Part of the Story: Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Silent Hiss

About this episode

The episode explores a new chapter inspired by Sherlock Holmes that addresses the realities of living with cancer.

Despite recent scientific progress, society and particularly the media oversimplifies, or sensationalises cancer. The way that cancer is portrayed does not reflect the reality for patients today. We’ve created a new chapter, ‘The Adventure of the Silent Hiss’, to ‘The Return of Sherlock Holmes’ collection of short stories, which sees the famous detective navigate a cancer diagnosis while successfully solving another mystery. Written in collaboration with patients and narrated by voice actor and cancer survivor, Brett Harman, the new chapter aims to shift the narrative to better reflect the fact that advances in treatment and detection are helping many people with the disease live better and longer lives. Whether cancer comes at the beginning, middle or end of a person’s life, it is never the whole story and does not need to define it. This story, inspired by characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was commissioned and funded by Pfizer Ltd. It takes artistic licence but is informed by insights from people living with cancer. It is intended for the UK general public and is not meant to replace the advice of a qualified health professional. PP-UNP-GBR-13946 / December 2025

People in this episode

Guest: Brett Harman

Topics covered

• cancer
• narrative change
• patient experience
• literature
• healthcare
• media portrayal

Keywords

• cancer diagnosis
• Sherlock Holmes
• patient insights
• treatment advances
• media sensationalism

Sponsors

Pfizer Ltd

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Adventure of the Silent Hiss, The Return of Sherlock Holmes

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