Dr. John H. Watson of the BBC's 'Sherlock' Dr. John H. Watson of the BBC's 'Sherlock' See Fourth Series Easter Eggs, Info. Wounded in the shoulder in Afghanistan war and invalided out with problems including psychosomatic leg wound. His therapist thinks he is haunted by the war but Mycroft says she has got it wrong, that John really misses the war and his intermittent tremor in his left hand goes away when he is under stress. Following his therapist's instructions he starts a blog but doesn't do anything with it until after he meets Sherlock and then he uses it to discuss Sherlock's cases. He has an older sister, called Harry for Harriet, who is married to a woman but has left her. Harry is an alcoholic. In Doyle's second novel The Sign of Four Harry is an older brother who had recently died and Watson had inherited his watch which Harry had initially inherited from their father. The original older brother like the new older sister was an alcoholic. John is abducted by the bomber in "The Great Game" and a bomb is attached to him which gives Moriarity a hold over Sherlock.

In the "Empty Herse" John is kidnapped and put into a bonfire near Guy Fawkes Day from which Sherlock has to race to save him. In "The Hounds of Baskerville" it is Sherlock who uses John as a guinea pig for an experiment. He played the clarinet at school, John claims in a job interview in "The Bind Banker". The H in his name is for Hamish which he refuses to tell Sherlock for some time. In the Original Arthur Conan Doyle Canon Watson's middle initial appears "only three times..." (source: The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes with notes by Leslie S. Klinger p. 7). "Dorothy L. Sayers, in her classic article "Dr. Watson's Christian Name," argues that the 'H' stands for 'Hamish,' a Scottish equivalent to 'James' (see 'Man with the Twisted Lip' for an instance in which Watson's wife refers to him as 'James')." (Ibid) Dr. John H. Watson served in Afghanistan with the "Fifth Northumberland Fusilers" (the same in Sherlock as in A Study in Scarlet. In Doyle's first story about Sherlock Homes, Watson's title is given as Assistant Surgeon.

Who Is Dr. John H. Watson (actor describes character, plus scenes) BBC promo John Watson (Martin Freeman) and Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) John H. Watson embarrasses easily and in the second episode he still isn't completely at home in civilian life. John Watson (Martin Freeman) Sherlockian.Net: The Case for the Real Dr. Watson Sherlockian.Net: The Case for the Real Dr. Watson by Rod Starling (cardstar@ptd.net) The question as to the reality of Sherlock Holmes has remained unresolved for decades. However, if the reality of his biographer, Dr. Watson can be established, the reality of Sherlock Holmes may follow as a natural consequence. This paper will therefore set out the case for the reality of Dr. Watson. The stories of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first consulting detective, come to us through the published writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur was a physician who was also a prolific writer. His early works included short stories and historical novels, some of which were published before he ever wrote a Sherlock Holmes story.

In order to develop what may have been the actual events that lead up to the publication of the Sherlock Holmes saga, it is necessary to note and consider the few salient points that follow. In the first place, it must be noted that the first Sherlock Holmes story was a full-length novel called A Study in Scarlet which was written in 1886 and published in 1887. The book begins with a Part 1 that is stated as “ Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Indian Army Medical Department ”. Two things seem a little odd here. First, as will be shown later, referring to the book as a “Reprint” of something by John H. Watson, M.D. may have more significance than was originally realized by the initial reading public. Most of the early readers considered Sherlock Holmes a work of pure fiction but others considered him to be a real person right from the beginning. It will shortly be seen that there is something to be said in the stories themselves for both points of view.

The second odd thing about A Study in Scarlet is that when Sir Arthur wrote it, he was only 26 years of age and yet both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson emerge as full blown characters and the stories were recounted with a certain maturity of style and content that one would consider to be quite unusual in such a young person. Creative genius is no doubt accountable to some extent. However, it must be remembered that Sir Arthur’s other works did not capture the attention of the public to anything near the extent to which the Sherlock Holmes stories did. No, there was something special about the Sherlock Holmes stories and it is that “something” that can hopefully be identified as “reality”. Creative genius has shown itself before and since but no character, not even those of Dickens, Poe, Defoe or any others, has had the lasting impact of Sherlock Holmes. Walt Disney was a creative genius and yet his character, Mickey Mouse, did not come upon the world stage fully blown. Disney’s early efforts show the beginnings of Mickey in a character called “ Oswald”. Later, a closer character called “ Steamboat Willie “ appeared who finally evolved into Mickey Mouse. It was a gradual process. Not so with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

They arrived on the scene fully developed. It seems very probable that there did in fact exist a real “consulting detective” who may at first have been a patient, and later a very good friend and room-mate, of a very real Dr. James Watson. That detective and Dr. James Watson evidently had a close relationship even to the point of working together on the detective’s cases, and the good doctor took to making notes about them. For some reason, Dr Watson never got his notes into story form and never published anything about the detective’s cases himself. Sir Arthur and Dr. James Watson were friends and both were writers and members of the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society. However, when Sir Arthur joined the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society in 1883, having already achieved the status of a published author in his own right, it would appear that an arrangement was made whereby Sir Arthur would put Dr. James Watson’s notes into story form for publication. And so it came to be, three years later in 1886, that Sir Arthur wrote the novel A Study in Scarlet, the first of sixty Sherlock Holmes stories.

For some reason, Dr James Watson did not want his true name used in connection with the stories, particularly since it was apparently also arranged that Sir Arthur would have permission to add fictionalized stories to the true cases. However, Sir Arthur’s attempt to hide Dr Watson’s name was not very serious. At first, he chose the name Ormond Sacker but apparently Dr. Watson was not happy with that choice. All that Sir Arthur did therefore was to change the doctor’s first name from James to John and to add a middle initial of “H” without ever disclosing what it stood for. But even at that and as we shall see, Sir Arthur could not resist giving some hint that it was Dr. James Watson who was involved. Sir Arthur was born and raised in Scotland and there is a Scottish name “Hamish” which is the English equivalent of “James” It is therefore reasonably conjectured that the “H” in John H. Watson stands for Hamish, the English equivalent of James. In the Sherlock Holmes story entitled “The Man With the Twisted Lip”, published in 1891, Sir Arthur actually casts Dr. Watson as “James”, not “John”.

Was that a slip of the pen or was it because Sir Arthur could not get it out of his mind that Dr James Watson was the real narrator with respect to the actual cases? It seems obvious that the latter is the case. To strengthen that belief, consider this: “ The Man With the Twisted Lip ” was annotated in the 1993 Oxford University edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where it is reported that on March 4, 1908, seventeen years after publication of “The Man With the Twisted Lip”, Sir Arthur again referred to Dr. James Watson in a letter to the editor of the Strand magazine. In it he stated that he could see no reason why he could not do an occasional story “…. under some such heading as “Reminiscences of Mr. Sherlock Holmes (Extracted from the diaries of his friend, Dr. James Watson)”!!! That would seem to be fair proof of where Sir Arthur got his factual Sherlock Holmes stories.

Notice also that 22 years after he wrote A Study in Scarlet, which he prefaced as “Being a Reminiscence of John H.Watson, etc.”, he again referred to the fact that the further stories that he proposed to write would be taken from an independent source which in the first instance, A Study in Scarlet, he names as John H. Watson, M.D. and in the second, as Dr. James Watson. Many of the details of the Sherlock Holmes stories, including the factual and physical settings, the residence at 221 Baker Street and the various and numerous parties to the plots, are too convoluted to analyze in this paper for the purpose of confirming the reality of the stories themselves. It appears that some were based on carefully screened facts and that others were pure fiction. There is, however, one observation that should be made in regard to the reality versus fictional aspect of the stories. In some, the fictional nature is obvious while in others there are many references to actual places, events and even people, although the exact identities of the latter are masked behind fictional names. Many times actual locations are referred to except with respect to places where the crimes or major action actually take place.

Those locations are fictionalized which leads one to believe that in such cases, the stories are based on real events and thus the need to screen the actual locations. There are many instances of this in the stories and one particular case comes to mind that is illustrative of the point. In “ The Adventure of the “Three Gables”, published in 1920, reference is made to a certain professional gossip named Langdale Pike to whom Sherlock Holmes often turned for helpful information. That story informs us that Langdale Pike, obviously a fictional name, “spent his waking hours in the bow window of a St. James Street club” In the excellent book Sherlock Holmes in London by Charles Viney, there is a photograph, taken in 1907, of a Hansom cab standing outside Boodle’s Club in St. James's Street, London. The photo not only shows what the caption calls “…..its famous bow window ” but also, upon close examination, a man standing in it! There were, at the time, four clubs in St. James's Street but only one had a bow window.

Clearly then, Sir Arthur in 1920, was in possession of notes relating to a very real professional gossip who took as his vantage point the real bow window of the real Boodle’s Club and there is that photographic evidence of it taken 16 years before the story was published! Based on the above, it may be concluded that Dr James Watson, for reasons we will never know, chose to collaborate with Sir Arthur in the publication of notes that he made concerning his association with a certain real “consulting detective”. The name of that detective has come down to us, as Sherlock Holmes and we are unable to confirm or deny the accuracy of it. It is probably accurate. Sir Arthur considered trying to mask the first name as “Sherringford” but eventually decided against it. There is one final observation to be made in support of the contention that Sherlock Holmes was a real person. In his Preface to The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur first explains that after the completion of the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, he had determined to end the stories because at the time, he felt that his literary energies should not be directed too much into one channel.

He then goes on to state, however, that he never regretted deciding, later on, to continue them. In particular, he said: “Had Holmes never existed I could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood a little in the way of the recognition of my more serious work.” It seems very clear then that we have Sir Arthur’s own word for it that Sherlock Holmes did indeed exist! Fact or fiction, it has rightly been noted that Sherlock Holmes has been subsumed into the collective consciousness and someone else who wrestled with the question of his reality put it very succinctly: “Sherlock Holmes is a man who never lived and will never die,” and that is as much as any man could hope for and a happy note upon which to end this paper. Doctor Watson - Actors by Character Doctor Watson - The "Underestimated" Friend The part of Doctor Watson, Sherlock Holmes's best and only friend, can be a thankless task for an actor. And yet the character plays such an important role: As readers of the original stories we see Sherlock Holmes through John Watson's eyes. The stories are nearly all written from the doctor's point of view. John Watson puts the superhuman detective into perspective for us.

Because of him we can relate to the intellectual genius of Holmes in the first place. Dr Watson is a retired army surgeon who has seen battle action in Afghanistan. A mutual acquaintance introduces him to the detective. Eventually they decide to share lodgings. John Watson is a stout and loyal fellow; willing to follow Holmes into every possible dangerous situation. Sounds like the perfect companion for the detective? I am sorry to disappoint you. The original stories are not everything. Some movies paint another picture. Dr Watson looks like a bumbling fool and I ask myself how Sherlock Holmes could ever have put up with him in the first place. Unfortunately, these movies are also some of the best known Sherlock Holmes movies. Yes, I am talking about the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce films. Don't get me wrong. I like Nigel Bruce. His comic talent is fantastic. Some of his scenes as Doctor Watson are hilarious. Check out the scene in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", where he lies on the floor playing a corpse for Holmes and the conversation which ensues, when a pedestrian asks him what he is doing. But Bruce's portrayal also degraded Doctor Watson to a laughing stock. Many people still equalise his interpretation with the character. This is really unfair.

Yes, the good doctor might be slightly less intelligent than the detective. But Watson is not stupid (he is a doctor of medicine for god's sake). Nor does he blindly agree to just anything Holmes demands of him. Fortunately most actors who play Dr Watson have shown their professional strengths. Find out more about the men who had the privilege to play the detective's best and only friend: ~ ~ ~ Hubert Willis joined Eille Norwood in a series of silent black and white movies in the 1920s. ~ ~ ~ Ian Fleming (the Australian actor, not the creator of James Bond) played Doctor Watson opposite Arthur Wontner in a series of films during the 1930s. ~ ~ ~ Ian Hunter took the reins from Fleming for one adventure alongside Wontner. ~ ~ ~ The German actor Heinz Rühmann accompanied Hans Albers in "The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes". ~ ~ ~ The most famous actor duo playing Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, joined forces against different villains from 1939 until 1946. ~ ~ ~ Howard Marion-Crawford is perhaps best known to the American audiences as Ronald Howard's Dr Watson.

~ ~ ~ André Morell had to confront the "Hound of the Baskervilles" in his partnership with Peter Cushing. ~ ~ ~ Thorley Walters as Doctor Watson first accompanied Christopher Lee and later joined Douglas Wilmer in the parody "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" as well as Christopher Plummer in "Silver Blaze". ~ ~ ~ Donald Houston faced Jack The Ripper together with John Neville in "A Study in Terror". ~ ~ ~ Nigel Stock offered his services as Watson to two actors playing the detective: Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing. ~ ~ ~ Colin Blakely chronicled "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Stephens in the title role. ~ ~ ~ Patrick Macnee left Emma Peel behind and followed first Roger Moore in New York and later Christopher Lee. ~ ~ ~ The American actor Robert Duvall intervened on behalf of his friend. He duped Holmes and got him to Vienna to consult with Sigmund Freud in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution". ~ ~ ~ Vitaly Solomin was a youthful John Watson alongside Vasily Livanov in the Russian adaptations. ~ ~ ~ James Mason's Watson challenged Jack the Ripper together with Christopher Plummer.

~ ~ ~ Donald Churchill and David Healy both offered their services to Ian Richardson's Holmes. ~ ~ ~ John Mills' older version of Watson supported Peter Cushing's ageing detective in "The Masks of Death". ~ ~ ~ David Burke and Edward Hardwicke both played Holmes's Boswell in the Granada series with Jeremy Brett. Burke played Watson in the first two seasons and Hardwicke after the hiatus in the remaining seasons. ~ ~ ~ Ben Kingsley had a hard time convincing the editor of the "Strand Magazine" that he as John Watson was the mastermind behind the successful cases. Everyone thought that Michael Caine as Reginald Kincaid was Sherlock Holmes. ~ ~ ~ Kenneth Welsh accompanied Matt Frewer on his quests for the truth in a couple of films produced for Canadian television broadcaster, CTV. ~ ~ ~ Roger Morlidge played a younger version of Watson alongside James D'Arcy. ~ ~ ~ Ian Hart stood his ground as Dr Watson against two brilliant detectives; Rupert Everett and Richard Roxburgh. ~ ~ ~ Bill Paterson helped the Baker Street Irregulars with their investigations in order to help Jonathan Pryce's Sherlock Holmes.

~ ~ ~ Jude Law plays one of the latest incarnations of Dr Watson in the action movies from director Guy Ritchie with Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes. ~ ~ ~ Gareth David-Lloyd left Torchwood to help Ben Syder against dinosaurs amongst other threats. ~ ~ ~ John Rhys-Davies, widely known as Gilmli from the Lord of the Rings movies, voices a rather bumbly cartoon version of Watson in an adventure with Tom and Jerry. ~ ~ ~ Martin Freeman is also a recent addition to the league of good doctors. His modern-day Dr Watson has seen battle in the current Afghanistan conflict. He is teamed up with Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes in the BBC series "Sherlock". ~ ~ ~ Lucy Liu is the only female companion to the Great Detective. She assists Jonny Lee Miller in New York in the CBS TV show "Elementary". ~ ~ ~ Dr. John Watson in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes NEXT Character Analysis Poor Watson: he kind of gets the short end of the stick. The fuzzy end of the lollipop. A bum rap.

All twelve of these stories are told from his first-person perspective, and yet, when we look back at our "In a Nutshell" and "What's Up With the Title?" sections, we notice that we've barely mentioned his name. After all, these stories aren't called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; on the contrary, Watson is constantly building up Holmes's glamour at the expense of his own. Think of how many times Watson admits that Holmes seems to have solved the case without having any clue how Holmes has done so. Or how often Holmes asks Watson what he has observed of a visitor, only to find that Watson has missed every important detail. We can't help but cringe a little when Holmes says to him, "You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important" (Identity.83). Or when Watson gives up in the middle of "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," exclaiming, "What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was!" (Valley.104). The thing is, though, Watson is awesome in his own right. He was an army doctor in Afghanistan, and only came back to England once he got a rifle wound to the leg.

He's the one who always carries the gun in he and Holmes's most dangerous encounters (see the dealings with John Clay and "The Red-Headed League" or with Mr. Rucastle, the dog Carlo, and "The Copper Beeches"). What's more, Watson is actually able to sustain a job and engage in healthy human relationships with more than one person (we assume, what with him being married and apparently having non-Holmes friends here and there). He's played by Jude Law in the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie, for crying out loud: he's fabulous. Can we get a little love for Dr. Watson up in here? So why is Watson so modest? Watson isn't just complimenting Holmes, as in, telling us how great he is. He's also complementing Holmes, or in other words, showing us Holmes's genius by providing a constant point of comparison. After all, Watson's a smart man – a medical doctor with a clear, cool writing style. He's someone we respect. And if Holmes is smart enough to make a war vet doctor feel dumb, well then, Holmes must be brilliant. Watson provides a foil for Holmes, but he's a sympathetic, friendly foil.

This isn't a Holmes/Inspector Lestrade-style hostile opposition. Watson fills in gaps that Holmes lacks: he's the one who adds human interest to Holmes's stories, and who provides medical assistance that Holmes can't handle (see, for example, Mr. Rucastle in "The Copper Beeches"). Watson and "Tales of Ratiocination" Way back in "In a Nutshell," we mentioned that Conan Doyle based the Holmes/Watson dynamic on the earlier detective duo of C. Auguste Dupin and the unnamed narrator from Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Poe describes his mystery stories as "tales of ratiocination," in which the reader is supposed to spend a lot of time picking up clues and solving puzzles. In other words, the story is supposed to be something like a brainteaser. For more on Poe's tales, check out our guide to "Murders in the Rue Morgue"; here we'll just say that the problem with making a story like a brainteaser is that, you know, a good game of Sudoku doesn't usually involve much character development.

If a storyteller emphasizes the rational solutions part of a mystery novel too much, it's easy to skip over what makes a tale compelling: people you can identify with. Here's where Watson steps in and makes Holmes the greatest fictional detective ever. Watson makes cold, calculating Holmes…human. Sure, Watson keeps mentioning that Holmes despises feelings and whatnot. At the same time, the clear bromance that ties the two guys together – their mutual friendship and respect – really speaks well of both of them as sympathetic, cool human beings. Watson also manages to bring out the passionate side of Holmes's supremely intellectual work. After all, all that social feeling that Holmes lacks has to go somewhere; he clearly puts it to good use when he's on the hunt for clues: Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out with a steely glitter (Valley.130).

This thick description is, first of all, really evocative, and it adds a layer of linguistic pleasure to the whole let's-solve-crime! aspect of the detective story. But secondly, Watson makes this abstract process of intellectual reasoning seem, well – we'll just come out and say it – sexy. There's a point later on in the same passage when Watson describes Holmes's "purely animal lust for the chase." How can a reader not find a mental exercise appealing that makes the detective feel "animal lust"? Sign us up for solving crime if this is what it's like! And it's Watson's literary talents that bring about this interest on the part of the reader; Holmes, on the contrary, wants records of "that severe reasoning from cause to effect which really the only notable feature about [detective work]" (Beeches.3). Sounds dull as ditchwater to us – we'd take Watson's "colour and life" over Holmes's "severe reasoning" any day. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (TV Series 1980– ) - IMDb IMDb 18 January 2017 5:37 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title.

Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson 25min Shot in Polish-British co-production series of short stories based on themes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - "father" of the world's most famous detective: Sherlock Holmes. Each episode is a ... See full summary » Stars: a list of 251 titles created 23 Feb 2012 a list of 166 titles created 27 Jan 2014 a list of 297 titles created 8 months ago a list of 68 titles created 5 months ago a list of 17 titles created 1 month ago Title: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1980– ) 8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Add Image Add an image Do you have any images for this title? Doctor Watson moves in with the eccentric Sherlock Holmes and they get a case to solve.

A young heiress seeks Holmes' help when she feels threatened by her brutish stepfather after her sister dies under mysterious circumstances. Stars: Vasiliy Livanov, Vitali Solomin, Rina Zelyonaya The adventures of master detective Sherlock Holmes as he and his assistant, Dr. Watson--and, somewhat reluctantly, the bumbling Inspector Lestrade--battle criminals in London. Stars: Ronald Howard, Howard Marion-Crawford, Archie Duncan Adaptations of mystery stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle's contemporary rivals in the genre. Stars: Peter Barkworth, Peter Vaughan, Douglas Wilmer A series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, based on the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Stars: Nigel Stock, Peter Cushing, Douglas Wilmer When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in his country house, Dr James Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes for help to save Sir Henry Baskerville, the only known heir, from the curse that haunts Baskerville family. Director: Igor Maslennikov A defrosted Holmes teams with a robotic Watson and a female Inspector Lestrade to stop the criminal rampage of Moriarty's clone. Stars: Jason Gray-Stanford, John Payne, Akiko Morison 1910.

Mycroft Holmes asks his brother Sherlock & Dr. Watson to travel to Viena and find the stolen plans & prototype for an electro-magnetic bomb detonator. Once there, they are reunited ... See full summary » Director: Peter Sasdy King Edward ask Sherlock Holmes to perform one more task before his retirement: to safeguard the Star of Africa on a trip to Cape Town. Soon the fabled jewel is stolen and several people end up being murdered. Director: Bill Corcoran Sherlock Holmes comes to the aid of his friend Henry Baskerville, who is under a family curse and menaced by a demonic dog that prowls the bogs near his estate and murders people. Director: Douglas Hickox Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson solve the mysteries of copper beeches, a Greek interpreter, the Norwood builder, a resident patient, the red-headed league, and one final problem. Stars: Jeremy Brett, David Burke, Rosalie Williams Holmes and Dr Watson solve the mysteries of the disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, Thor Bridge, Shoscombe Old Place, the Boscombe Valley, an illustrious client and a creeping man.

Stars: Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke, Rosalie Williams Edit Storyline Shot in Polish-British co-production series of short stories based on themes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - "father" of the world's most famous detective: Sherlock Holmes. Each episode is a separate entity, revealing another riddle crime that quickly and reliably solve Sherlock Holmes. Have the reputation of an excellent detective Sherlock Holmes is an apartment in the house on Baker Street. He would like to take a roommate. When winter 1881. Dr. John Watson returns from the war in Afghanistan and is looking for an apartment in London, a friend advised him to Holmes took advantage of the offer. Both men quickly became friends and since Watson accompanied Holmes in his remarkable work, admiring his ability to deduction and clear facts. Full of praise for the insight and perception Holmes is also Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. Written by Butterbaugh Sherlock Holmes e il dottor Watson See more » Filming Locations: Some stories were remakes of Sherlock Holmes (1954).

See more » Frequently Asked Questions Adequate Holmes, but don't expect too much 5 February 2012 | by jonfrum2000 (United States) – See all my reviews Sheldon Reynolds remade his 1954 television series, this time with Polish and Italian staff behind the cameras. This series is played with less humor and more earnestness, but I find it less appealing. I generally prefer my Holmes played straight, but the earlier version with Ronald Howard grew on me. Some of the episodes in that series went over the top with the humor, but for the most part they were charming in their own way. Howard was an interesting Holmes, more personable than the character is usually played, with an impish humor. In any case, I quickly accepted and identified Howard as Holmes and his Howard Marion- Crawford as his partner Watcon. In this series, however, even though it sticks to my preferred dramatic reading, the actors just don't fill out the parts for me. Watson's role as a straight man can be filled fairly easily, but Geoffrey Whitehead just never convinces me that he's Holmes.

I'm four episodes into the series, and there is still nothing to the role that sticks in my mind as Holmes. I've also listened to the BBC4 radio plays featuring Clive Merrison, and I immediately accepted Merrison's voice as Holmes. Writing these words, I barely remember what Whitehead sounds like. To understand my disappointment with this series, I would recommend watching the original 1954 version of The Case of Harry Crooker and this version. In the original, the escape artist is a whirlwind of anarchic amusement. In the 1980 version, which is a direct copy, not so much. The copy seems bloodless in comparison. For all my disappointment with the series, I still am watching the episodes. mediocre Holmes is better than no Holmes at all. So if you love Holmes, look for these on Youtube. 4 of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes John Watson | Baker Street Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit In the debut Holmes story A Study in Scarlet , Watson, as the narrator, describes meeting Holmes, their subsequent sharing of rooms at 221B Baker Street , his attempts to discover the profession of his taciturn companion, Holmes's eventual taking of Watson into his confidence, and the events surrounding their first case together. Watson describes Holmes and his methods in too romantic and sentimental a manner for Holmes' taste. In time, they become close friends. In The Sign of Four , John Watson met Mary Morstan , who became his wife. Mary seemed somewhat less sure of her husband, however, absentmindedly calling him "James" in the short story " The Man with the Twisted Lip ". This may be a simple typographical error, though some have speculated that it is a wifely reference to Watson's unknown middle name, which could have been "Hamish" (Scottish for "James") Dorothy Sayers, creator of the detective Lord Peter Wimsey, also wrote several essays on Holmesian speculation, later published this theory in Unpopular Opinions. Watson is a physician of some experience (as was Conan Doyle ).

Watson had served in the British Army medical corps in Afghanistan , but was discharged following an injury Watson gives two separate locations for the Jezail bullet wound he received while serving in the British Army. In A Study in Scarlet he states "I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery." However in The Sign of the Four, Watson informs us "... [I] sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather". " The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor " contains the only other reference to the injury. Here Watson is a little ambiguous; he tells us "the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence." received in the line of duty during the Battle of Maiwand. Watson was almost killed in the long and arduous retreat from the battle, but was saved by his orderly, Murray.

He was also struck with fever and was invalided out of the Army with a half pay officer pension of 11 shillings and 6 pence a month. When Watson first returns from Afghanistan, he is "as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut." His more normal appearance is hinted at in " The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ": "... a middle-sized, strongly built man--square jaw, thick neck, moustache ...". In The Hound of the Baskervilles he notes that he is "reckoned fleet of foot". By 1914 (in the story " His Last Bow "), he is described as "thickset". He is evidently not ill-favored, as Holmes several times jokes about Watson's success with women.

Not very much is written about his family-his deceased father had the same initials as his son and was prosperous enough to own a 50 guineas watch; he had a elder brother also deceased whom Holmes after studying the heirloom watch deduces that although he was relatively prosperous he was also careless and was addicted to strong drink; pawned his heirloom watch four times (although he redeemed the pledges) and the reminder of his brother's life is a very painful subject for John Watson personally. By the time Watson comes back from India, he admits to having no living kin in England. Personality Edit Watson is not a stupid man (he is, after all, a medical doctor, and one whose talents Holmes holds in the highest esteem), but he does not have Holmes' insight. He serves as a foil to Holmes: the ordinary man against the brilliant, emotionally-detached analytical machine that Holmes can sometimes be. With the two, Conan Doyle created a clever literary pairing: two vivid characters, different in their function and yet each useful for his purposes. Watson is well aware of both the limits of his abilities and Holmes' reliance on him: "[Holmes] was a man of habits... and I had become one of them... a comrade...

upon whose nerve he could place some reliance... a whetstone for his mind. I stimulated him... If I irritated him by a certain methodical slowness in my mentality, that irritation served only to make his own flame-like intuitions and impressions flash up the more vividly and swiftly. Such was my humble role in our alliance." Conan Doyle portrays Watson as a capable and brave individual, whom Holmes does not hesitate to call upon for both moral and physical assistance: "Quickly Watson, get your service revolver!". Watson occasionally attempts to solve crimes on his own, using Holmes's methods. For example, in The Hound of the Baskervilles , Watson efficiently clears up several of the many mysteries confronting the pair, and Holmes praises him warmly for his zeal and intelligence. However, because he is not endowed with Holmes's ability to focus on the essential details of the case, he meets with limited success in other cases, as Holmes remarks "Quite so... you see, but you do not observe." However, as a military man, Watson is the better strategist, besting his friend at chess, who prefers to observe.

In the story " The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist ", Watson's attempts to help Holmes with an investigation prove unsuccessful because of his unimaginative approach, e.g. asking a London estate agent who lives in a particular country residence (according to Holmes, what he should have done was "gone to the nearest public house" and listened to the gossip). Watson is too guileless to be a proper detective; as Holmes observes in The Valley of Fear , he has a definite strain of "pawky humour", but he is naturally open and straightforward, while Holmes can be secretive and devious. Though initially their relationship was little more than vaguely acquainted roommates, the two became the very best of friends, almost like brothers. By the time they shared " The Adventure of the Three Garridebs ", Holmes had such an attachment to his friend that he nearly panicked at the thought that Watson had been shot. Watson wrote: "It was worth a wound it was worth many wounds to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.

All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation." Holmes returns to himself only when he is assured that Watson has been merely scratched by the bullet, adding to the perpetrator that "...if you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive." Though he never masters Holmes's deductive methods, Watson is acute enough to follow his friend's reasoning after the fact. In " The Adventure of the Norwood Builder ", Holmes notes that John Hector McFarlane is "a bachelor, a solicitor, a Freemason, and an asthmatic". Watson comments, in his narratorial role: "Familiar as I was with my friend's methods, it was not difficult for me to follow his deductions, and to observe the untidiness of attire, the sheaf of legal papers, the watch-charm, and the breathing which had prompted them." Similar episodes occur in " The Adventure of the Devil's Foot ", " The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist ", and " The Adventure of the Resident Patient ".

Watson is something of a ladies' man (boasting in The Sign of Four of "an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents") and fans of the Conan Doyle stories have long speculated as to just how many times he was married. Watson as archetype of the sidekick Edit In Conan Doyle 's early rough plot outlines, Sherlock Holmes' sidekick was named "Ormond Sacker" before Conan Doyle finally settled on "John Watson". In turn, the introduction of Dr Watson in the Holmes novels proved a precursor to other, similar characters. Many of the great fictional detectives have their Watson: Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, for example, is accompanied by Captain Arthur Hastings. In the words of William L. De Andrea, "Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes. [...] From the writer's point of view, Conan Doyle knew the importance of having someone to whom the detective can make enigmatic remarks, a consciousness that's privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time.

Any character who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a 'Watson'." In 1929, English crime writer and critic Ronald Knox stated as one of his rules for fledgling writers of detective fiction as that the stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader." Misconception of Watson as being a fool Edit In a number of film adaptations , in particular those featuring the comic skills of the actor Nigel Bruce , the character of Watson became more of a caricature. Far from being the able assistant as presented by Conan Doyle , Watson was portrayed as an incompetent fool. Modern treatments have returned to the roots of Conan Doyle stories and have portrayed a more sympathetic and competent Watson. The most famous example of this restored image of Watson is the depiction played by David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke in the 1980s television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , starring Jeremy Brett in the title role.

At the end of the episode "The Empty House", Watson even speaks the lines (given to Holmes in the story) about the criminal's motives, and receives Holmes' warm praise for his acumen. Another well-liked depiction was by actor André Morell in the 1959 film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Other depictions include Donald Houston , who played Watson to John Neville 's Holmes in A Study in Terror (1965); a rather belligerent, acerbic Watson portrayed by Colin Blakely in Billy Wilder 's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), in which Holmes was played by Robert Stephens ; and James Mason 's portrayal in Murder by Decree (1978), with Christopher Plummer as Holmes. Ian Hart portrayed a young, capable and fit Watson twice for BBC television once opposite Richard Roxburgh as Holmes (in an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles) and for a second time opposite Rupert Everett as the Great Detective in the new story Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking .

Stephen King , the American horror novelist, wrote a short story called The Doctor's Case in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes, where Watson actually solves the case instead of an impressed Holmes. Holmes is also in "Hound of the Baskervilles" In the 1988 parody film Without a Clue the roles of a bumbling Watson and an extremely competent Holmes are reversed, in the film Holmes is an invention of Watson played by an alcoholic actor to allow Watson to work on solving cases behind the scenes. Cultural References Edit Microsoft Corporation named the debugger in Microsoft Windows "Dr Watson". In the television series House, the character of Dr James Wilson is meant to be a direct reference to Watson, (with House himself being a direct reference to Holmes). In addition to the similarity of their names, Wilson serves in the show as House's only real friend and confidante, and occasionally assists him in solving particularly difficult cases (it should also be mentioned that in one episode House claims to live in 221B Baker Street ). Also, in keeping with Watson's role as a ladies' man, Wilson has been married several times and had multiple affairs.

Cumberbatch & Freeman - Sherlock Holmes on screen - Pictures - CBS News Sherlock Holmes on screen Next Cumberbatch & Freeman Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his assistant, Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman), are on the case in 21st century London in the popular BBC revamp of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal detective. The deductive genius of 221B Baker Street has been portrayed by more film and TV actors than nearly any other fictional character. Click through our gallery to see some of the most memorable. Credit: BBC Tom Baker The Good Doctor donned a deerstalker cap for the 1982 BBC miniseries, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" - one of at least 21 film or TV versions of Doyle's classic tale. Credit: BBC John Barrymore John Barrymoore starred as Holmes opposite Roland Young as Dr. Watson in the 1922 film, "Sherlock Holmes," based on William Gillette's stage adaptation of several Doyle stories.

Credit: Goldwyn Jeremy Brett Jeremy Brett starred as Holmes in a series of British TV productions in the 1980s and '90s, after playing Watson opposite Charlton Heston's Holmes on stage. Credit: Grenada Clive Brook played Sherlock Holmes in films twice, in 1929 and 1932. Credit: Fox Michael Caine In the 1988 comedy, "Without a Clue," Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) is the true deductive genius behind Sherlock Holmes (played by Michael Caine). Credit: ITC John Cleese After portraying Sherlock Holmes on TV in 1972, Monty Python's John Cleese played Arthur Sherlock Holmes, the bumbling grandson of the famed detective, in "The Strange Case of the End of Civilization As We Know It" (1977), with Arthur Lowe as Dr. Watson. Credit: London Weekend Television Peter Cook In one of the more unfortunate comedic takes on the Arthur Conan Doyle canon, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore starred as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in Paul Morrisey's spoof of "The Hound of the Baskervilles." The deductive geniuses never sounded sillier.

Credit: Hemdale Benedict Cumberbatch In a modernized take on the Doyle stories, Benedict Cumberbatch (right) and Martin Freeman star as Holmes and Watson in 21st century London in the BBC series, "Sherlock." Credit: BBC Peter Cushing The 1959 Hammer Studios film of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" starred Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes. Credit: Hammer James D'Arcy James D'Arcy, as novice detective Sherlock Holmes, examines some grey matter up close in the 2002 TV movie, "Sherlock." Credit: USA Network Robert Downey Jr. The 2009 adventure "Sherlock Holmes," starring Robert Downey Jr. as the superhero-detective (with Jude Law as Watson), was a brawny success, spawning a sequel, "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows." Credit: Warner Brothers William Gillette Stage actor William Gillette - allegedly described by Arthur Conan Doyle as the best thespian to tackle his creation - starred in his own successful stage adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and later portrayed the character in a 1916 film.

Credit: Essanay Ronald Howard Ronald Howard, son of "Gone With the Wind" star Leslie Howard, appeared as Sherlock Holmes in a syndicated TV series in 1954-55. Shot in France, only a few of the 39 episodes are based on Doyle's stories. Credit: Guild Films Frank Langella Frank Langella starred in a revival of William Gillette's 1899 play, "Sherlock Holmes," which was taped for broadcast by HBO. Credit: HBO Christopher Lee After playing Sir Henry Baskerville opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes in Hammer's "Hound of the Baskervilles," Lee took a turn playing the detective himself in a German-backed production, "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" (1962), directed by Hammer favorite Terence Fisher. Credit: Constantin Film Jonny Lee Miller Another modern take on Doyle, "Elementary" stars Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as a female Dr. Watson in the series set in contemporary New York City. Credit: CBS Roger Moore In the 1976 TV movie, "Sherlock Holmes in New York," Roger Moore as Holmes pursues arch-foe Moriarty across the Atlantic.

Credit: 20th Century Fox John Neville Years before playing the mysterious "Well-Manicured Man" on "The X Files," John Neville played Sherlock Holmes in pursuit of Jack the Ripper in the 1965 thriller, "A Study in Terror." Credit: Columbia PIctures It's Sherlock Holmes (Reginald Owen) versus a secret society in "A Study in Scarlet" (1933). Credit: Fox Chrisopher Plummer Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) shows Inspector Foxborough (David Hemmings) that he's prepared for Jack the Ripper in the 1979 drama, "Murder by Decree." Credit: Avco Embassy Jonathan Pryce Sherlock Holmes (Jonathan Pryce) is on the case with the assistance of some street kids who help solve a murder, in the 2007 children's film, "Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars." Credit: BBC Basil Rathbone Basil Rathbone was Hollywood's most memorable player of Sherlock Holmes. He starred in the 1939 version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," and made 13 more films, for 20th Century Fox and Universal, as Doyle's detective.

Credit: 20th Century Fox Rathbone & Bruce Look out, Holmes! Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson and Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes in "The Woman in Green" (1945). While the earliest films starring the pair as Doyle's detectives were set in the period of the source novels, later films were set in the present day, allowing the genius detective to match wits against Nazi spies while wearing a fedora. Credit: Universal Pictures Ian Richardson In 1982 Ian Richardson starred in two TV adaptations of Doyle stories, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Sign of Four." Credit: Mapleton Films Nicholas Rowe In Barry Levinson's origin tale, "Young Sherlock Holmes" (written by Chris Columbus), Nicholas Rowe played the boy detective meeting the future Dr. Watson at boarding school. Together they embark on the trail of an ancient Egyptian cult.

Credit: Paramount Pictures Hermann Speelmans Hermann Speelmans starred in a 1937 German film, "Sherlock Holmes." Among the many actors who have portrayed the very British Holmes in non-English language productions are Austrian Hugo Flink; Czech actors Eman Fiala and Radovan Lukavsky; from Denmark, Otto Lagoni, Viggo Larsen and Einar Zangenberg; Georges Treville of France; Germans Eugen Burg, Ernst Fritz Furbringer, and Alwin Neuss; Russian actors Vasily Livanov, Igor Petrenko and Nikolay Volkov; and China's Fan Ai Li. Credit: Terra-Filmverleih Robert Stephens Billy Wilder ("Some Like It Hot") directed and co-wrote "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1970), which starred Robert Stephens as the detective whose investigation into a missing engineer takes him to Scotland, where an appearance of the Loch Ness monster proves to be something else much more nefarious. Credit: United Artists Nicol Williamson In "The Seven Percent Solution" (1976), based on Nicholas Meyer's novel, Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) and Dr.

Watson (Robert Duvall) seek the aid of Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) to cure Holmes' cocaine addiction - and to solve a mystery locked in the great detective's subconscious. Credit: Universal Pictures Douglas Wontner Douglas Wontner played Sherlock Holmes in five U.K. films in the 1930s, including "The Sleeping Cardinal," "The Missing Rembrandt" (considered a lost film), "The Sign of Four," "The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes," and "Silver Blaze." Credit: Warner Brothers Edward Woodward john Hillerman, long a second banana to the star of "Magnum P.I.," played Dr. Watson to Edward Woodward's Sherlock Holmes in the 1990 TV movie, "Hands of a Murderer." Credit: CBS Hans Albers The popularity of Sherlock Holmes led not only to authorized versions of Doyle stories but also comedic riffs on the highly popular character. In the 1937 German film, "The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes," Hans Albers and Heinz Ruhmann play detectives who impersonate Holmes and Watson. They get into hot water, only to be rescued by none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself! Credit: UFA George C.

Scott Based on the play by James Goldman ("The Lion in Winter"), "They Might Be Giants" (1971) stars George C. Scott as a man convinced he is Holmes. Joined by his psychiatrist, Dr. Watson (Joanne Woodward), he sets off in pursuit of the villainous Moriarty. Credit: Universal Pictures Brent Spiner In an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Holmes fan Data (Brent Spiner) becomes the character in a Holodeck recreation of an ersatz Arthur Conan Doyle mystery, complete with arch villain Moriarty (who has some surprises in store for the Enterprise computer). Credit: Paramount Television "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" Thanks to cellular regeneration, a scientist of the future brings back to life the fabled detective who - aided by his robotic sidekick Watson - tackles mysteries that Doyle buffs might consider cellular regenerations themselves, in the 1996 cartoon series, "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century." Credit: Fox Kids Ian McKellan In the 2015 mystery "Mr.

Holmes," directed by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters"), Ian McKellan plays the aging detective after the Second World War, as he recalls the circumstances of his final case. Based on Mitch Cullin's 2005 novel, "A Slight Trick of the Mind." Credit: Roadside Attractions

Question: What was the first name of Dr. Watson, Sherlock Homes' assistant?
Answer: John