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
Minor Sherlock Holmes characters "The Painful Predicament of Sherlock Holmes" written by William Gillette. In 1903 Charlie Chaplin began his career by playing Billy on stage in both the four-act play and Gillette's spoof. Billy has appeared in the films "Sherlock Holmes" (1922), "Sherlock Holmes" (1932) and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939). In the episode of the TV series "Sherlock" entitled "The Abominable Bride", Billy makes an appearance played by Adam Greaves-Neal, who previously played an original character named Archie in "The Sign of Three" (though presumably Archie drew some inspiration from Billy). Inspector Bradstreet is a detective who appears in three short