Hello, friends. Recently, Luke and I were lucky enough to speak with Granada series writer,

Gary Hopkins. Now, we've not yet encountered Gary's work on the series, as he was responsible

for penning numerous later episodes, including The Devil's Foot, Shascombe Old Place, the Golden Ponsnay, and the

Mazarin Stone. But our conversation was good fun and pretty insightful. So instead

of waiting until we reach those distant episodes, we thought we'd go ahead and release

the interview now. After all, tis the season. Gary's had a pretty stellar career, writing for shows like Emmerdale, Dramarama, El Dorado, and Doctors.

Nowadays, he's part of the radio show, Nostalgia Ain't What It Used to be, on Bristol BCFM, 93.2.

Our interview was recorded over Skype, so apologies for any glitches or over-eager volumes.

But our excitement aside, I think you'll find the conversation with Gary to be a rare

glimpse into the making of the Granada series, from the writer's point of view.

Now, this interview would not have been possible without the help and generosity

of a very close friend of the show, Mr. David Ewell,

who near single-handedly was able to shepherd this interview to fruition.

So, David, thanks again, man.

So with that, we give you our conversation with Gary Hopkins.

Gary, thank you so much for joining us today. It's really just an honor and a pleasure to be able to talk to you for a few minutes.

You're very welcome. Well, let's start at the very

beginning, and I mean the very beginning. Were you a Sherlockian as a lad? How young were you

when you first read the stories? Well, quite young. I certainly, I grew up on a diet of

television Sherlock Holmes, played by Peter Cushing, and of course, Basil Rathbone

in the movies.

And in fact, the 1959 Hammer film starring Peter Cushing was one of my favourite hammers.

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