page_title: List of Sherlock characters
section_title: Dr. John Watson
hierarchical_section_title: List of Sherlock characters / Main characters / Dr. John Watson
caption_attribution_description: Chinatown, London. Martin Freeman during filming of Sherlock.
context_page_description: The following is a list and description of the characters of Sherlock, a British television series that started airing on BBC One in July 2010. The series is a contemporary adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.
context_section_description: John Hamish Watson (Martin Freeman) is Sherlock's best friend. He is often a foil to Sherlock in both appearance and personality. Unlike Sherlock, John is short with blond hair. He is friendly, compassionate, and patient, compared to Sherlock's aloof, cold-hearted tendencies. He gets on better with the police and takes care of practical matters at their flat, apparently doing most of the shopping. Sherlock has called him "the wisest, warmest human being [he] knows", and has stated that "the warmth and constancy of [John's] friendship" can redeem even a "rude, ignorant, all-around obnoxious arsehole like [Sherlock]."
  John seems to behave as Sherlock's advocate, helping strangers to understand what they should expect from Sherlock as he helps Sherlock to behave in socially acceptable ways. He calmly but sternly corrects Sherlock when he is brash and tries to get him to understand "typical" human emotions, which Sherlock snidely refers to as "sentiment", to him. John is very tolerant and understanding; as Sherlock's flatmate he has to deal with everything from coming home to find Sherlock shooting holes in the wall to opening the refrigerator and discovering a severed human head. He is shown to, in general, be very protective of Sherlock and his quirks; when, at the beginning of "The Hounds of Baskerville", Sherlock is angrily pacing the sitting room of their flat, desperate for a case, John encourages him and tries to help him find something to do, although, after Sherlock's deduction of Mrs. Hudson proves extremely insulting, John tells him off and insists he apologize. One thing John will not do with Sherlock, however, is play the game Cluedo; Sherlock's frustration that the inflexible rules of the game do not allow for scenarios that resemble realistic cases has apparently ruined the game for John. After he becomes engaged to Mary Morstan in Series Three, John develops a code with Mary that they use when one of them realizes that they need to privately discuss an issue Sherlock is having.
  At the start of the series, John is recently invalided home from Afghanistan after serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps as part of Britain's role in the 2001–2014 Afghanistan war. He was honourably discharged as a Captain.  Prior to his military period, John read medicine at King's College London, as seen on his CV.  He is in possession of a service pistol, with which he is highly proficient, being described as a "crack shot" by Sherlock. He often uses his former position to help Sherlock and him get into high security places (like in The Hound of Baskerville).
  At the beginning of the series, John has several medical issues: a psychosomatic limp in his right leg, a bullet wound in his left shoulder, and an "intermittent tremor" in his left hand. John's therapist notes he has "trust issues" and PTSD, but Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, says that he is far from being "haunted by the war" and that John actually misses the thrill of battle. Following a chase around London with Sherlock, in which he forgets his cane at a restaurant, John's limp disappears, and Mycroft observes that in a stressful situation John has no sign of a hand tremor. When asked by Sherlock, on their first case together, whether he wants to see more horrible deaths, John responds, "Oh God, yes!" In the 3rd series, it is further elaborated that John is subconsciously addicted to danger. Sherlock explains that this is why John chose to put his trust in him, a sociopath who solves dangerous cases as an alternative to getting high, and fell in love with Mary, a former secret agent and assassin.
  John is shown to be dependable and brave, with a strong sense of personal integrity. He refuses Mycroft's offer to pay him to spy on Sherlock, despite only having just met Sherlock; however, Series 3 shows John informing Mycroft of anything wrong Sherlock has done, showing he will inform others of Sherlock's actions if they are family. He is willing to use deadly force and shows impressive physical strength; in the episode A Scandal in Belgravia, when a confused Sherlock, who has
caption: Martin Freeman as John Watson
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