Watson Casts Sherlock Holmes: Robert Carlyle To Play The Iconic Detective In Season 2

The character who loomed large over Watson's first season finally will appear in its second.

The CBS drama has cast Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time) as the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes, our sister site Deadline reports.

Carlyle will recur in the series, in which Morris Chestnut plays Dr. John Watson, Holmes' longtime friend. Watson began in the aftermath of Holmes' alleged death, with a grieving Watson using the inheritance Holmes left him to establish a medical clinic in Pittsburgh. And when Watson and his staff realized that Holmes' longtime foe, James Moriarty, was messing with them, they came up with a plan that eventually ended in the villain's death. (Read a full finale recap here.)

Per Deadline, the presumed-dead Holmes "resurfaces" in Season 2, and his presence will mean that Watson must face up to a secret from his past, "one that lies hidden within his own body."

Carlyle is best known to American TV audiences as Once Upon a Time's Rumplestiltskin, a role he played throughout the ABC drama's seven-season run. His other work includes Stargate Universe, BBC Scotland's Hamish Macbeth and the films Trainspotting, 28 Weeks Late and The Full Monty. In 2023, he reprised his Full Monty role in a follow-up TV show of the same name.

Watson will return for Season 2 on Monday, Oct. 13, at 10/9c. (See all the CBS fall premiere dates here.)

Are you psyched to see Watson's Holmes? Let us know in the comments!