The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939 film) in the Victorian period of the original stories; all known previous "Holmes" films, up to and including the 1930s British film series starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes, had been updated to a setting contemporaneous with the films' release. It is also the only film in the series to be a strict adaptation of a source material, while subsequent installments would feature original titles and incorporate various elements of different stories. Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. John H. Watson (Nigel Bruce) receive a visit from Dr. James Mortimer (Lionel Atwill), who wishes to consult them before the arrival of Sir
Dr. Watson to produce new radio stories of Holmes and Watson. Lawrence Albert plays Watson to the Holmes of first John Gilbert and later John Patrick Lowrie. Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' friend, assistant and sometime flatmate, and the first person narrator of all but four of these stories. He is described as the typical Victorian-era gentleman, unlike the more eccentric Holmes. He is astute, although he can never match his friend's deductive skills. Whilst retaining his role as Holmes's