24/04/2025
The Society’s May meeting and Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 22nd May 2025 at the Wellington Hotel by Blue Orchid, 71 Vincent Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 2PA, United Kingdom. The hotel is located at the Rochester Row end of Vincent Square. The closest tube stations are Victoria, Pimlico and St James’s Park. The Wellington Hotel is next door to the former Rochester Row Police Station, built in 1901 at 63 Rochester Row. Holmes, Watson and Mary Morstan’s cab travelled along Rochester Row and Vincent Square in The Sign of Four, though that would have been before either of these buildings were built.
The meeting will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting.
Members and their guests may opt to attend the AGM only, for which there is no charge. Or the AGM and the meeting for £16, or also to dine beforehand at a cost of £44 per head. The meeting and dining charge includes VAT and service but not drinks, which must be paid for on the night.
For those who choose to dine, the meal will comprise two courses: a main course of Lamb Steak on a bed of sautéed spinach with black olives, tomato & garlic sauce followed by Sticky Toffee Gateau. A vegetarian alternative main course of Vegetarian Lasagna (flat shaped sheets layered between tomato, béchamel, and cheese sauce with fresh vegetables) may be ordered in advance. Please advise any dietary requirements when booking.
Dinner will be served at 6.45pm and will be followed by the meetings from around 8pm.
The meeting will commence with the Society’s AGM. After the formal business of the evening we will present:-
Big Finish with Nick Briggs
This year our AGM coincides with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday and what better way to celebrate than to have Sherlock Holmes himself as one of our special guests? We are actually blessed with three guests and we’ll be running a Q&A session, so please come armed with questions!
Nicholas Briggs. Nick has appeared on stage as Sherlock Holmes in The Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes and the Ripper by Brian Clemens, The House of the Baskervilles (which he also scripted), and A Study in Fear by John Goodrum. Since 2011, Nick has also been playing Sherlock Holmes in an acclaimed series of audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. Productions include dramatisations of classic stories such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Final Problem and The Empty House, and new stories such as The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner, The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes and The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes.
We are told that more Holmes adventures from Big Finish are on their way.
Aside from acting, Nick is a writer, director, sound designer and composer. He works on the BBC TV series Doctor Who, as well as Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio dramas and associated spin-offs. He is probably best known as the voice of the Daleks the Cybermen and other monsters in the new TV series.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Also joining us is Jonathan Barnes, Jonathan is the writer of the Big Finish Sherlock Homes audio dramas. His Sherlock Holmes drama The Seamstress of Peckham Rye won the Audie award for Audio Drama of the Year in 2022. Jonathan is a novelist, critic and dramatist based in Norwich. He has written extensively for the audio medium, writing adaptations of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Invisible Man (starring John Hurt) and Doctor Who.
Our third guest for the evening is Ken Bentley. Ken is a British drama director who works primarily in audio dramas and theatre. He is best known for his work with Big Finish Productions, including their Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who productions. Ken has also directed Sam Mendes in a reading of The Signal Man for Audible.
Applications for Dining and the meeting should be made by 7th May. Applications for the meetings only should be made no later than 20th May.
