Which fictional detective inspired Gregory House in the TV series House, M.D.?

Sherlock Holmes inspired Gregory House in the television series House, M.D. The connection appears in the character’s name, methods, habits, and relationship with his closest friend.

House and Holmes both rely on observation, deduction, and unconventional reasoning to solve puzzles that others cannot. House’s surname echoes Holmes’s, while James Wilson parallels Dr. John Watson as the loyal friend who observes and sometimes challenges the central investigator. House also lives at 221B Baker Street early in the series, directly recalling Holmes’s London address.

The inspiration does not mean House is a literal adaptation of one Holmes story. Instead, the medical drama translates detective fiction into diagnosis: symptoms become clues, tests function as investigative leads, and the final diagnosis plays the role of the solution. Other literary and medical influences also shaped the series, but Holmes is the central acknowledged model.