THE BAKER STREET KIDS
by Dave Buchanan
("The Case of the Newgate Breakout") A Sherlock Holmes mystery for youth groups featuring the Baker Street Irregulars.

Plot Summary
The Case of the Newgate Breakout is an original adventure story based on Conan Doyle’s stories of Sherlock Holmes. It features a gang of boys and girls known as The Baker Street Irregulars, who assist the great detective in thwarting a plot to bomb Newgate Prison. The kids are detailed to keep a lookout for a bomber at Paddington Station, but things go seriously wrong when one of them is attacked and another, an 8 year-old girl, is kidnapped.
The play which is for a mixed cast of 11-15 year-olds and has sixteen parts, is ideal for schools. It is technically demanding, but full of comic and suspenseful moments, and guaranteed to thrill and amuse.
Running time 75 minutes.

ISBN 1 904 930 89 1

CAST 8M 7F 1M/F
Sherlock Holmes Doctor Watson Mrs Hudson Stranger Newsvendor
Wiggins Smiler Badger Benjie Sammy	Alice Liza Lily Mary Maggie

SET
Holmes's lodgings, the kids' den, outside Newgate Prison

TIME - Victorian London, 1890, midsummer
DURATION - 75 minutes

Script Sample

The kids’ den

The girls are onstage, The eldest, Alice and Liza, are standing chatting, two others, Lily and Mary, are playing a form of hopscotch, while Maggie, the youngest, is playing with a doll

The boys troop in, kicking a football, disrupting the game of hopscotch. The girls react with cries of displeasure

Liza Is that all you boys do? Play bleedin’ football?
Badger Well, at least it’s better than playin’ bleedin’ ’opscotch!

The boys agree

Smiler Or bleeding' skippin’, that’s even worse!

The boys agree, the girls disagree

Wiggins Alright, alright, that’s enough of that. Come on, we got a job to do.
Liza Oh I do like strong men. Yer know, girls, masterful.
Wiggins Leave it off. We got criminals to catch.
Alice Well one criminal. Come on then, Wiggy, what’s the plan?
Wiggins Well we got two stations to cover, Paddington and Euston.
Alice Well, the girls can do Paddington …
Smiler No, we want Paddington, don’t we, boys?

The boys go “Yeh!”

Wiggins (producing a coin) We’ll toss for it. ’Eads the girls do Paddington …
Alice And tails the boys do Euston. That’s fair, isn’t it, girls?

Wiggins thinks for a little then grins

Wiggins Oh very subtle, very subtle.
Liza Nearly got you there, Wiggy.
Alice Yeh, yer gettin’ a bit slow in yer old age, Wiggy.
Wiggins Right. ’Eads the girls get Paddington, tails the boys get it. Alright?
Alice Alright.

He spins the coin and lets it drop onto the floor. Liza jumps on it triumphantly

Liza It’s ’eads, we win!

The girls are jubilant

Wiggins Alright next, wot we gonna go as?
Badger Wot do yer mean, ‘go as’, Wiggy?
Wiggins Well I reckon we should go as sellers of things.
Lily Wot kind of things?
Wiggins Well the boys could go as bootblacks.
Alice Yeh, and the girls could go as flower sellers …
Mary Or cake sellers …
Lily Or sausage sellers.
Wiggins Yeh, that’s good. Anythink, in fact.
Liza There’s just one problem, Wiggy.
Wiggins Wot’s that then?
Liza Where do we get baskets of flowers from?
Wiggins Easy peasy. From my contact at Covent Garden.
Lily I thought you was a bootblack, Wiggy.
Mary You can tell, can't yer? Look at them black fingernails.

The girls giggle

Smiler At least it's better than workin’ in a bleedin’ shop!

The boys all agree

Liza So, we got a regular little entrepreneur. You gonna make a bob or two on the side then?
Wiggins Give over!
Alice ’Ere, Wiggy, d’yer fancy a little wager?
Wiggins Wot kind of wager?
Alice Well I bet you that us girls could sell more stuff than you boys.
Badger Don’t be daft. We’re not sellin’ stuff .
Smiler Yeh, we’re sellin’ a service.
Alice Alright then, suppose we ’ave a bet on who makes the most money.

They all consider this for a moment

Wiggins Wot d’yer say, boys? Is it a bet?

The boys go “Yeh!”

(Turning to Alice) You’re on.
Alice Right, back ’ere at six, and whoever ’as the most money, wins.
Mary An’ the losers buys ice cream for the winners.
Liza Right, let’s go, girls!

from The Case of the Newgate Breakout

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