Jonathan Creek
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jonathan Creek | |
|---|---|
 Jonathan Creek's intertitle |
|
| Genre | Drama |
| Creator(s) | David Renwick |
| Starring | Alan Davies Caroline Quentin Stuart Milligan Julia Sawalha Adrian Edmondson |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 60 minutes 2 x approx. 120 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 10 May 1997 – 28 February 2004 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Jonathan Creek is a British mystery television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It ran for four series and two Christmas specials from 1997 to 2004. The series is primarily a crime drama — it won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 1998 — but features comic characters and comic sub-plots. Somewhat anomalously, it was produced by the BBC's in-house Entertainment department rather than the Drama department. The distinct theme tune was provided by Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre in an arrangement by Julian Stewart Lindsay who also wrote the underscore for the first three series and the two specials.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
[edit] Main cast
- Alan Davies - Jonathan Creek
- Caroline Quentin - Maddie Magellan (series 1 to 3)
- Anthony Head - Adam Klaus (series 1 - pilot)
- Stuart Milligan - Adam Klaus (from series 2)
- Julia Sawalha - Carla Borrego (2001 Special and series 4)
- Adrian Edmondson - Brendan Baxter (series 4)
[edit] Guest cast
Several well-known actors have appeared in the series including some who are better known for comedy playing rare straight roles. Guest stars have included: Geoffrey McGivern, John Bluthal, Nigel Planer, Bob Monkhouse, Rik Mayall, Kate Isitt, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Griff Rhys Jones, Hattie Hayridge, Jack Dee, Alistair McGowan, Tamsin Greig, Colin Baker, Jim Bowen, Peter Davison, Maureen O'Brien, Lysette Anthony, Bill Bailey, Mary Tamm, Geoffrey Beevers, Annette Crosbie and Maureen Lipman.
Jonathan Ross, Michael Grade and Bamber Gascoigne have all appeared as themselves.
See also: List of Jonathan Creek cast members
[edit] Plot
The series follows the exploits of Jonathan Creek, a designer of illusions for a stage magician (inspired partly by Ali Bongo), and — in the first three series — Maddie Magellan, a pushy journalist, as they work together to solve baffling crimes where others have failed to do so.
Creek contributes his superb lateral-thinking brain, and Magellan is a plausible liar who never seems to have trouble sneaking in to closed crime scenes. The programme usually features 'impossible crimes', for example a mysterious crime having been committed in a sealed environment from which no earthly criminal could have escaped (a "locked room mystery"). Several episodes deal with apparently paranormal thefts and murders, which Jonathan solves using his knowledge of misdirection and illusion, giving the character a passing resemblance to stage magician turned paranormal investigator James Randi. Creek gradually changed from an antisocial anorak to a man with a great deal of wit and charm. This helped to fuel the romantic thread between him and Maddie. Jonathan's trademark duffle coat was actually Alan Davies' own coat which he wore to the auditions; it helped him win the role as the writer and producers thought it suited the character.[citation needed]
The stage magician was the amoral and ambitious Adam Klaus, whose original sinister character was later changed to become a more comic and chauvinistic character whose magic tricks often go wrong.
For the 2001 Christmas special and thereafter, Caroline Quentin declined to appear, and so a second supporting role was introduced, theatrical agent Carla Borrego, played by Julia Sawalha. After her first appearance, the character married TV producer Brendan Baxter, and she became a TV presenter.
Part of the humour comes from the fact that Jonathan often doesn't want to get involved in other people's problems, and has to be pressured into it by Maddie or Carla. In The Scented Room, which centred around a theft from a critic who had lambasted Adam's act, he took great delight in announcing he had solved the crime but wasn't going to tell anybody how it was done.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Series 1 (1997)
- The Wrestler's Tomb: Maddie is investigating the murder of an exuberant artist found dead in his studio, but was he shot by his wife, his lover or a burglar? She recruits the initially reluctant Jonathan Creek to help.
- Jack in the Box: After Maddie successfully campaigns to free a man she believes to have been wrongly imprisoned for murder, the elderly husband of the victim, a retired comedian, is found shot dead in his nuclear fall-out shelter. The otherwise empty bunker is locked from the inside, so apparently he shot himself, but everyone insists he had crippling arthritis in his hands, and couldn't even peel a banana, much less pull a trigger, so how did he actually die?
- The Reconstituted Corpse: A famous cosmetic surgeon is shot dead at his home after an altercation with his ex, Zola, on live television. Zola is the prime suspect, thanks to one of her earrings being discovered at the scene of the crime, but when Maddie investigates she finds Zola has a watertight alibi (Albeit thanks to camcorder footage apparently made by her stalker). The next day Maddie calls Jonathan for help after Zola's body falls out of her new wardrobe.
- No Trace of Tracy: Tracy, a teenager who loves seventies rock music, goes to visit her idol, retired rock star Roy Pilgrim (Whom Jonathan is also a fan of). She is clearly seen entering his house but then vanishes. Roy protests his innocence, insisting he never invited her in the first place and what's more had been knocked out and handcuffed to a radiator at the time and never even saw Tracy enter. Jonathan sets out to find Tracy and clear Roy's name, but what connection does Tracy's disappearance have with the Creed of Eden, an Earth-loving cult that Roy is a member of?
- The House of Monkeys: A respected cancer doctor is found impaled on a samurai sword in his locked study, having apparently been yelling and hurling books at someone mere seconds ago. His wife, an old family friend of Jonathan's, asks Jonathan and Maddie to help find his killer. Suspects include the rather odd son, air-headed daughter-in-law and assorted monkeys used for research.
[edit] Series 2 (1998)
- Danse Macabre: A well-known horror writer is shot dead on Halloween by a man in a skeleton costume who subsequently takes her unconscious daughter hostage and escapes to the garage. The police surround the garage but when they open the door the killer has vanished, leaving only the daughter who has no memory of the incident. With Jonathan otherwise occupied, Maddie must tackle the case with only limited access to Jonathan's expertise.
- Time Waits for Norman: A friend of Maddie's asks Maddie and Jonathan to discover what her husband, Norman, has been up to after reliable witnesses place him on both sides of the Atlantic only minutes apart.
- The Scented Room: A priceless painting disappears from a locked room and the owner demands Jonathan help him, but Jonathan refuses due to his dislike of the man; the only hint he will give Maddie is that a ham sandwich is involved in the solution.
- The Problem at Gallow's Gate - Part I: A young rich eccentric apparently commits suicide by jumping off a balcony after discovering his girlfriend in bed with someone else, weeks later he is witnessed strangling her in her kitchen by Adam Klaus's older sister, Kitty.
- The Problem at Gallow's Gate - Part II: Their attempts to prove their own innocence hampered by the police's dislike of Maddie, Jonathan and Maddie begin to realise that Kitty may not have witnessed a murder after all.
- Mother Redcap: A judge on a police protection programme is killed by a rapier blade to the heart, but only his wife, who insists she's innocent, was in the room at the time, and the only evidence at the crime scene is a torn fingernail. As Jonathan investigates the murder, Maddie and a new friend are investigating the derelict Mother Redcap Inn, where seven men apparently died of fright after looking out of a window. A connection between the cases is drawn when Maddie discovers the body of a vagrant woman - missing a fingernail.
[edit] Series 3 (1999-2000)
- The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish: A man who claims to have sold his soul to the Devil has a remarkable run of good luck- ranging from finding ancient treasure in his backyard to surviving a point-blank range shooting -but Jonathan and Maddie believe his success may be coming from a more Earthly source than Hell.
- The Eyes of Tiresias: When an old woman apparently experiences dreams of the future, including the murder of a prominent Swiss businessman, Jonathan must find out what is going on.
- The Omega Man: Maddie is contacted by a man who makes a living investigating the existence of aliens, who claims to have found a real alien skeleton. The US army intervenes and takes the skeleton, but it vanishes on the way to the military base, leaving Jonathan to try and find out where it went to.
- Ghosts Forge: An old friend of Maddie's wants her and Jonathan to investigate the house 'Ghosts Forge', as she is having an affair with a man who keeps muttering about it in his sleep. Investigations reveal that the last owner of the house was found dead several years ago and the house is now being rebuilt into flats. As Jonathan looks into the man's real identity, Maddie takes the chance to pull off an illusion of her own.
- Miracle in Crooked Lane: A former nude model, now living quietly with her rich, older husband in the countryside, is seriously injured when her shed explodes, leaving her badly burned. However, a reliable, independent witness insists she spoke to the unharmed woman several hours later. Jonathan investigates with the help (and hindrance) of his rapidly growing fan club, all of whom dress exactly like him; two of them even live in windmills.
- The Three Gamblers: A drug dealer and criminal who was shot three months ago somehow climbs up the stairs from the cellar, despite having six bullets in the head. Jonathan and Maddie try to investigate, but things are hampered by the killer's belief that his victim has supernatural powers and will kill him from beyond the grave.
[edit] Series 4 (2003-2004)
- The Coonskin Cap: Jonathan and Carla unite to investigate the mysterious 'Daisy Chain Killer', a killer wearing a Davy Crockett hat who apparently strangles women named after flowers. However, when the killer shoots at policemen and subsequently escapes from a window in full view of the police, and a policewoman is apparently strangled in the middle of a school gym with no way for the killer to escape, things take on a new dynamic.
- Angel Hair: A pop star's husband is baffled as to how his mistress can regrow a full head of hair barely two days after she apparently had it all hacked off for a fake kidnapping video.
- The Tailor's Dummy: A well-known designer apparently commits suicide by jumping out a window, but that leaves the question of why he chose to throw his treasured parrot out the window first; subsequent events, with a man apparently changing his physical appearance in a matter of seconds, also prompt several questions. To answer these, Jonathan must work out what the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a drawer full of socks have to do with the solution to the mystery.
- The Seer of the Sands: A man who investigates 'supernatural' occurrences apparently kills himself by crashing his boat after receiving a fax from his lover. However, the fact that the fax was good news (his lover's husband was agreeing to a divorce), the disappearance of his body from the accident and some Gypsies claiming to be in contact with his spirit with a message for his visiting lover provide several questions that Jonathan must answer.
- The Chequered Box: When a top detective (who solves a rather strange death at a speed that would impress even Jonathan) is photographed apparently laughing at the body of someone who's been hung in an office, Jonathan and Carla must clear his name of murder, with the only prominent clue is a piece of chewing gum that moved from one plant pot to another.
- Gorgon's Wood: A priceless porcelain monk (said to have a curse on it that will bring nothing but evil to its owners) is stolen, prompting Jonathan and Carla's discovery of a major case of sibling rivalry, as well as (apparently) a torrid affair between the owner of the statue and his own niece.
[edit] Christmas Specials
- Black Canary (24 December 1998): A famous illusionist (whose twin sister died when an escape trick went wrong and she was partially sliced in half) is found in her back garden, having apparently been witnessed shooting herself by her husband. However, the post-mortem reveals that she had already been dead for several hours, and there are no footprints around the body despite her husband seeing someone talking to her and fleeing before she pulled the trigger. Jonathan and Maddie are prompted to investigate by the dead woman's daughter — an old flame of Jonathan's — with the help of the debonair Gideon Pryke, the police officer officially in charge of the case, whose attitude annoys both Jonathan and Maddie.
- Satan's Chimney (26 December 2001): With Maddie gone to America, Jonathan teams up with Carla Borrego, a theatrical agent, to investigate how a well-known actress could have been shot through a window without the glass having been broken. The investigation also turns up an old secret used to kill blasphemers in a castle, as well as the fact that the actress was pregnant twice... but only had an abortion the second time around.
[edit] Other versions
There were two attempts to make a U.S. version of Jonathan Creek. The first involved Castle Rock, the production company behind series such as Seinfeld, but the initial scripts were not felt good enough, and David Renwick's script were rejected by CBS. The second attempt, also by Renwick, was for Whoopi Goldberg and would have included Alan Davies.
[edit] DVD releases
[edit] Regions 2 (UK) and 4 (AUS)
| DVD | Date |
|---|---|
| Series 1 & 2 | 16 February 2004 |
| Series 3 & 4 & the Christmas Specials | 2 August 2004 |
| Complete Series 1-4 & the Christmas Specials | 29 November 2004 |
Series One was released in Region 1 (US/Canada) in December 2006.
[edit] External links
- Jonathan Creek at the Internet Movie Database
- Jonathan Creek on BBC Cult
- Jonathan Creek Fansite
- Jonathan Creek at the British Film Institute Screen Online
| Preceded by EastEnders |
British Academy Television Awards Best Drama Series 1998 |
Succeeded by The Cops |
