The original pilot for this series was a two - part episode of "Bravestarr". It was entitled "Sherlock Holmes In The 23rd Century". Watson was an alien named "Whitson".
The series takes place in 2103.
Sherlock is able to understand Morse code beeps, being to fluently converse with the disabled member of his Baker Street Irregulars
It's never explained where Sherlock gets his money from in the series. Though it's not impossible he is paid by the crown, or by New Scotland Yard as an outsourced detective.