Sherlock Holmes Spinoff Series On The Way
A new Sherlock Holmes spinoff series is being created that will focus on Watson.
Sherlock Holmes may be one of the most adapted characters, but his trusty sidekick is finally getting to steal some of the limelight. A new spinoff series is being worked on that will see Watson take the protagonist role away from his detective counterpart, and the new series is also aptly titled, Watson. Craig Sweeney is the creative mind behind Watson, and he spent five years as an executive producer for Elementary.
Watson will be a reimagining of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. Doyle was the man behind creating Sherlock Holmes, with his work now being in the public domain, leaving anyone to write and produce any kind of reimagining of the classic Holmes works. That is exactly what is happening with Sweeney’s interpretation.
In Watson, Sherlock Holmes has been killed by his long-time antagonist, Moriarty. This leaves Dr. Watson to return to his life of practicing medicine, and the study of rare disorders. The new series will be a medical show that showcases a more investigative nature, and Dr. Watson will turn his sights away from being the world’s best detective, to studying more and uncovering life’s mysteries through disease and illness.
This is not the first time that Sherlock Holmes was killed off, in fact, Doyle had done so in the story, “The Final Problem.” Moriarty was behind killing Holmes in that story, so it makes sense that he has done so in this new Watson series. Holmes being killed off by Doyle was subjected to tons of public outcry, leaving him to resurrect Holmes for a few more novels and short stories.
We are not sure that everyone is going to be as upset that Sherlock Holmes is out of the picture for this new series, but with the many adaptations that have already been part of pop culture, it is great that a new direction is going to be taken with these classic characters. Elementary was also a hit, as it took things to a modern level with Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) being a recovering addict, and Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) being his sober companion.
That series ran for seven seasons on CBS, with Craig Sweeney working as an executive producer. Sweeney clearly appreciates the work of Doyle, as he is now taking another stab at altering the stories of Sherlock Holmes, only this time focusing on Dr. Watson. We would assume that this new series is going to work well, just as Elementary did for the more modern crowd.
Robert Downey Jr. is also returning for his Sherlock Holmes franchise, with a reported universe being built on that adaptation. However, now we are going to see Sweeney bring in his Watson series likely around the same time, which has not yet given its time period of existence. Elementary was modernized, but that does not necessarily mean Watson is going to be set in the modern era.
Watson has only yet been announced, and Sweeney has only provided the premise of this new series. We are likely to hear more casting announcements in the coming weeks, and possibly who is going to be taking on the role of Sherlock Holmes, if only briefly. Still, this does sound like an interesting idea, and one to keep your eyes peeled for.
