Which doctor watson

Holmes and Watson quickly agreed to share rooms [21] , and the load of depression was lifted from Watson's mind. Life had a new interest for him; the element of mystery about his prospective fellow-lodger struck him as 'very piquant'; as he aptly quoted to young Stamford: 'the proper study of mankind is man The walls of No.

It is doubtful indeed whether the house has survived the latter-day onslaught of steel and concrete. Yet Baker Street remains for ever permeated with the Watsonian aura. The dim figures of the Baker Street irregulars scuttle through the November gloom, the ghostly hansom drives away, bearing Holmes and Watson on an errand of mystery. For some time Holmes himself remained a mystery to his companion.

But on the 4th March, , he revealed him-self as a consulting detective 'probably the only one in the world' , and on the same day there came Inspector Gregson's letter relating to the Lauriston Gardens Mystery. After much hesitation Holmes decided to take up the case. In the course of the adventure which is known to history as A Study in Scarlet, Watson's alertness as a medical man is immediately evident. His deduction of the solubility in water of the famous pill was quick and accurate; nor did he fail to diagnose an aortic aneurism in Jefferson Hope.

In the silence of the room I could hear a dull humming and buzzing noise which proceeded from the same source. Between and the year of The Speckled Band we have little record of Watson's doings. Possibly he divided his time quietly between Baker Street and his club. More probably he spent a portion of this period abroad. His health and spirits were improving; he had no family ties in England; Holmes was at times a trying companion. Now in later years Watson refers to 'an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents.

In Australia he had been but a boy; in India he can have seen few women except the staff-nurses at Peshawar. It is conceivable, though not likely, that he revisited Australia at this time. It is much more probable that Watson spent some time on the Continent and that, in particular, he visited such resorts as contained the additional attraction of a casino.

Gambling was the ruling passion of the Watson family. By the time of The Speckled Band it is noteworthy that the intimacy between Watson and Holmes has very considerably developed. Watson is no longer 'Doctor' but 'My dear Watson'; Holmes's clients are bidden to speak freely in front of his 'intimate friend and associate'; if there is danger afoot, Watson has but one thought: Can he be of help? The years and are again barren of detailed Watsonian record; and here again it is possible that Watson spent part of his time on the Continent.

But with the year we approach one of the major biographical problems of Watson's career — the date of his first marriage. For a proper consideration of the problem it is necessary, first, to clear one's mind of sentiment. We may remember Holmes's own criticism of Watson's first narrative: 'Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner.

You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism The biographer, when he reaches the story of Watson's courtship, must necessarily endeavour to do justice to its idyllic quality, but, primarily, he is concerned with a problem. Let us review our data:. A brief summary of this kind does not, of course, pretend to include all the available data, but is at least sufficient to indicate certain contradictions which Holmes himself would have found difficult to reconcile.

Suppose, for instance, that we accept the traditional date for Watson's engagement to Miss Morstan — the year In that case the marriage cannot have taken place until the late summer or autumn of that year. One thing is clear: Watson, careful chronicler as he is, cannot have been consistently accurate in his dates.

Now Watson, when he wrote the journal of The Sign of Four, cannot be said to have been writing in his normal, business-like condition. From the moment that Miss Morstan entered the sitting-room of No.

He tried to read Winwood Reade's Martyrdom of Man, but in vain; his mind ran upon Miss Morstan — 'her smiles, the deep, rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung her life'. Further, the Beaune he had taken for lunch had, on his own confession, affected him, and he had been brought to a pitch of exasperation by Holmes's extreme deliberation of manner.

On the whole, then, was this a state of mind calculated to produce chronological accuracy? On the other hand, there are no such reasons to make us doubt the accuracy of The Reigate Squires and The Five Orange Pips; and if we accept the dates of these, the marriage must be fixed between April and September, Now, assuming that Miss Morstan shared the common prejudice against the unlucky month, it is not likely that the ceremony took place in May.

June, on the other hand, seems extremely probable, since The Naval Treaty July, is described as 'immediately succeeding the marriage'. Accordingly, we are driven to conclude that The Sign of Four belongs to the year , in the autumn of which Watson became engaged. In the early part of Watson would be busy buying a practice, furnishing a house and dealing with a hundred other details.

This would explain why, of the v ery large number of cases with which Holmes had to deal in this year, Watson has preserved full accounts of only a few. He had made rough notes, but had no time to elaborate them. Between June, and March, there was plenty of time for Watson to put on seven pounds in weight as the result of married happiness and for Holmes to attend to separate summonses from Odessa and The Hague.

To claim definite certainty for such a solution would be extravagant; but as a working hypothesis it has claims which cannot be lightly dismissed. Whatever may have been the exact date of Watson's marriage with Miss Morstan [27] , it would seem clear that in the early years, at least, of his married life Watson achieved the happiness which he desired and deserved.

Such glimpses as he gives us of his hearth and home suggest a picture of domestic Bohemianism which was in complete harmony with Watson's temperament. So long as he had believed that Miss Morstan might be a rich heiress, his delicate sense of honour had prevented him from declaring his passion. But when it was finally known that the Agra treasure was lost and that the 'golden barrier' to use Watson's own picturesque phrase was removed, Watson could rejoice in the prospect of sharing the simple home of a middle-aged practitioner with one whom even Holmes described as one of the most charming young ladies he had ever met.

Holmes, indeed, went further: he regarded the marriage of Miss Morstan as a loss to the detective profession. But to return to Watson's marriage. Of the ceremony itself we have no specific record. We may, however, assume that it was not marred by any vulgar ostentation. If Miss Morstan on her first visit to Baker Street gave the impression of a small and dainty blonde, 'well gloved and dressed in the most perfect taste', we may safely conjecture that the 'plainness and simplicity' which Watson then noted in her costume were also the predominant characteristics of her bridal appearance.

Whether Holmes was induced to be best man is at least doubtful, since Watson would hardly be likely to omit a record of so personal a tribute; with the exception of one aunt, neither Watson nor his bride had relatives living; consequently it seems most probable that the ceremony took place very quietly at St.

Mark's or St. Hilda's, Camberwell, [28] with Miss Morstan's aunt and Mrs. Forrester present to give their blessing. The honeymoon spent probably in Hampshire, a county for which Watson had a strong sentimental attachment [29] was no doubt a short one, as Watson had much to do in refashioning his career. Turning instinctively to a neighbourhood not far removed from Baker Street, he found what he wanted in the Paddington district.

There a certain Mr. But Mr. Farquhar had been overtaken not only by old age but by a species of St. Vitus's dance. Now the public, as Watson shrewdly observes, 'looks askance at the curative powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his drugs' and, in consequence, the practice had declined to about one quarter of its range and value.

Here was Watson's opportunity. Confident in his own energy and ability, he bought the practice, with a determination to restore it to its previously flourishing condition. Three months of hard work followed. Watson was too busy even to visit B Baker Sherlock Holmes 'seldom went anywhere except on professional business'. Completely happy, and half a stone heavier, he found his attention wholly absorbed by 'the home-centred interests which rise up round the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment'.

In their early married days they were obliged, no doubt, to be content with one servant, Mary Jane; she, as Watson records, proved to be incorrigible and was dismissed. Later it was found possible to increase the staff and Watson would write naturally of 'the servants'. In the September following the marriage, Mrs. Watson went for a few days to stay with her aunt and Watson himself up his to his old quarters in Baker Street.

Very naturally he slipped into his old place by the fireside, burying himself in one of Clark Russell's 'fine sea stories', while Holmes on the other side of the fireplace cross-indexed his criminal records. But this visit, though entirely amicable, seems to have left little permanent mark upon Watson's memory. It had not really brought Holmes within the orbit of Watson's matrimonial happiness. Hastening back, no doubt, to the devoted partner of his new life and to his rapidly growing practice, Watson plunged into his work, without any feeling of having truly re-entered into the old atmosphere of Baker Street.

With a certain fineness of taste, he hesitated to drag Holmes into a social circle towards which the detective's 'whole Bohemian soul' might be antipathetic, and it was not until 20th March, that he was moved with a keen desire to revisit his old friend. Returning from a visit to a patient he found himself opposite 'the well-remembered door' in Baker Street and in a few minutes was back in the old room.

Watson could hardly have chosen a better moment for his re-entry upon the Baker Street stage, since Holmes had just received the note which was to herald the visit of Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Falstein and hereditary King of Bohemia. On the following afternoon Watson was back at three o'clock, and for the rest of the day he was engaged in playing an important role in the comedy of the King's photograph; he slept at Baker Street in order to be ready for the denouement of the following morning.

This intermittent resumption of partnership with Holmes was characteristic of Watson's early married life, and at first sight might seem to indicate an element of restlessness in Watson's domestic milieu. But a closer study of the records shows that Mrs. Watson maintained a continuous sympathy with that association of Watson with the great detective which had been the means of bringing her to the man she loved.

Holmes, for his part, maintained his respect for Mrs. Watson, and Mrs. Watson never failed to encourage her husband to collaborate with his old friend in any investigation in which he could be of use. Thus Holmes would descend upon Watson near midnight, ask for a bed, and carry off his friend by the eleven o'clock train from Waterloo the next morning; [34] if an old friend of Watson was in trouble, his wife would acquiesce at once in his rushing off to Holmes; [35] when Watson received a telegram from Holmes urging him to come to the West of England for two days in connection with the Boscombe Valley case, it was his wife who pressed him to go — the change, she said, would do him good.

Side by side with this ready sympathy of Mrs. Watson with her husband's bachelor associations we must recognize the atmosphere of domestic compatibility which characterized Watson's home life. It has been truly said that there are two tests of a happy marriage: first, a harmonious breakfast, and second, an acceptance of quiet evenings. That Watson and his wife breakfasted together we have categorical evidence; [36] and more than once we obtain a glimpse of evening contentment.

Watson, after a busy day, would read a novel or his British Medical Journal; his wife would have her needlework; about ten-thirty the servants would be heard locking the doors and windows; half an hour later Mrs. Watson would retire; and about eleven forty-five Watson would knock out the ashes of his last pipe. After a varied experience of femininity, Watson was contentedly anchored in this haven of domesticity.

The series spans four seasons and two specials from to He's assigned a sober companion to live with him: former surgeon Dr. Joan Watson, played by Lucy Liu. The two team up to help the New York Police Department solve unusual murder mysteries.

Move over, Iron Man! Robert Downey Jr. A third film is slated for His roommate and partner Dr. John Watson was portrayed by David Burke. Set in the Victorian era, the series included 36 one-hour episodes and five feature-length specials. Jeremy Brett portrayed the stoic and easily irritated Sherlock Holmes while Edward Hardwicke -- who replaced David Burke on the series in -- played his loyal sidekick Dr. Hardwicke played the role for eight years from to While Rathbone's version of Sherlock was both brilliant and personable, Bruce portrays Watson as a jovial but somewhat dense sidekick.

In the film Mr. Holmes , Ian McKellen plays an elderly version of Sherlock Holmes who's long since retired from crime sleuthing. The film is set during , with Holmes living on a remote Sussex farm with his widowed housekeeper, Mrs.

Angry at Watson's Colin Starkey latest fictionalization of his last case, The Adventure of the Dove Grey Glove, Holmes decides to write his own version, but his memories are starting to slip away.

Young Roger's curiosity and constant prodding helps Holmes remember the case, which is shown in flashbacks during the film. One of the unusual highlights of this production was the depiction of leading lady character Irene Adler by '80s TV icon Morgan Fairchild. In subsequent stories, he is variously described as strongly built, of a stature either average or slightly above average, with a thick, strong neck and a small moustache.

Watson used to be an athlete: it is mentioned in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" that he used to play Rugby Union for Blackheath. In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton Watson is described as "a middle-aged, strongly built man-square jaw, thick neck, moustache Jude Law as Dr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr.