‘Watson: Season One’ DVD Review
Stars: Morris Chestnut, Rochelle Aytes, Ritchie Coster, Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall, Inga Schlingmann | Created by Craig Sweeny
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many great stories during his illustrious career, but probably no character’s adventures have been adapted to film and TV more than those of the great detective Sherlock Holmes. But his loyal sidekick, Dr Watson, seems to be just along for the ride. What about this character? CBS Studios sought to rectify that by giving Dr. Watson his own series in 2025, which now comes to DVD courtesy of Paramount and CBS.
Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut), a clinical geneticist and former London-based consulting detective, heads the Homes Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Treating patients with strange and unidentifiable issues, he applies a specific and incisive type of deductive reasoning that he learned from his friend and partner, Sherlock Holmes, who died at the hands of arch-nemesis Moriarty. While dealing with the emotional aftermath of Sherlock’s demise, Watson finds his life intertwined with Moriarty once again, as evidence suggests he is still alive.
What makes this new series, Watson, so different from any other Sherlock Holmes-inspired production is: number 1, it is set in the modern world. And number 2, Dr. Watson is not an older white man; he is a young black man. Watson is also a medical drama – which are always a lot of fun to watch, especially when they focus on discovering the mysteries of illnesses. I enjoyed the TV series House, which was a take on Sherlock Holmes. And Watson is another wonderful mystery medical drama.
Watson originally aired on CBS and Paramount+ and had a great 13-episode season – the writing is great and would make Conan Doyle proud; the acting is good and Morris Chestnut really embodies the legendary Dr. Watson.
The series has been transferred to DVD in widescreen format. The audio track is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital. There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. All thirteen episodes are spread across 4 DVD discs. Now the transfer of these episodes to DVD are crisp and clean. There are no digital artefacts or audio anomalies. But in addition to the complete 13-episode season, there are bonus features. In fac,t there is quite a bit of bonus features, almost an hour’s worth of bonus features are included:
Special Features:
- My Dear Watson
- Creating the World of Watson
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
Whenever behind-the-scenes featurettes are included in a physical media release, I am all in for it! I enjoy diving into what it took to make the series. Deleted scenes are nice as well, and the gag reels are one of my favourites. Getting to see the actors mess up, laugh, pull pranks etc. shows they had fun making the series and if you can enjoy your job, you never work a day in your life.
I must say I enjoyed Watson: Season One. And if you are a fan of the Sherlock Holmes universe, you may want to see Watson too, if you haven’t already.
***** 5/5
Watson: Season One is out on DVD now.
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