Sherlock Holmes’ faithful friend and partner John Watson is about to star in his own series. CBS has greenlit Watson with Morris Chestnut (Rosewood) starring as the famous doctor with Elementary‘s Craig Sweeny showrunning and writing the series.
Watson is described as “a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of one of history’s greatest detectives as he turns his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries.” Unlike most versions of Sherlock Holmes series or films, Watson will not feature the great detective as the series take place after Holmes’ apparent death in a clash with his nemesis Professor Moriarty, clearly influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Final Problem’ which was intended to be his last Sherlock Holmes mystery.
The official logline for Watson reads: In Watson, a year after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson (Chestnut) resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though—Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century.
“We are thrilled to feature such a beloved character from the world of Sherlock Holmes at the center of this series and have it brought to life by Morris Chestnut in a fresh and unexpected take on the immortal doctor,” said Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment. “Craig Sweeny’s bold new vision for the complex Dr. Watson deftly interweaves rich character storytelling with edge-of-your-seat medical mysteries.”
Sweeny wrote the series’ pilot episode and will executive produce alongside Chestnut, Aaron Kaplan for Kapital Entertainment, Brian Morewitz as well as Shäron Moalem MD, PhD. Sweeney is not unfamiliar to the world of Sherlock Holmes or even a modern day re-imagining as he worked for five seasons on CBS’ previous Holmes series Elementary, which saw Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson investigating cases with Johnny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes.
Aside from Liu, other actors who have recently played Watson are Martin Freenman in Sherlock, Jude Law in the two Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock Holmes films (with a third having been in various stages of development for over a decade) and Himesh Patel making a cameo as Watson at the end of Enola Holmes 2.
What do you think of Dr. Watson getting his own series? Are you excited to see Chestnut’s portrayal? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
