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BrumHour saw Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas at the invite of Birmingham Rep.
By Dave Massey
Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas at Birmingham Rep: Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐A fun Christmassy mystery show!
Directed by Phillip Breen with Becky Hope-Palmer, Written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed, with original Songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
After being in Germany for three months, Sherlock Holmes (Humphrey Ker) has returned to That London, to discover a new detective, Athena Faversham (Helena Wilson), has been helping Scotland Yard in his absense. His companion, Doctor Watson (David Reed), has been getting more and more vexed with his antics, and Inspector Lestrade (John Kearns) is on the verge of a breakdown.
Part comedy-part musical-part mystery, Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas is a decent daft production with fun songs and plenty of jokes; it has its own level of humour rather than being broadly funny. Puns and self-awareness are the order of the day.
Humphrey Ker is a fun Sherlock, suitably dashing with an air of authority, David Reed has an excellent voice and takes moments to have the stage to himself, and John Kearns brings a fair amount of unhinged chaos to his role. Margaret Cabourn-Smith is great as Mrs Hudson, whilst Susan Harrison steals her scenes as street boy Ernie.
The set features huge moving parts from theatre roofs to Sherlock’s Baker Street drawing room, but always keeps aware of its theatre setting.
The songs are fun, and the jokes are dumb but fun, very fun wordplay, plus some very niche theatre show references.
A fun Christmassy show, Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas, is at Birmingham Rep until 18th January 2026. Book tickets here: birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/sherlock-holmes-and-the-12-days-of-christmas.
