I want to read that. Get to know the area, you know, outside of the creepy mines and ghost stories. Read what? Your prison book. Is it at the house? Ah, you can't read it.

Oh? I'm afraid I'll get spooked about that, too. Ah, no, because it's from a newspaper I used for starting the fire this morning. Ah, fair enough. I, um, where exactly are we headed? Well, I've lost a fair amount of confidence in my navigation skills, so let me ask these walkers. Excuse me? Hello there! I don't know if they heard us.

Hello? Holy shit. What? That's the girl from the pub last night? Ah Fortunately, that could well be her husband, mate Did you see a ring on her finger? I wasn't looking

Well, I was Okay, well, let's go meet her And her boyfriend Shut up Morning Bloody hell, goodness me, look at this What? John Watson, wow-wee!

And you're not Sherlock Holmes, I don't think No, no, actually I'm not, I'm Henry Baskerville. Oh my goodness. And you're... Jack Stapleton. And you? This is Beryl. My sister. Sister. Sister. Sister. Great to meet you, Farrell. You too. So, how do you know who I am? Look, look at that on my phone. Oh, you listen. What adventure are you on there? A case of identity. Nice. This is a re-listen, isn't it, Beryl? Yeah. I've done the whole thing.

I just pick them up and listen, whatever. Oh, have you got phone signal? No, not here now, no. But I download them all. Play them out on my walks. Download them at home, that is. We live at Mary Pitt House. My father left it to both of us.

Like the Baskervilles, we... I mean, we're generations and generations and generations, you know. On and on. Stapleton and the basketball. Cool. Ever so sorry about Charles. Thank you. I know he was rather withdrawn come the end and felt...

I mean, he used to tell me how he thought he'd thrown his life away on these moors. I'd, you know, pick him up the best I could, but... Yeah, very sad. Yeah, we... Actually, we were at the funeral a couple days ago. In London. Is that correct? Yeah. Didn't fancy the family plot then?

Guess not. My father was the same. Charles' brother, he, uh... Oh, you're a nephew? Yeah, um, yeah, my father, he had a lot of Baskerville baggage. I guess they... Kindred spirits. They wanted to remove the shackles of the past.

I understand. So, Merri Pit House? Over there. Ah, yeah, wow, not very nice. Very lucky, aren't we? Beryl. Hmm? Very lucky.

to have the house, the lambs. I'm so lucky. I was always on flights to God knows where for years and years, and, you know, settling into this old manor had its challenges, of course, but to wake up in this place, not hotels or airport floors, is a real blessing.

What did you do? Oh, I still do it, entomology. Right, insects. Indeed. That's a Sherlock Holmes thing. isn't it? Indeed. Yeah. Is he

at Baskerville Hall? No, actually. He couldn't make the trip, so... Oh, bugger. Yeah. And what about Mariana? She's a bit under the weather, actually, but she is with us. Oh, and is it an investigation? A case?

Adventure, even. If you don't mind my asking. Well, um... Right here? Right there, yeah, John? On the driveway, M. Goodness, me, that's awful. I thought he died at home.

So did I. I mean, on his land, I guess, but... Oh, out here, a lot. alone in the dark. But we think not alone? We, uh, there is, um, there is a sort of growing, um, yeah, there's evidence to suggest that the heart failure was possibly triggered by a shock or something distressing to him. Yeah.

He had heart disease, though. It, no, where did you hear that? Mortimer. this sort of local baptistina. I'll put you in touch with you. No, I know, Jamie. It's okay. Right. When did Jamie tell you Charles had heart disease?

Can't tell you the exact date, but... Well, he said it, so... Right. By the way, you know he has a camera on his gate, up there. You see? Yes, it didn't catch anything. How? I suppose because nobody came from that way.

They came from the house. Um... Don't answer that. Hmm? They're watching. Who? Who? Who are watching? Frank and Rosemary. We'll discuss it tonight.

Mary Pitt House. A little map for you. Come meet us for dinner. 8pm. Yeah, we'll do. Thank you. Thank you, Jack. Bye, Beryl. They're watching us, Henley. Mm-hmm.

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You sure you check the right room, right? There's 99 others. She said she was ill, right? Yeah. Mariana, we're heading out. Dinner at a posh manor house. The friendly neighborhood entomologist. He's a fan of the show.

Yeah, that would have got me out. I bet. Come racing down the stairs. This is weird. If she's sick, she's probably in the bathtub or something. You want to go check all the bathrooms? Well, not really. Here, we'll put a note in the kitchen.

That way, she comes down for a water or something. She'll see a total mess. Wow, you need a cleaner, mate. I need a builder and a goddamn bulldozer first. Is Rosemary seriously just leaving all these containers out for me to clean? Someone was hungry from the looks of it, hungry and messy. Does she expect me to clean this? No, she does not, Mr. Baskerville.

Oh, sorry, Rosemary. I know you're not paid to clean. cook i just uh i clean up after myself thank you sorry course i'm not a dog yep your husband puts up with enough of those right um yeah so uh listen uh we're going to meet up with jack and barrel stapleton why excuse me why are you meeting with them because they invited us over for for dinner i see a dinner date is it date i wish You wish? Yeah, yeah.

Beryl is, uh, she's beautiful. Do you know much about her? Is she single? Is Beryl Stapleton single? Are you drunk, or is the Baskerville lineage suffered a sharp drop in IQ? Maybe we should, um... Yeah, so Mariana isn't feeling too well, but we can't, uh, track her down. If, if you see it, could you just let her know we'll be back a bit later?

Rosemary, I said, could you just let her... Yes, yes. Okay. Right. Shall we? Sean? I got it. I got it.

Wow. Red light. Little numbers whirring. Still recording. Bloody hell. Oh, amazing. And now what about your shoes? Honestly, mate, I've given up at this point.

I'm so sorry. I led you right into Grimpen Meyer, never mind the map. I should have given you a bloody lift. Don't be daft. This happened yesterday. Yes, but I should have had you head round it at the least. Yeah, we followed the lights in the end, so... Of course, yes. I should have said that. That's the way you make it through this awful bog.

I just took my eyes off it for a second. He's seeing things, right, John? Yeah, well, it could have been a bloke in. the fog, couldn't it? Just, you know, a walker or a tourist or a shepherd, huh? You saw someone? Uh, I, yeah, I did. Around here? Yeah.

Well, that is unusual, but people do like to do their little explorations of the moors, as you say. Come this way, gents. I can take the mic. I have a towel. Ah, marvellous. Thanks, Beryl. You got a nice front yard. Ha, very good. Go back. It's not safe. Go back to London. For God's sake, go home the second you hear this, and never set foot upon the moor again.

You have to get him away. You have to. Here, clean and dry. The podcast lives on. Great stuff. Thank you. Thank you, Beryl. Thanks, Beryl. That's okay. Right.

Here we are. Hmm. Tell you what, you're nearly dying by drowning yourself in a bog, and the next minute, you are eating steak this good. And the wine. Yes, that is seriously, seriously good. That says the man who knows nothing about wine. Well, you know something if you like this stuff, eh, Beryl?

Mm-hmm. I love it, too, my favorite. Is that what you drink at the Rugglestone barrel? Ah, he's found your local. Yes, they have good wine there, too. We saw you there, last night. Right. Did you see us? Do we look familiar? I remember seeing people that didn't seem...

Local? Yeah. Well, what about now? I got the Dartmoor Tweed jacket. Not a bad inheritance. Baskerville Hall and a splendid jacket. Thank you, Sir Charles, eh? And a curse. What?

No, nothing. I saw that knowing glance. Is that local knowledge, is it? You're quite fond of the pixies, aren't you, darling? I don't mean the band. The music group. No, no, no. They're mischievous.

Very. Yes. But they don't wish us harm, and I like that about them. They watch us, and because they know that deep down we speak a language of mischief, of playfulness, and fun, so... Is that so? Unlike the hound. Stories about that thing. Pretty, uh, durable, huh? They've lasted the years since I used to come as a kid.

So the locals? they're not stories. People don't take the precautions they do for stories. Have you seen it? I think so. I... We think so, don't we? Mm-hmm.

Where? Out on the moor. On haytor. No, it's one of the hilltop rock formations. Granite outcrops, yes. Tor is T-O-R, yeah? Yes, there's dozens and dozens of them across the moor. Hay-Tor, Bellstone Tor, Bowman's nose, hound tour.

How did it happen, the sighting? I was out, a little too late, analysing an unexpected gathering of Chrysillises on the Hay-Tor overhang. I required permission from the DNPA to get them moved if they were the high-brown fertility. Used to be such a rare thing on Dartmoor, but I'm pleased to report, now thriving. Big digression, apologies.

The man likes his work. Love it. But yes, I was fortunately stood high on the outcrop, a good ten feet above the grass, and I hear this. It sounds like gnawing. The birds, they'll find a pony or a lamb or two that have lost the fight against the elements,

and they'll tug and tear silently at the bodies, but this I could hear the grunt, the breathing, the crunch of big jaws, tearing into this poor thing, whatever it may have been. I followed the sound which I, well, I wish I bloody didn't, but I did and I, you know, I almost thought it would be, I thought it was going to be. kids messing around or something. These glowing yellow eyes in the darkness. I could just make out its pitch black form.

Darker than shadow. Everything a hellish void, but for this piercing yellow glow of eyes, of giant fangs. Did you run? I froze. unfortunately Henry I learned a lot about myself in those few seconds

I froze I'm ever so embarrassed to say I may have lost control of my bladder just a touch Oh mate My skin ran cold My head was gripped with a sudden rush of panic and I

Down I went He blacked out Absolutely I did Came too. Sometime later. Never seen it since. Never seen it since. That was how the second night began. I am curious as to how it ended. No, thank you so much. Jack, Beryl. That was a, mm-mique. A pleasure.

And we'll meet tomorrow, right? Beryl, you mentioned the Pixie Garden Shop? Of course, yeah. Are you sure I can't give you a lift? What did you see? You know what I saw. John? John.

The man on the moor. What are you looking at? I can... I think I keep seeing this person. The person you saw earlier? In Grimper Meyer? I think so. I don't know.

It's all right. We're okay. Right, John? Let's crack open the Baskerville booze cabinet, right? On my land? Was the man on my land, John? I could be, yeah. Maybe the other side of the gate.

You okay? No, yeah, I'm fine. A bad night last night, and I just need to... Come on. You're getting a lift. No, no, no, no. Jack, you've had a couple of drinks. I don't care. This is safer than you walkie. Jack.

Thanks, Jack! Okay, so there is a drawing room. Shh, shh, what? Listen. What the hell is that? I don't know. John? Henry, come on, through here.

A demon among us The hell? A demon Amornis. Like it, we came through the door... A demon among us. Think it. Yeah, it's off now.

Whiskey? Yeah. Mariana. You're okay. Yeah. Can you get me some water, please? Yeah. Yeah, where were you?

Huh? Earlier, where were you? Just, it regarded. Right. Todd. Hmm? Water. Okay, yeah, two, two seconds.

Thank you. Hello. Hello? Sherlock, mate, where are you for fucking hell? Who are you? Who are you? What do you want? The hell is going on. The hell is going on.

There you go. Here you go. Oh, thanks, Yod. You're feeling any better? Not so good. Mm-mm. Hey, you let me know if you need anything, yeah? Yeah.

Yeah. What? Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary! No. I'm going to be.

I'm going to be. And so, I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to I'm the same.

We're going to be able to be. I'm going to be. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh! We're going to be able to be. You know what I'm going to be.