List of actors who have played Dr. Watson

The following is a list of actors who have played Dr. Watson in various media.

Radio and audio dramas {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Name !! Title !! Date !! Type |- | F. H. Oliver | The Sign of the Four | 1922 | Radio (WGY) |- | Leigh Lovell | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1930–1935 | Radio (NBC Blue Network) |- | Reginald Mason | Lux Radio Theatre – "Sherlock Holmes" | 1935 | Radio adaptation of the play (NBC) |- | Harry West | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1936 | Radio (Mutual, NBC) |- | Ray Collins | The Mercury Theatre on the Air – "Sherlock Holmes" | 1938 | Radio adaptation of the play (CBS) |- | Nigel Bruce | The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1940–1947 | Radio (Mutual, ABC) |- | Carleton Hobbs | The Boscombe Valley Mystery | 1943 | rowspan="4" | BBC Home Service |- | Ralph Truman | My Dear Watson | 1943 |- | Finlay Currie | The Adventure of the Speckled Band (two productions) | 1945, 1948 |- | rowspan="2"|Norman Shelley | Silver Blaze | 1945 |- | Sherlock Holmes | 1952–1969 | Radio series (BBC) |- | Alfred Shirley | rowspan="4" | The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1947–1948 | rowspan="3" | Radio (Mutual) |- | Ian Martin | 1948 |- | Wendell Holmes | 1948–1949 |- | Eric Snowden | 1949–1950 | Radio (ABC) |- | Ralph Richardson | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 1954 | Radio series (BBC Light Programme) |- | Bryan Coleman | The Sign of Four | 1959 | BBC Light Programme |- | Kenneth Baker | Sherlock Holmes | 1967 | South African Broadcasting Corporation

| Nigel Stock | Sherlock Holmes | 1970–1971 | LP record series |- | Dinsdale Landon | A Study in Scarlet | 1974 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Lloyd Battista | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Hound of the Baskervilles" | 1977 | rowspan="2" | Radio (CBS) |- | Court Benson | CBS Radio Mystery Theater''' | 1977–1981 |- | David Buck | Sherlock Holmes| 1978 | Radio series (BBC Radio 4) |- | Kerry Jordan | The Stories of Sherlock Holmes| 1979–1985 | Radio series (Springbok Radio) |- | Timothy West | Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula| 1981 | BBC radio dramatisation of the novel |- | Bernard Grant | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Naval Treaty" | 1982 | rowspan="2" | Radio (CBS) |- | William Griffis | CBS Radio Mystery Theater – "The Reigate Mystery" | 1982 |- | Andrew Hilton | The Mystery of the Reluctant Storyteller and The Valley of Fear| 1986 | rowspan="3" | BBC Radio 4 |- | rowspan="2"|Crawford Logan | The Hound of the Baskervilles| 1988 |- | The Adventure of the Pimlico Poisoner| 1990 |- | Norman Rodway | The Singular Case of Sherlock H. and Sigmund F.| 1988 | BBC Radio 3 |- | Michael Williams | BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes (the entire canon) | 1989–1998 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Ian Hogg | The Seven-Per-Cent Solution| 1993 | BBC radio dramatisation of the novel |- | Nicky Henson | The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes| 1993 | Radio series (BBC Radio 5) |- | rowspan="2"|Lawrence Albert | The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (American series) | 1998–present | rowspan="2" | Radio series (Imagination Theatre) |- | The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (the entire canon) | 2005–2016 |- | Chris Emmett | The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes| 1999 | BBC Radio 2 |- | Shaun Prendergast | The Beekeeper's Apprentice| 2000 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Thomas Arnold | A Capital Case: Karl Marx Meets Sherlock Holmes| 2001 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Andrew Sachs | The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (British series) | 2002–2010 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Kristoffer Tabori | Sherlock Holmes Theatre| 2006 | Hollywood Theatre of the Ear |- | Richard Earl | Sherlock HolmesBig Finish – Sherlock Holmes | 2010–2022 | Audio dramas (Big Finish Productions) |- | William Windom | Sherlock Holmes| 2011 | California Artists Radio Theatre |- | Geoffrey Arend | The Hound of the Baskervilles| 2014 | Audio drama (L.A. Theatre Works) |- | Anthony D.P. Mann | The Hound of the Baskervilles| 2017 | Audio play (Bleak December Inc.) |- | Stephen Critchlow | Mrs Hudson's Radio Show| 2018 | BBC Radio 4 |- | Amir Sám Nakhjavani | Genius| 2019-2020 | Scripted podcast |- | Kobna Holdbrook-Smith | Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Treason| 2020 | Audio drama (Audible Original) |- | Dominic Brewer | The Blue Carbuncle| 2021 | Scripted reading |- | Stephen Fry | The Hound of the Baskervilles| 2021 | rowspan="2" | Audio drama (Audible Original) |- | Adam Godley | Moriarty: The Devil's Game| 2022 |- | Sanjeev Bhaskar | The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Concert Drama| 2023 | Radio play (BBC Radio 3) |- | Paul Waggott | Sherlock & Co.| 2023–present | Scripted podcast (Goalhanger Podcasts) |- | Bran Peacock | Madison on the Air| 2024-2025 | Scripted podcast |- | Jack Koenig | Sherlock Holmes & the Nefarious Baron | 2026 | Live radio play (American) |- | John Leeson | Sir Sherlock: The Red Letter Day | TBA | Audio drama (British)

Stage plays

Name Title Date Type Seymour Hicks Under The Clock 1893 Stage (Royal Court Theatre) St. John Hamund Sherlock Holmes 1894 Stage (Royalty Theatre, Glasgow) Bruce McRae Sherlock Holmes 1899 Broadway (American)Kenneth Rivington Sherlock Holmes 1905 Stage (British) The Speckled Band 1921–1922H. Lawrence Leyton Sherlock Holmes 1905 The Speckled Band 1910 Claude King The Speckled Band 1910 R.V. Taylour The Crown Diamond 1921 H. G. Stoker The Return of Sherlock Holmes 1923 Jack Raine Sherlock Holmes 1953 Stage (American) Peter Sallis Baker Street 1965 Musical (American) Tim Pigott-Smith Sherlock Holmes 1974 Stage revival (British) Dennis Cooney Sherlock Holmes 1974 Stage revival (American) Timothy Landfield The Crucifer of Blood 1978 Broadway (American) Denis Lill The Crucifer of Blood 1979 Stage (London) Richard Woods Sherlock Holmes 1981 Stage revival (Williamstown Theater Festival), filmed for TV Jeremy Brett The Crucifer of Blood 1981 Stage (Los Angeles) Edward Woodward Murder Dear Watson 1983 Stage (British) Alan Stanford The Mask of Moriarty 1985 Stage (Dublin) Donal Donnelly Sherlock's Last Case 1987 Stage (Nederlander Theatre) John Nicholson The Hound of the Baskervilles 2007 Stage (West Yorkshire Playhouse) Karl Graboshas Sherlock Holmes 2013 Play by Greg Kramer (Canada) Nigel Fairs To Kill a Canary 2014 Stage (Britain) Lucas Hall Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery 2015 Arena Stage in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Usman Ally Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery 2015 Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California James Maslow Sherlock Holmes 2015 Play by Greg Kramer Patrick Robinson Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery 2017–2018 Liverpool Playhouse Joseph Derrington Sherlock Holmes – The Sign of Four 2018–2019 UK theatre tour Ramiz Monsef Mysterious Circumstances 2019 Geffen Playhouse (America) Tim Marriott Watson: The Final Problem 2020-present One-man play by Marriott and Bert Coules Roland Kalweit Sherlock Holmes und der Hund der Baskervilles 2023–2025 European theatre tourTerry Molloy The Hound of the Baskervilles 2022–2025Live script reading The Sign of Four 2025–2026 David Horton Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four 2024 Opera (UK) Helena Antoniou The Hound of the Baskervilles 2024 Stage (Britain) David Reed Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas 2025–2026 Stage (Britain)

Television and DTV films

Name Title Date Type William Podmore The Three Garridebs 1937 Television play for NBC (American) Campbell Singer The Man Who Disappeared 1951 Television pilot (British) Raymond Francis We Present Alan Wheatley as Mr. Sherlock Holmes in... 1951 Television series (British) Philip King The Mazarin Stone 1951 Television film for BBC (British) Bernard Fox The Hound of the Baskervilles 1972 Television film (American) Edward Fox Doctor Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery 1974 Television film (British)Patrick Macnee Sherlock Holmes in New York 1976 Television film (American) Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady 1991Television film Incident at Victoria Falls 1992 Thorley Walters Silver Blaze 1977 Television film (Canadian) Richard Woods Standing Room Only – Sherlock Holmes 1981 Television play for HBO (American) Terence Rigby The Hound of the Baskervilles 1982 Television serial (British) Earle Cross Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear 1983 Animated television films; voice only (Australian) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four 1983Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse 1983Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet 1983 David Healy The Sign of Four 1983 Television film (British-American) Donald ChurchillThe Hound of the Baskervilles 1983 John Mills The Masks of Death 1984 Television film (British) John Hillerman Hands of a Murderer 1990 Richard Johnson The Crucifer of Blood 1991 TV film adaptation of the play (American) John Scott-Paget The Hound of London 1993 Television film (Canadian-Luxembourgian) Kenneth Welsh The Hound of the Baskervilles 2000 Television films (Canadian) The Sign of Four 2001 The Royal Scandal 2001 The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire 2002 Ian Hart The Hound of the Baskervilles 2002Television film (British) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking 2004 Roger Morlidge Sherlock: Case of Evil 2002 Television film (American) Bill Paterson Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars 2007 BBC television film (British) Gareth David-Lloyd Sherlock Holmes 2010 DTV film (American) John Rhys-Davies Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes 2010 Animated DTV film; voice only (American)Terry WadeSherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers2011DTV film (Canadian) Douglas McFerran Sherlock Holmes Confidential 2013 Online short film (British)Geraint HillHow Sherlock Changed the World2013Documentary (American) Harry Dillon Holmes: The Myth of Whitechapel 2025 Short film/television pilot Ciaran Cresswell Moriarty Rising: A Sherlock Holmes Tale 2027 Microdrama/feature film dual release (American-Italian)

Television series