The following is a list of actors who have played Dr. Watson in various media.
Name | Title | Date | Type |
---|---|---|---|
F. H. Oliver | The Sign of the Four [1] | 1922 | Radio (WGY) |
Leigh Lovell | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [2] | 1930–1935 | Radio (NBC Blue Network) |
Reginald Mason | Lux Radio Theatre – "Sherlock Holmes" [3] | 1935 | Radio adaptation of the play (NBC) |
Harry West | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [2] | 1936 | Radio (Mutual, NBC) |
Ray Collins | The Mercury Theatre on the Air – "Sherlock Holmes" | 1938 | Radio adaptation of the play (CBS) |
Nigel Bruce | The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1940–1947 | Radio (Mutual, ABC) |
Carleton Hobbs | The Boscombe Valley Mystery [4] | 1943 | BBC Home Service |
Ralph Truman | My Dear Watson [4] | 1943 | |
Finlay Currie | The Adventure of the Speckled Band (two productions) [5] | 1945, 1948 | |
Norman Shelley | Silver Blaze [5] | 1945 | |
Sherlock Holmes [6] | 1952–1969 | Radio series (BBC) | |
Alfred Shirley | The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1947–1948 | Radio (Mutual) |
Ian Martin | 1948 | ||
Wendell Holmes | 1948–1949 | ||
Eric Snowden | 1949–1950 | Radio (ABC) | |
Ralph Richardson | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1954 | Radio series (BBC Light Programme) |
Bryan Coleman | The Sign of Four [7] | 1959 | BBC Light Programme |
Kenneth Baker | Sherlock Holmes | 1967 | South African Broadcasting Corporation |
Nigel Stock | Sherlock Holmes [8] | 1970–1971 | LP record series |
Dinsdale Landon | A Study in Scarlet [9] | 1974 | BBC Radio 4 |
Lloyd Battista | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Hound of the Baskervilles" [10] | 1977 | Radio (CBS) |
Court Benson | CBS Radio Mystery Theater' [10] | 1977–1981 | |
David Buck | Sherlock Holmes [11] | 1978 | Radio series (BBC Radio 4) |
Kerry Jordan | The Stories of Sherlock Holmes | 1979–1985 | Radio series (Springbok Radio) |
Timothy West | Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula [12] | 1981 | BBC radio dramatisation of the novel |
Bernard Grant | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Naval Treaty" [10] | 1982 | Radio (CBS) |
William Griffis | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Reigate Mystery" [10] | 1982 | |
Andrew Hilton | The Mystery of the Reluctant Storyteller and The Valley of Fear [13] | 1986 | BBC Radio 4 |
Crawford Logan | The Hound of the Baskervilles [14] | 1988 | |
Michael Williams | BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes (the entire canon) | 1989–1998 | |
Ian Hogg | The Seven-Per-Cent Solution | 1993 | BBC radio dramatisation of the novel |
Nicky Henson | The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes [15] | 1993 | Radio series (BBC Radio 5) |
Lawrence Albert | The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (American series) | 1998–present | Radio series ( Imagination Theatre ) |
The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (the entire canon) | 2005–2016 | ||
Chris Emmett | The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes | 1999 | BBC Radio 2 |
Andrew Sachs | The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (British series) | 2002–2010 | BBC Radio 4 |
Richard Earl | Sherlock Holmes [16] | 2010–2022 | Audio dramas (Big Finish Productions) |
Geoffrey Arend | The Hound of the Baskervilles [17] | 2014 | Audio drama (L.A. Theatre Works) |
Anthony D.P. Mann | The Hound of the Baskervilles [18] | 2017 | Audio play (Bleak December Inc.) |
Stephen Critchlow | Mrs Hudson's Radio Show [19] | 2018 | BBC Radio 4 |
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith | Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Treason [20] | 2020 | Audio drama (Audible Original) |
Stephen Fry | The Hound of the Baskervilles [21] | 2021 | |
Adam Godley | Moriarty: The Devil's Game [22] | 2022 | |
Sanjeev Bhaskar | The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Concert Drama [23] | 2023 | Radio play (BBC Radio 3) |
Paul Waggott | Sherlock & Co [24] | 2023-present | Scripted podcast (Goalhanger Podcasts) |
Name | Title | Date | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Seymour Hicks | Under The Clock [25] | 1893 | Stage (Royal Court Theatre) |
St. John Hamund | Sherlock Holmes [26] | 1894 | Stage (Royalty Theatre, Glasgow) |
Bruce McRae | Sherlock Holmes | 1899 | Broadway (American) |
Kenneth Rivington | Sherlock Holmes [27] | 1905 | Stage (British) |
The Speckled Band [27] | 1921–1922 | ||
H. Lawrence Leyton | Sherlock Holmes [27] | 1905 | |
The Speckled Band [28] | 1910 | ||
Claude King | The Speckled Band [29] | 1910 | |
R.V. Taylour | The Crown Diamond [30] | 1921 | |
H. G. Stoker | The Return of Sherlock Holmes | 1923 | |
Jack Raine | Sherlock Holmes | 1953 | Stage (American) |
Peter Sallis | Baker Street | 1965 | Musical (American) |
Tim Pigott-Smith | Sherlock Holmes | 1974 | Stage revival (British) |
Dennis Cooney | Sherlock Holmes | 1974 | Stage revival (American) |
Timothy Landfield | The Crucifer of Blood | 1978 | Broadway (American) |
Denis Lill | The Crucifer of Blood | 1979 | Stage (London) |
Richard Woods | Sherlock Holmes [31] | 1981 | Stage revival (Williamstown Theater Festival), filmed for TV |
Jeremy Brett | The Crucifer of Blood | 1981 | Stage (Los Angeles) |
Edward Woodward | Murder Dear Watson [32] | 1983 | Stage (British) |
Alan Stanford | The Mask of Moriarty [33] | 1985 | Stage (Dublin) |
Donal Donnelly | Sherlock's Last Case [34] | 1987 | Stage (Nederlander Theatre) |
John Nicholson | The Hound of the Baskervilles [35] | 2007 | Stage (West Yorkshire Playhouse) |
Lucas Hall | Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery [36] | 2015 | Arena Stage in Southwest, Washington, D.C. |
Usman Ally | Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery [37] | 2015 | Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California |
Patrick Robinson | Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery [38] | 2017–2018 | Liverpool Playhouse |
Joseph Derrington | Sherlock Holmes – The Sign of Four [39] | 2018–2019 | UK theatre tour [40] |
Roland Kalweit | Sherlock Holmes und der Hund der Baskervilles [41] | 2023–2025 | European theatre tour [42] |
Name | Title | Date | Type |
---|---|---|---|
William Podmore | The Three Garridebs [43] | 1937 | Television play for NBC (American) |
Campbell Singer | The Man with the Twisted Lip [44] | 1951 | Potential series pilot (British) |
Raymond Francis | We Present Alan Wheatley as Mr. Sherlock Holmes in... | 1951 | Television series (British) [45] |
Philip King | The Mazarin Stone [46] | 1951 | Television film for BBC (British) |
Bernard Fox | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1972 | Television film (American) |
Edward Fox | Doctor Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery [9] | 1974 | Television film (British) |
Patrick Macnee | Sherlock Holmes in New York | 1976 | Television film (American) |
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady | 1991 | Television film | |
Incident at Victoria Falls | 1992 | ||
Thorley Walters | Silver Blaze | 1977 | Television film (Canadian) |
Richard Woods | Standing Room Only – Sherlock Holmes [47] | 1981 | Television play for HBO (American) |
Terence Rigby | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1982 | Television serial (British) |
Earle Cross | Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear | 1983 | Animated television films; voice only (Australian) |
Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four | 1983 | ||
Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse | 1983 | ||
Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet | 1983 | ||
David Healy | The Sign of Four | 1983 | Television film (British-American) |
Donald Churchill | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1983 | |
John Mills | The Masks of Death | 1984 | Television film (British) |
John Hillerman | Hands of a Murderer | 1990 | |
Richard Johnson | The Crucifer of Blood | 1991 | TV film adaptation of the play (American) |
John Scott-Paget | The Hound of London | 1993 | Television film (Canadian-Luxembourgian) |
Kenneth Welsh | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 2000 | Television films (Canadian) |
The Sign of Four | 2001 | ||
The Royal Scandal | 2001 | ||
The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire | 2002 | ||
Ian Hart | The Hound of the Baskervilles | 2002 | Television film (British) |
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | 2004 | ||
Roger Morlidge | Sherlock: Case of Evil | 2002 | Television film (American) |
Bill Paterson | Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars | 2007 | BBC television film (British) |
Gareth David-Lloyd | Sherlock Holmes | 2010 | DTV film (American) |
John Rhys-Davies | Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes | 2010 | Animated DTV film; voice only (American) |
Terry Wade | Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers | 2011 | DTV film (Canadian) |
Name | Title | Date | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Victor Moore | Texaco Star Theatre – "Sherlock Holmes in the Mystery of the Sen Sen Murder" [48] | 1949 | TV episode (American) |
Melville Cooper | Your Show Time – "The Speckled Band" | 1949 | |
Raymond Francis | Sherlock Holmes | 1951 | TV series (British) |
Jack Raine | Suspense – "The Adventure of the Black Baronet" | 1953 | TV episode (American) |
H. Marion-Crawford | Sherlock Holmes | 1954–1955 | TV series (American-French) |
Nigel Stock | Sherlock Holmes | 1965–1968 | TV series (British) |
Paul Edwin Roth | Sherlock Holmes | 1967–1968 | TV series (Germany) |
Gianni Bonagura | Sherlock Holmes | 1968 | TV series (Italy) |
Donald Pickering | Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson | 1979 | TV series (American-Polish) |
Vitaly Solomin | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson | 1979–1986 | TV film series (USSR) |
Hubert Rees | The Baker Street Boys | 1983 | TV series (British) |
David Burke | Sherlock Holmes | 1984–1985 | |
Kōsei Tomita | Sherlock Hound | 1984–1985 | TV animated series (Italian-Japanese) (Japanese version) |
Lewis Arquette | 1984–1985 | TV animated series (Italian-Japanese) (English dub) | |
Riccardo Garrone | 1984–1985 | TV animated series (Italian-Japanese) (Italian dub) | |
Edward Hardwicke | Sherlock Holmes | 1986–1994 | TV series (British) |
Patrick Monckton | Alfred Hitchcock Presents – "My Dear Watson" | 1989 | TV episode (American) |
Phil Hartman | Saturday Night Live – "Sherlock Holmes' Birthday Party" | 1991 | TV sketch (American) |
John Payne | Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century | 1999–2001 | Animated TV series (British-American) |
Jim Piddock | Batman: The Brave and the Bold – "Trials of the Demon!" [49] | 2009 | Animated TV series (American) |
Martin Freeman | Sherlock | 2010–2017 | TV series (British) |
Lucy Liu | Elementary | 2012–2019 | TV series (American) |
Kyle Mooney | Epic Rap Battles of History – "Batman vs. Sherlock Holmes" | 2012 | Online series episode (American) |
Andrei Panin | Sherlock Holmes | 2013 | TV series (Russian) |
Wataru Takagi | Sherlock Holmes | 2014–2015 | TV series (Japanese) |
Tao Tsuchiya | IQ246: The Cases of a Royal Genius | 2016 | |
Shihori Kanjiya | Miss Sherlock | 2018 | |
Takanori Iwata | Sherlock: Untold Stories | 2019 | |
Yuichi Nakamura | Case File nº221: Kabukicho | 2019–2020 | TV anime series (Japanese) (Japanese version) |
Josh Grelle | Case File nº221: Kabukicho | 2019–2020 | TV anime series (Japanese) (English dub) |
Yūki Ono | Moriarty the Patriot | 2020–2021 | TV anime series (Japanese) |
Ryan Colt Levy | 2021 | TV anime series (English dub) | |
Andrey Feskov | Sherlock in Russia | 2020 | TV series (Russian) |
Royce Pierreson | The Irregulars | 2021 | TV series (British-American) |
Sanjeev Bhaskar | Inside Classical - "The Hound of the Baskervilles" [50] | 2023 | Televised concert (British) |
Morris Chestnut | Watson | 2025 | TV series (American) |
Seán Duggan | Sherlock & Daughter | 2025 | TV series (American) |
A small number of actors have played both Holmes and Watson, including Reginald Owen who played Watson in Sherlock Holmes (1932) and Holmes in A Study in Scarlet (1933); [57] [58] Jeremy Brett, who played Watson on stage in the United States prior to adopting the mantle of Holmes on British television; [59] Howard Marion-Crawford, who played Holmes on British radio and Watson on American television; Carleton Hobbs, who played both roles in British radio adaptations; [60] Patrick Macnee, who played both roles in US television movies. [61] ; and Anthony D.P. Mann who played Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers (2011) and Watson in the 2017 Bleak December audio adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
"The Red-Headed League" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It first appeared in The Strand Magazine in August 1891, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Conan Doyle ranked "The Red-Headed League" second in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. It is also the second of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in 1892.
The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was copyrighted in 1914, and it was first published by George H. Doran Company in New York on 27 February 1915, and illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.
Detective Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet. His last appearance is in the 1924 short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", which is included in the collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is a Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of 13 stories in the cycle published as The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1905. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in December 1903, and in Collier's in the United States on 5 December 1903.
Arthur Wontner was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937.
Sherlock Holmes is a 1932 American pre-Code film starring Clive Brook as the eponymous London detective. The movie is based on the successful stage play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, in turn based on the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and is directed by William K. Howard for the Fox Film Corporation. Brook had played Holmes previously in The Return of Sherlock Holmes and the "Murder Will Out" segment of Paramount on Parade.
Sherlock Holmes is a film series running from 1931 to 1937. Arthur Wontner portrayed Sherlock Holmes in five films.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1932 British mystery film directed by Gareth Gundrey and starring John Stuart, Robert Rendel and Frederick Lloyd. It is based on the 1902 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, in which Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate a suspicious death on Dartmoor. It was made by Gainsborough Pictures. The screenplay was written by Edgar Wallace.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1982 British television serial made by the BBC. It was produced by Barry Letts, directed by Peter Duguid, and starred Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes and Terence Rigby as Doctor Watson. The adaptation aired as a four-part serial. The serial is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. The music score was composed and conducted by Carl Davis.
From 1921 to 1923, Stoll Pictures produced three series of silent black-and-white films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Forty-five short films and two feature-length films were produced featuring Eille Norwood in the role of Holmes and Hubert Willis cast as Dr. Watson with the exception of the final film, The Sign of Four, where Willis was replaced with Arthur Cullin. Consequently, Norwood holds the record for most appearances as Sherlock Holmes in film.
The Hound of London is a television film directed by Peter Reynolds-Long and starring Patrick Macnee as Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes.
The Three Garridebs is a 1937 television presentation that aired on NBC, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1924 story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs". Louis Hector played Sherlock Holmes, the first actor to do so on television.
Doctor Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery is a 1974 British made-for-television mystery film directed by James Cellan Jones and starring Edward Fox as Doctor Watson.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an American old-time radio show that aired on US radio networks between 1930 and 1936. The series was adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories by scriptwriter Edith Meiser. For most of the series, Richard Gordon played Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell played Dr. Watson.
Sherlock Holmes is the overall title given to the series of radio dramas adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories that aired between 1952 and 1969 on BBC radio stations. The episodes starred Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson. All but four of Doyle's sixty Sherlock Holmes stories were adapted with Hobbs and Shelley in the leading roles, and some of the stories were adapted more than once with different supporting actors.