House M.D. is primarily based on which fictional detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle?

House M.D. is primarily based on Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Gregory House's name, deductive methods, and difficult personality all reflect deliberate parallels with Holmes.

Both characters solve unusual cases through observation, logic, and the interpretation of clues that others overlook. House's medical diagnoses function like Holmes's investigations: symptoms become evidence, and the apparent answer is often rejected when a new fact appears. House's friend James Wilson corresponds broadly to Holmes's companion Dr. John Watson.

The connection also appears in smaller details, including House's residence at 221B Baker Street and his reliance on pain medication, echoing Holmes's drug use in Doyle's stories. House M.D. is not a direct adaptation of one Holmes mystery; it transfers the detective formula into diagnostic medicine.