Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series) "Rathbone "was" Sherlock Holmes". The choice of Nigel Bruce as Watson was more contentious, with Davies pointing out that "Bruce's characterisation bore little relation" to the written Watson, even though the portrayal eventually produced "an endearingly avuncular figure". The historian David Parkinson agrees, and wrote that Bruce's "avuncular presence provided the perfect counterbalance to Rathbone's briskly omniscient sleuth". Barnes notes that, despite the criticisms against him, Bruce rehabilitated Watson, who had been a marginal figure in the cinematic Holmes canon to that point: "after Bruce, it would be a near-unthinkable heresy to show Holmes without him". With the combination of
Dr. Watson Liu), an ex-surgeon turned sober companion. She is appointed to monitor the recovery of former heroin addict Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), but takes to detective work, becoming his protégée and eventually his partner. The adaptation is set in New York. In the 2013 Russian adaptation "Sherlock Holmes", Dr Watson is portrayed as older than Holmes. The character was played by Andrei Panin, in his last role, as he died shortly after the filming was finished. In the 2014 Japanese puppetry "Sherlock Holmes", John H. Watson who transfers from Australia is a son of doctor and roommate of Sherlock Holmes