There were probably three personalities in the book series which Sherlock Holmes took seriously: his closest friend and companion Dr Watson, femme fatale Irene Adler, the so-called Holmes in female disguise, and his archenemy and the chief competitor James Moriarty. Dr. John Watson became closer to Sherlock than even his elder brother Mycroft who was always trying to change Holmes and insist on his authority. Although Mycroft Holmes held a very important governmental position, Sherlock never took his brother seriously, emphasizing his incapability in detective work: ...he has no ambition and no energy. He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself …show more content…
Jonathan Ross, a participant at the BBC Sherlock screening, noticed that the TV series producers «acknowledging a lot of the real-world fan reaction, not just what happened [to Sherlock] and how it was going to be resolved, but also the sexual tension between Watson and Holmes... which was played with in a really fun way... with people speculating and getting very excited about that side of their relationship» (Strudwick). The producer of the series Mark Gatiss as well as the co-creator Steven Moffat explained the considerable number of jokes about Holmes and Watsons' sexual orientation as an inspiration taken from Billy Wilder's 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Morgan). The fact that even Mrs Hudson, a symbol of British customs and puritanism, which character will be analyzed hereafter, makes references to their sexual appeal, shows the modern way of thinking where homosexuality is nothing really shocking (Sherlock). As the BBC version of Dr. John Watson, Martin Freeman, denies gay relationship between Holmes and his friend, emphasizing the exceptional character of their relationship: It is about the things that wind each other up and the things that they genuinely love about one another as well. We all certainly saw it as a love story. These two people do love and kind of need each other in a slightly dysfunctional way, but it is a relationship that works. They get results...