Watson Is Not Elementary
The world premiere screening of Watson, the new CBS Studios-produced medical drama inspired by the characters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution, took place on the eve of the 40th MIPCOM’s opening in Cannes (21-24 October 2024).
Watson is 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. In the series, a year after the death of friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson (played by Morris 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.
Craig Sweeny (Elementary, Star Trek: Section 31), who wrote the premiere episode and will showrun and executive produce Watson in an interview with Yako Molhov reveals details about his take on the genre, the characters that viewers will see as well his expectations for the world premiere in Cannes.
Watson is 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. In the series, a year after the death of friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson (played by Morris 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.
Craig Sweeny (Elementary, Star Trek: Section 31), who wrote the premiere episode and will showrun and executive produce Watson in an interview with Yako Molhov reveals details about his take on the genre, the characters that viewers will see as well his expectations for the world premiere in Cannes.
Craig Sweeny
The story of Watson is set one year after the death of Sherlock Holmes and focuses on the life and work of his famous companion Dr. John Watson who has resumed his medical career. How did you come up with this modern twist of the story and is Watson more of a medical drama or a mystery drama?
I spent lots of time in hospitals growing up (because my mom worked in one, not as a patient) and I’ve always wanted to create my own take on the genre. The idea to follow John Watson’s medical career after his adventures with Sherlock Holmes end just jumped into my head one day while I was driving. It was one of those moments I wish I could bottle and mass produce!
The show is more of a medical drama—although our version of Watson applies many of the techniques he learned from Sherlock Holmes to diagnosing and treating his patients.
With Watson you are returning to the Sherlock Holmes story, following the very successful Elementary on which you were an EP and a writer and which saw Jonny Lee Miller play the role of Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. What will be the main differences between the two shows?
Elementary was such a happy experience for me that I never thought I’d return to writing in Holmes-world. Watson is different in so many ways—the most important differences being that Sherlock is not an on-screen character in the show and that the “cases” focus on medicine rather than crime.
It’s been a joy to take inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle again, but I’m confident the two shows will feel very distinct.
Will viewers see other characters from the Sherlock Holmes universe and will viewers ever see Holmes, perhaps in flashback scenes? Have you started working on the storylines for season 2?
Sherlock’s world continues to intersect with Watson even after he comes back to the States. For one thing, Shinwell Johnson (an informant who worked with Holmes in the stories) returned to America with Holmes and works at Watson’s clinic. Irene Adler also makes an appearance in Season 1, and of course you can never be sure if Moriarty’s lurking somewhere…
What were you looking for during the casting process for the lead role and how did you choose Morris to portray Dr. Watson?
I usually imagine an actor speaking the lines I’m writing before a role is cast. In the case of Watson, Morris was one of the performers I pictured as Watson months before I ever met him. The show is lucky because he was interested in the script right away and casting him was a smooth and fast process.
You will be attending the world premiere of Watson together with Morris at MIPCOM this month. What will industry executives and the international audience like the most about the new series?
Watson aspires to be a smart, fast-paced medical drama that explores cases on the cutting edge of human knowledge. Illness and healing are of course universal to every human on the planet, so we hope the show will have a broad appeal internationally.
I spent lots of time in hospitals growing up (because my mom worked in one, not as a patient) and I’ve always wanted to create my own take on the genre. The idea to follow John Watson’s medical career after his adventures with Sherlock Holmes end just jumped into my head one day while I was driving. It was one of those moments I wish I could bottle and mass produce!
The show is more of a medical drama—although our version of Watson applies many of the techniques he learned from Sherlock Holmes to diagnosing and treating his patients.
With Watson you are returning to the Sherlock Holmes story, following the very successful Elementary on which you were an EP and a writer and which saw Jonny Lee Miller play the role of Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. What will be the main differences between the two shows?
Elementary was such a happy experience for me that I never thought I’d return to writing in Holmes-world. Watson is different in so many ways—the most important differences being that Sherlock is not an on-screen character in the show and that the “cases” focus on medicine rather than crime.
It’s been a joy to take inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle again, but I’m confident the two shows will feel very distinct.
Will viewers see other characters from the Sherlock Holmes universe and will viewers ever see Holmes, perhaps in flashback scenes? Have you started working on the storylines for season 2?
Sherlock’s world continues to intersect with Watson even after he comes back to the States. For one thing, Shinwell Johnson (an informant who worked with Holmes in the stories) returned to America with Holmes and works at Watson’s clinic. Irene Adler also makes an appearance in Season 1, and of course you can never be sure if Moriarty’s lurking somewhere…
What were you looking for during the casting process for the lead role and how did you choose Morris to portray Dr. Watson?
I usually imagine an actor speaking the lines I’m writing before a role is cast. In the case of Watson, Morris was one of the performers I pictured as Watson months before I ever met him. The show is lucky because he was interested in the script right away and casting him was a smooth and fast process.
You will be attending the world premiere of Watson together with Morris at MIPCOM this month. What will industry executives and the international audience like the most about the new series?
Watson aspires to be a smart, fast-paced medical drama that explores cases on the cutting edge of human knowledge. Illness and healing are of course universal to every human on the planet, so we hope the show will have a broad appeal internationally.
