‘Watson,’ CBS’ Modern-Day Twist on Sherlock Holmes, Opens MIPCOM

Morris Chestnut‘s new CBS Studios’ series, Watson, a fast-paced medical drama inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s much-adapted stories of detective Sherlock Holmes, premiered on Sunday at the Marché International des Programmes de Communication (MIPCOM) in Cannes, France.

“One of the things that excited me most about the show is that it’s a fresh take on the mythology,” Chestnut said of his new series.

The new drama kicked off the international television market MIPCOM with a world premiere of the story told from Dr. John Watson’s perspective and “through a medical rather than a criminal lense,” noted Chestnut. “But it still pays great respects to the Sherlock Holmes stories.”

Chestnut plays Watson, Holmes’ iconic sidekick, who, in the new show’s telling, resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic treating rare disorders after the death of his friend and partner. But he soon finds that his old life is not quite done with him yet.

In a twist on other Sherlock adaptations, Watson focuses on medical mysteries instead of detective tales. As one doctor protests in the pilot, “We are doctors. Not detectives.”

In the pilot episode, directed by Larry Teng, Watson is confronted with a case of fatal familial insomnia which is coupled with the challenge of trying to help a pregnant woman with the neurodegenerative prion disease live long enough to deliver her baby.

Chestnut said that the show, at its core, is a procedural that features a central case in each episode as the characters evolve and develop over the series.

Watson showrunner Craig Sweeny (Elementary, Star Trek: Section 31) wrote the pilot episode and is executive producing alongside Chestnut, Sallie Patrick, Teng, Shäron Moalem, Brian Morewitz and Aaron Kaplan for Kapital Entertainment. 

The CBS Studios-produced series is set to debut on Jan 26 on CBS.

CBS Studios used the MIPCOM premiere to kick off Watson‘s international rollout and the network’s parent, Paramount Global, is counting on market demand for high-end procedurals that can perform on both traditional broadcasters and streaming platforms.

MIPCOM, the world’s leading international television market, runs Oct. 21-24.