Watson is an American television series created by Craig Sweeny which premiered on CBS on January 26, 2025. The series, described as a "medical drama with detective elements", revolves around the character of Dr. John Watson from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, with Morris Chestnut portraying the character. It is the second CBS series to adapt the Holmes stories, after Elementary. While the two programs are otherwise unrelated, their creative teams overlap. In March 2025, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 13, 2025. In March 2026, the series was canceled after two seasons, and concluded on May 3, 2026.
Contents
Premise
One year after Sherlock Holmes's apparent death at the hands of his archenemy Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, Dr. John Watson resumes his medical practice by opening the "Holmes Clinic" in Pittsburgh to treat patients with strange and unidentifiable issues. Soon however, Watson must face his past when evidence surfaces indicating that Moriarty is still alive.
In the second season, Holmes emerges alive, although Watson comes to have doubts as to whether he is quite the same man he used to be.
Cast and characters
Main
Morris Chestnut as Dr. John Hamish Watson, a former London-based physician and consulting detective, now the head of the Holmes Clinic of Diagnostic Medicine. To aid his patients' cases, he applies a specific type of deductive reasoning that he learned from his years working with Sherlock Holmes.
Kevin Vidal plays a younger Watson in the episode "Take a Family History"
Eve Harlow as Dr. Ingrid Derian, an aloof but highly skilled neurologist with an enigmatic past. She has a shaky relationship with her colleagues owing to her stony manner and questionable methods. In season 2, she starts group therapy to deal with her behaviour.
Amanda Arcuri plays a teenaged Ingrid in the episode "Take a Family History"
Peter Mark Kendall as Drs. Stephens Croft and Adam (birth name Adams) Croft, identical twin brothers, acting as infectious disease and functional medicine specialists at the clinic. Stephens, a Johns Hopkins graduate, is an emotionally withdrawn workaholic, while Adam, who attended Boston University, is more extroverted. They have a strained relationship because Adam is dating Stephens' ex-fiancée.
Inga Schlingmann as Dr. Sasha Lubbock, a specialist in immunology and rheumatology. An affable Texan, she was born in China and raised in Dallas. In Season 2, she is searching for her biological mother.
Ritchie Coster as Shinwell Johnson, a former criminal from London and an acquaintance of Holmes and Watson who works as the clinic's administrative aide, his connections often proving very useful to the team. In Season 2, he is training to be a nurse.
Rochelle Aytes as Dr. Mary Morstan, an East Coast surgeon and Watson's estranged (later ex-) wife. Despite their impending divorce, she maintains a productive working relationship with Watson, acting as his voice of sanity and attempting to rein in his more irregular techniques.
Recurring
Randall Park as Professor James Moriarty (season 1), a criminal mastermind and Sherlock Holmes' archenemy who re-emerges from his presumed death with a nefarious agenda
Kacey Rohl as Hannah Burke (season 1), Moriarty's subordinate who forces Shinwell to carry out her employer's bidding
Amanda Crew as Lauren Confalone (season 2; guest season 1), a lawyer and Stephens' ex-fiancée who is engaged to Adam
Rachel Hayward as Detective Lestrade (season 2; guest season 1), a veteran Pittsburgh Police Department investigator who develops a friendship with Watson
Tika Sumpter as Laila Bynum (season 2; guest season 1), a pediatric oncologist treating Ashleigh Burke who forms a relationship with Watson
Robert Carlyle as Sherlock Holmes (season 2), a brilliant British consulting detective and Watson's best friend who was seemingly killed by Moriarty
Matt Berry voices an auditory hallucination of Holmes in the first season episode "Teeth Marks"
Noah Mills as Beck Wythe (season 2), an enigmatic washed-up tech worker in exile from Silicon Valley who Ingrid meets at group therapy
John Cassini as Ivan Ferry (season 2), a group therapist who is treating Ingrid and Beck
Margot Bingham as Carlin DaCosta (season 2), a nurse who befriends Shinwell
Karen Robinson as Brenda the Battle Axe (season 2; guest season 1), a formidable overseer of the anatomy lab at UHOP's med school. In season 2, she fills in as the clinic's receptionist whilst Shinwell takes leave to search for Sherlock.
Guest
Bethany Brown as Devin Chaplin, the Executive Vice President of Human Resources at UHOP
Nat Faxon as Hobie McSorley, an experimental geneticist and old friend of Watson's with a colorful personality
Logan Mae as Ashleigh Burke (season 1), Hannah Burke's daughter who is sick and needs to be saved by Watson
Kiera Allen as Gigi Grigoryan (season 1), Ingrid's paraplegic sister. Beatrice Schneider plays a teenaged Gigi.
Whoopie Van Raam as Irene Adler (season 1), a con artist and the only woman ever to outwit Holmes who turns to Watson in a moment of desperation regarding her son
Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez as Angus Adler (season 1), Irene's young son who might be the offspring of Sherlock Holmes
Vincent Gale as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's reclusive older brother who previously crossed paths with Watson
Andy Bean as Ivo Derian (season 1), Ingrid and Gigi's father
Juanita Jennings as Elizabeth Morstan (season 2), Mary's mother who is admitted for accidental self poisoning after exhibiting dementia-like symptoms
Khary Payton as Miles McClung (season 2), a bakery owner who is discovered to be Elizabeth Morstan's first-born child, and thus, Mary's heretofore unknown older brother
Tzi Ma as Jun (season 2), Sasha's long lost birth uncle
Clarke Peters as Hamish Watson (season 2), a saxophonist who is John Watson's estranged father
Episodes
Production
Watson was announced in October 2022, to be created, written and produced by Craig Sweeny who had previously worked on Elementary. The show was given a straight to series order, bypassing the pilot stage.
By January 2024, Morris Chestnut was attached to executive produce and star as the title character. Executive producer Larry Teng directed the first two episodes. In May 2024, Peter Mark Kendall and Ritchie Coster were announced as the first core cast additions. In June 2024, Rochelle Aytes was cast as Mary Morstan, followed by Eve Harlow and Inga Schlingmann. By July 2025, Robert Carlyle was cast in a recurring role as Sherlock Holmes. He is set to appear in roughly eight episodes.
Watson began shooting in Vancouver in June 2024, with filming locations including The Bridge Studios and the University of British Columbia campus. The shoot concluded on November 22, 2024. The show is set in Pittsburgh, where some exterior scenes were shot. The series is scored by Paul Leonard-Morgan.
On March 26, 2025, CBS renewed the series for a second season, which was originally set to premiere in January 2026, but was moved up to October 13, 2025 due to CIA being delayed. Unlike the first season, no location shooting took place in Pittsburgh. Filming for the second season began on June 24, 2025 and concluded on March 9, 2026. Leonard-Morgan has revealed that the season will consist of 20 episodes. On March 27, 2026, CBS canceled the series after two seasons.
Release
The first episode had its worldwide premiere at MIPCOM Cannes on October 20, 2024. The series premiered on January 26, 2025, on CBS after the AFC Championship Game, and is streaming on Paramount+. The second season premiered on October 13, 2025. In Australia, the series airs on Network 10 and is streaming on Paramount+. In Canada, the series airs on Global and is streaming on StackTV. In the United Kingdom, it premiered on Sky Witness on November 24, 2025.
In Germany and Austria, the series premiered on Sky One from November 9, 2025.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 53% approval rating based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Transplanting Sherlock Holmes lore into a medical procedural, Watson's conceit proves an awkward fit but gets a boost from the ever-watchable Morris Chestnut." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.