To be honest, it’s about time! There have been several Sherlock Holmes adaptations on screen, and in each one, Dr Watson has been relegated to second fiddle status. CBS, however, has indicated that they are developing a new series centred on the doctor and his own unique adventures, without the detective sidekick. Craig Sweeny, who was instrumental as an executive producer on CBS’s procedural drama Elementary, which gave a fresh take on the classic figure of Sherlock Holmes, will pen the series script. Watson will premiere in the fall. CBS will experiment with the concept of a truly dead Sherlock Holmes, in contrast to the final episodes of Elementary, in which Holmes faked his own death as a ploy to topple Odin Reichenbach.
A year after Holmes’s untimely demise at the hands of his archenemy Moriarty, Dr Watson will return to medicine “as the director of a clinic specialised in treating unusual illnesses” in the sequel Watson. Although Watson has been called a “medical drama with a strong investigative core,” intrigue is to be expected because Moriarty will be out to make life tough for the astute doctor. The plot of Watson, like that of Elementary, takes place in the present day and centres on Watson as he “turns his attention from solving crimes to tackling the greatest mystery of all: disease, and the ways it interrupts our lives.” The century-old brainchild of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been extensively argued by fans and critics to be in dire need of new interpretations, and CBS continues to take big moves in this regard.
But if the past is prologue, it seems like a bold move that might be received with mixed emotions to depict Holmes as dead. When Doyle initially tried to kill off Holmes in his 1893 short tale The Final Problem, he received such a backlash from readers that he had to reconsider and bring the character back to life for future adventures. But that was hundreds of years ago, and if viewers’ tastes have changed accordingly, CBS may have another smash on its hands with the Sherlock Holmes world after the enormous success of Elementary, which aired for seven seasons and starred Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr Watson. Next month will also see the release of Enola Holmes 2, the sequel to 2020’s Enola Holmes, which will once again star Henry Cavill as Holmes.
There have been rumours about a third Sherlock Holmes picture starring Robert Downey Jr., as well as the production of a spin-off starring Downey as the investigator. Along with scripting the series, Sweeny will serve as an executive producer alongside Aaron Kaplan and Brian Morewitz of Kapital Entertainment and Shäron Moalem MD, PhD. As a geneticist, physician, and New York Times best-selling author, the latter’s expertise will be invaluable in creating a believable scientifically accurate yet fictitious setting for Dr John Watson’s novel.