Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes faithful adherence to the original characterization. One famous radio appearance starred Orson Welles as Sherlock Holmes in an adaptation of one of William Gillette's plays. This was broadcast in September 1938 as part of "The Mercury Theater on the Air" series on CBS Radio. Throughout the early 1940s on American Radio, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce performed as Holmes and Watson, respectively, in several series of canonical and original Sherlock Holmes stories on "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" radio show. These broadcasts were loosely based on Doyle's cases. When Rathbone finally departed the role before the 1947 season, Tom
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes characterisation of Holmes, "with all his little foibles", while in contrast the "Cheltenham Looker-On" described Holmes as "rather a bore sometimes", noting that descriptions of his foibles "grows wearisome". The correspondent for "Hampshire Telegraph" lamented the fact that Doyle's more thoughtful writing, such as "Micah Clarke", was not so popular as the Holmes stories, concluding that an author "who wishes to make literature pay must write what his readers want". Sherlock Holmes has been adapted numerous times for both films and plays, and the character has been played by over 70 different actors in more than 200 films. A number