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{{short description|Fictional character, associate and friend of Sherlock Holmes}} | {{short description|Fictional character, associate and friend of Sherlock Holmes}} | ||
{{About|the Sherlock Holmes character}} | {{About|the Sherlock Holmes character}} | ||
{{Use British English|date=August | {{Use British English|date=August 2011}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=June | {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} | ||
{{Infobox character | {{Infobox character | ||
| colour = | | colour = | ||
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== Character creation == | == Character creation == | ||
[[File:Arthur Conan Doyle by Walter Benington, 1914.png|thumb|[[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] (1859–1930), creator of [[Sherlock Holmes]] and Dr Watson. Photo from 1914]] | [[File:Arthur Conan Doyle by Walter Benington, 1914.png|thumb|[[Arthur Conan Doyle|Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] (1859–1930), creator of [[Sherlock Holmes]] and Dr Watson. Photo from 1914]] | ||
In Doyle's early rough plot outlines, Holmes's associate was named "Ormond Sacker"<ref>{{cite book |author=Allen Eyles |title=Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration |year=1986 |publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/11 11–12] |isbn=0-06-015620-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Alan Barnes |title=Sherlock Holmes on Screen |year=2002 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn Ltd |pages=10 |isbn=1-903111-04-8}}</ref> before Doyle finally settled on "John Watson". He was probably inspired by one of Doyle's colleagues, Dr James Watson. [[William L. DeAndrea]] wrote, "Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes.... From the writer's point of view, 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'."{{citation needed|date=December | In Doyle's early rough plot outlines, Holmes's associate was named "Ormond Sacker"<ref>{{cite book |author=Allen Eyles |title=Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration |year=1986 |publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/11 11–12] |isbn=0-06-015620-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/11 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Alan Barnes |title=Sherlock Holmes on Screen |year=2002 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn Ltd |pages=10 |isbn=1-903111-04-8}}</ref> before Doyle finally settled on "John Watson". He was probably inspired by one of Doyle's colleagues, Dr James Watson. [[William L. DeAndrea]] wrote, "Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes.... From the writer's point of view, 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'."{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} | ||
Watson shares some similarities with the narrator of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s stories about fictional detective [[C. Auguste Dupin]], created in 1841, but unlike Watson, Poe's narrator remains unnamed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/edgar-allan-poe-invented-detective-story-180962914/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|date=20 April 2017|access-date=2 April 2020|last=Eschner|first=Kate|title=Without Edgar Allan Poe, We Wouldn't Have Sherlock Holmes}}</ref> | Watson shares some similarities with the narrator of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s stories about fictional detective [[C. Auguste Dupin]], created in 1841, but unlike Watson, Poe's narrator remains unnamed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/edgar-allan-poe-invented-detective-story-180962914/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|date=20 April 2017|access-date=2 April 2020|last=Eschner|first=Kate|title=Without Edgar Allan Poe, We Wouldn't Have Sherlock Holmes}}</ref> | ||
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== Influence == | == Influence == | ||
As the first-person narrator of Doyle's Holmes stories, Watson has inspired the creation of many similar narrator characters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/arthur-conan-doyle-the-creator-of-sherlock-holmes-the-worlds-most-famous-literary-detective|title=Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous literary detective|last=Sutherland|first=John|website=British Library|access-date=2 April | As the first-person narrator of Doyle's Holmes stories, Watson has inspired the creation of many similar narrator characters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/arthur-conan-doyle-the-creator-of-sherlock-holmes-the-worlds-most-famous-literary-detective|title=Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous literary detective|last=Sutherland|first=John|website=British Library|access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> After the appearance of Watson, the use of a "Watsonian narrator", a character like Watson who has a reason to be close to the detective but cannot follow or understand the detective's line of investigation, became "a standard feature of the classical detective story".<ref name=cawelti>{{Cite book|last=Cawelti|first=John G.|author-link=John G. Cawelti|title=Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|pages=83–84|year=1977|edition=Reprinted|orig-year=1976|isbn=9780226148700}}</ref> This type of character has been called "the Watson".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Herbert|first=Rosemary|title=Whodunit?: A Who's Who in Crime & Mystery Writing|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=188|year=2003|isbn=9780198035824}}</ref> | ||
The Holmes-Watson partnership, consisting of a "brilliant yet flawed detective" and a "humbler but dependable and sympathetic sidekick", influenced the creation of similar teams in British detective fiction throughout the twentieth century, from detective [[Hercule Poirot]] and Poirot's companion [[Captain Hastings]] (created by author [[Agatha Christie]] in 1920), to [[Colin Dexter]]'s [[Inspector Morse]] and [[Sergeant Lewis]], introduced in 1975. Watson also influenced the creation of other fictional narrators, such as [[Bunny Manders]] (the sidekick of [[gentleman thief]] [[A. J. Raffles]], created by [[E. W. Hornung]] in 1898) and the American character [[Archie Goodwin (character)|Archie Goodwin]] (the assistant of detective [[Nero Wolfe]], created by [[Rex Stout]] in 1934).<ref name=smith>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Daniel|title=The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide|publisher=Aurum Press|location=London|pages=107–109|year=2014|edition=Updated|orig-year=2009|isbn=978-1-84513-458-7}}</ref> Author [[Kodō Nomura]] modeled his characters [[Zenigata Heiji|Heiji Zenigata]] and his sidekick Hachigoro on Holmes and Watson.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_New_History_of_Japanese_Cinema/PFCtAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hachigoro+watson&pg=PA358&printsec=frontcover|isbn = 9780826417909|title = A New History of Japanese Cinema|date = 8 May 2006|publisher = Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref> | The Holmes-Watson partnership, consisting of a "brilliant yet flawed detective" and a "humbler but dependable and sympathetic sidekick", influenced the creation of similar teams in British detective fiction throughout the twentieth century, from detective [[Hercule Poirot]] and Poirot's companion [[Captain Hastings]] (created by author [[Agatha Christie]] in 1920), to [[Colin Dexter]]'s [[Inspector Morse]] and [[Sergeant Lewis]], introduced in 1975. Watson also influenced the creation of other fictional narrators, such as [[Bunny Manders]] (the sidekick of [[gentleman thief]] [[A. J. Raffles]], created by [[E. W. Hornung]] in 1898) and the American character [[Archie Goodwin (character)|Archie Goodwin]] (the assistant of detective [[Nero Wolfe]], created by [[Rex Stout]] in 1934).<ref name=smith>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Daniel|title=The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide|publisher=Aurum Press|location=London|pages=107–109|year=2014|edition=Updated|orig-year=2009|isbn=978-1-84513-458-7}}</ref> Author [[Kodō Nomura]] modeled his characters [[Zenigata Heiji|Heiji Zenigata]] and his sidekick Hachigoro on Holmes and Watson.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_New_History_of_Japanese_Cinema/PFCtAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hachigoro+watson&pg=PA358&printsec=frontcover|isbn = 9780826417909|title = A New History of Japanese Cinema|date = 8 May 2006|publisher = Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref> | ||
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=== Film === | === Film === | ||
Actors to play Watson in early film adaptations of ''Sherlock Holmes'' include [[Edward Fielding]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1916 film)|1916]]), [[Roland Young]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1922 film)|1922]]), [[Ian Fleming (actor)|Ian Fleming]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1931 film series)|1931]]), [[Athole Stewart]] (''[[The Speckled Band (1931 film)|The Speckled Band]]'', 1931), [[Ian Hunter (actor)|Ian Hunter]] (''[[The Sign of Four (1932 film)|The Sign of Four]]'', 1932), [[Reginald Owen]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1932 film)|1932]]) and [[Warburton Gamble]] (''[[A Study in Scarlet (1933 film)|A Study in Scarlet]]'', 1933). The series of Holmes films with [[Basil Rathbone]] as Holmes and [[Nigel Bruce]] as Watson portrayed the doctor as a lovable but incompetent assistant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/|title=Hero Complex - Los Angeles Times|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2 November | Actors to play Watson in early film adaptations of ''Sherlock Holmes'' include [[Edward Fielding]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1916 film)|1916]]), [[Roland Young]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1922 film)|1922]]), [[Ian Fleming (actor)|Ian Fleming]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1931 film series)|1931]]), [[Athole Stewart]] (''[[The Speckled Band (1931 film)|The Speckled Band]]'', 1931), [[Ian Hunter (actor)|Ian Hunter]] (''[[The Sign of Four (1932 film)|The Sign of Four]]'', 1932), [[Reginald Owen]] ([[Sherlock Holmes (1932 film)|1932]]) and [[Warburton Gamble]] (''[[A Study in Scarlet (1933 film)|A Study in Scarlet]]'', 1933). The series of Holmes films with [[Basil Rathbone]] as Holmes and [[Nigel Bruce]] as Watson portrayed the doctor as a lovable but incompetent assistant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/|title=Hero Complex - Los Angeles Times|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2 November 2018}}</ref> Some later treatments have presented a more competent Watson. | ||
[[File:SH2 - Holmes et Watson interloqués.png|thumb|Holmes and Watson (right), as they appear in ''[[Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring]]'' video game]] | [[File:SH2 - Holmes et Watson interloqués.png|thumb|Holmes and Watson (right), as they appear in ''[[Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Silver Earring]]'' video game]] | ||
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In 1954, [[Ralph Richardson|Sir Ralph Richardson]] played Watson (named James rather than John) in a short radio series on [[NBC]] opposite [[John Gielgud|Sir John Gielgud]] as Holmes. | In 1954, [[Ralph Richardson|Sir Ralph Richardson]] played Watson (named James rather than John) in a short radio series on [[NBC]] opposite [[John Gielgud|Sir John Gielgud]] as Holmes. | ||
Watson was also portrayed by English-born actor [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] for the [[BBC Radio]] [[List of BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes dramatisations|adaptation of the complete run]] of the Holmes canon from November 1989 to July 1998. Williams, together with [[Clive Merrison]], who played Holmes, were the first actors to portray the Doyle characters in all the short stories and novels of the canon.{{Citation needed|date = January | Watson was also portrayed by English-born actor [[Michael Williams (actor)|Michael Williams]] for the [[BBC Radio]] [[List of BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes dramatisations|adaptation of the complete run]] of the Holmes canon from November 1989 to July 1998. Williams, together with [[Clive Merrison]], who played Holmes, were the first actors to portray the Doyle characters in all the short stories and novels of the canon.{{Citation needed|date = January 2014}} After Williams' death, the BBC continued the shows with ''[[The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]''. Four series were produced, all written by [[Bert Coules]] who had been the head writer on the complete canon project, with [[Andrew Sachs]] starring opposite Merrison. | ||
In 1998, ''[[Imagination Theatre]]'' received the rights from the estate of Dame [[Jean Conan Doyle]] to produce new radio stories of Holmes and Watson. Lawrence Albert plays Watson to the Holmes of first John Gilbert and later [[John Patrick Lowrie]] in the radio series ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. Lowrie and Albert also played Holmes and Watson respectively in ''The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', which adapted all of Doyle's short stories and novels. | In 1998, ''[[Imagination Theatre]]'' received the rights from the estate of Dame [[Jean Conan Doyle]] to produce new radio stories of Holmes and Watson. Lawrence Albert plays Watson to the Holmes of first John Gilbert and later [[John Patrick Lowrie]] in the radio series ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. Lowrie and Albert also played Holmes and Watson respectively in ''The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', which adapted all of Doyle's short stories and novels. | ||