Jude Law has defended the new adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, in which he stars alongside Robert Downey Jr.

The British actor plays the detective’s partner Dr Watson in the film, which has been directed by Guy Ritchie.

With Ritchie better known for violent productions such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, there have been claims that the script veers to far from Arthur Conan Doyle’s original books.

However, Law has claimed the direction Sherlock Holmes has gone in is justified. "The physicality, the bare-knuckle fighting, the martial arts are all hinted at in the books. We just hold a magnifying glass over them," he stated.

"A word that author Arthur Conan Doyle uses an awful lot is ‘apprehended’. As in, ‘Holmes and Watson apprehend the villain.’ We get to show the apprehension."

Law also revealed that classic film partnerships such as Withnail and I, Laurel and Hardy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had also influenced the film.