Jonathan Creek

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Jonathan Creek
Format	Drama
Created by	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	60 minutes (Series 1 & 4) 50 minutes (Series 2 & 3) 2 x 90 minutes 1 x 120 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	10 May 1997 – 28 February 2004
External 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 — its cult success won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 1998 — but features comic characters and comic sub-plots. Unusually, it was produced by the BBC's in-house Entertainment department rather than the Drama department — this was because Renwick preferred working with people he knew rather than the people at Drama who might not share his vision.^[1] When the series was made, it included stars and guest-stars such as Bob Monkhouse, Griff Rhys Jones, Rik Mayall and John Bird, who are mainly associated with comedy, but who put on straight performances.

Contents 1 Concept and Casting 2 Cast 2.1 Main cast 2.2 Guest cast 3 Plot 4 Episodes 4.1 Series 1 (1997) 4.2 Series 2 (1998) 4.3 Christmas Special (1998) 4.4 Series 3 (1999-2000) 4.5 Christmas Special (2001) 4.6 Series 4 - Part 1 (2003) 4.7 Series 4 - Part 2 (2004) 4.8 Christmas Special (2008) 5 Music 6 Other versions 7 DVD releases 7.1 Regions 2 (UK) and 4 (AUS) 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Concept and Casting

David Renwick wanted to write a detective series that dealt with the actual work of detection rather than action, as most crime dramas appeared to focus on at the time.^[1] Also, whereas most of these were about who did it (Inspector Morse or Taggart) and why it was done (Cracker), this new series would be about how it was done with an element of magic thrown in, such as murders committed in locked rooms, a person being in two places at once or impossible thefts; finding a culprit would still be part of the detective's job but the emphasis would be on how the crime was committed.

Magic would play an important part of the series, but it would be in the sense of the tricks and sleight-of-hand used by stage magicians to deceive their audiences. The programme often exposed how such tricks are actually done, the way being quite "banal" compared to the trick itself.

The series would also focus on the relationship between Creek and his collaborator Maddie Magellan, a writer who often uses dishonest means in order to expose miscarriages of justice. It would be a mainly platonic one, though they do at some stage consummate their relationship only to agree that it must never happen again. (In his early planning, Renwick had thought that Maddie should be Creek's stepmother and that they would investigate crime in memory of his murdered father. However, he decided that the concept of the avenging son was too "Batman" and in the series Creek's parents are mentioned as having moved to America.)^[1]

Caroline Quentin was Renwick's first choice for Maddie Magellan, but the casting of Creek proved something of a problem. Renwick had wanted Nicholas Lyndhurst, but he turned it down. Rik Mayall was also offered the part but was, at the time, busy with stage work (he would later guest-star in a Christmas Special of the series). Hugh Laurie showed a great deal of interest and agreed to take the part, but later turned it down as he could not figure out Creek's motivations for investigating the cases Maddie involves him in, especially when he shows so much reluctance in some of the episodes.^[1]

Others who were tried for the part included Nigel Planer and Angus Deayton, both very popular at the time, but lacking a certain something that identified them as Creek. Almost a dozen actors were considered before producer Susan Belbin saw Alan Davies during a rehearsal for a sitcom. Davies was invited round to talk to Renwick and "turned up in his duffle coat with straggly hair and a broad grin [and] was self-evidently the closest match yet to Creek as we had always seen him".^[1]

[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 1, episode 2 onwards)
• 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 many who are better known for playing comedy rather than straight roles, such as Bob Monkhouse, Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall and Jack Dee.

As noted above, Planer and Mayall had both been considered for the part of Creek during the casting stage.

Other guest stars, both comedy and straight, have included: Steven Berkoff, Geoffrey McGivern, John Bluthal, Kate Isitt, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Griff Rhys Jones, Hattie Hayridge, Alistair McGowan, Tamsin Greig, Colin Baker, Brian Murphy, Mary Tamm, Jim Bowen, Peter Davison, Maureen O'Brien, Lysette Anthony, Mark Caven, Lorelei King, Geoffrey Beevers, Annette Crosbie, Maureen Lipman, Paul Blackthorne, Jimmi Harkishin, and Bill Bailey (who was pencilled as the original Jonathan Creek).

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, 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 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.

No matter how fantastic the crime appeared to be at first, Creek would find an explanation which would dismiss all suggestions that it was actual magic. For example, a man is seen through an office window apparently gloating at his murdered victim, but he denies ever seeing a body; it later emerges that an enemy committed the murder and subsequently lured the other man to the scene, but a false wall prevented the other man from seeing the body itself and a witness simply saw him through a window as he chuckled at a picture on the wall, whose presence was concealed by the window pane.

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 that he wore to the auditions; it helped him win the role, as the writer and producers thought it suited the character.

Creek's employer is the amoral and ambitious Adam Klaus, a flamboyant performer with a sinister stage persona who is really a drug-addled, comically insensitive womaniser. In some instances, his magic tricks go comically wrong. The character appears on camera infrequently, his shenanigans usually revealed to or by Jonathan in conversation with other characters. Sub-plots in the episodes revolve around the problems that Adam gets himself into and how Jonathan has to get him out of them, such as when Adam was blackmailed by a barmaid after spending the night with her, or when he was forced to hire a midget as a bodyguard in order to appear more politically correct. Some aspects of the character were inspired by Ali Bongo.

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 (Adrian Edmondson), 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. Initially Jonathan was only brought in to investigate because he was asked by Maddie due to her having a connection to the crime, or because it involved an old friend of his. As time went on, he acquired a more significant reputation and was independently recruited by such varied contacts as a chief of police or the United States military.

Toward the end of the show's run the tone became noticeably darker, with Jonathan investigating gangsters, drug dealers, white slave traders, psychopathic serial killers and violent pimps as opposed to the more whimsical (if no less murderous) characters with whom he crossed wits in earlier episodes. The tone of the show also became more adult, with coarser language and even on one occasion full-frontal male nudity (in the form of a streaker) creeping into the show by series four.

[edit] Episodes

The 2003 and 2004 series were made up of three episodes each but were released on DVD as a single six-episode series.

[edit] Series 1 (1997)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
1	"The Wrestler's Tomb"	90 minutes	David Renwick	Marcus Mortimer	10 May 1997
An exuberant artist is found dead at his home. A burglar is charged with murder but protests his innocence to Maddie Magellan, a writer with a reputation for clearing miscarriages of justice. The only alternative suspect is the artist's wronged wife who was well aware of his affair with his model, but how could she have left her city office without her P.A. seeing her leave? After a chance meeting at one of magician Adam Klaus's shows, Maddie recruits the initially reluctant Jonathan Creek, the actual designer of Adam's tricks, to provide her with some ideas about how the wife could have reached the scene of the crime, but Creek soon uncovers an even more sinister side to the case.
2	"Jack in the Box"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Marcus Mortimer	17 May 1997
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, which would suggest the man shot himself, but everyone insists he had crippling arthritis in his hands, and couldn't even pour himself a drink, much less pull a trigger, so how did he actually die?
3	"The Reconstituted Corpse"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Marcus Mortimer	24 May 1997
Zola Zbzewski has made her money and reputation by being one of the most cosmetically-altered women in Britain. However, when she publishes her autobiography, her cosmetic surgeon and ex-lover is outraged by what she says about him and threatens to sue. He is later shot dead at his home. Zola is the most obvious suspect and an earring with her DNA is discovered at the crime scene. But when Maddie investigates she finds Zola has a watertight alibi — camcorder footage made by a stalker proves that she was at home. That would appear to be that, but later, after getting a new wardrobe up to her flat, Maddie opens it to find Zola's dead body, despite it having contained nothing when she had viewed it on the street mere minutes ago. Guest-stars Nigel Planer as Shelford.
4	"No Trace of Tracy"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	31 May 1997
Tracy, a teenager who loves seventies rock music, goes to visit her idol, retired rock star Roy Pilgrim (Jonathan is also a fan). She is clearly seen entering his house but then vanishes. Roy protests his innocence, insisting he never invited her in the first place and had been knocked out and handcuffed to a radiator at the time. He claims to have never even seen 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?
5	"The House of Monkeys"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	7 June 1997
A respected cancer doctor is found impaled on a samurai sword in his locked study, having been yelling and hurling books at someone mere seconds before. His wife, an old family friend of Jonathan's, asks him and Maddie to help find his killer. Suspects include the rather odd son, the air-headed daughter-in-law and assorted monkeys used for research, but what role does an envelope containing a copy of his book play in the investigation? Guest-stars Annette Crosbie, with whom writer Renwick worked in One Foot in the Grave.

[edit] Series 2 (1998)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
6	"Danse Macabre"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	24 January 1998
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 due to Adam currently being blackmailed by a barmaid he spent the night with, Maddie must tackle the case with only limited access to Jonathan's expertise. Guest-stars Peter Davison.
7	"Time Waits For Norman"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	31 January 1998
A friend of Maddie's asks her and Jonathan to discover what her husband, Norman, has been up to after reliable independent witnesses place him on both sides of the Atlantic only minutes apart. Jonathan, meanwhile, has to deal with a rather awkward romantic encounter with a bald female tax inspector.
8	"The Scented Room"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	7 February 1998
A priceless painting disappears from a locked room and the owner, theatre critic Sylvester Le Fley, offers a large reward for its recovery, which tempts Maddie. Jonathan is quick to announce that he knows how the theft was done, but will not explain due to his dislike of Le Fley, who recently published a negative and dispariging review of Adam's show. Desperate measures are required to get him to co-operate, but the only clue he will reveal is that a spam sandwich is involved. Guest-stars Bob Monkhouse as Le Fley.
9	"The Problem at Gallows Gate (Part 1)"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	14 February 1998
A young rich eccentric commits suicide by jumping off a balcony after discovering his girlfriend in bed with someone else, but three weeks later, during Jonathan's badger watch, he is witnessed strangling her in her kitchen by Adam Klaus's older sister, Kitty.
10	"The Problem at Gallows Gate (Part 2)"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	21 February 1998
Their attempts to prove their own innocence hampered by the police's dislike of Maddie after the publication of her recent book (as Maddie grows increasingly frustrated with Jonathan's s-less typewriter), Jonathan and Maddie begin to realise that not only may Kitty not have witnessed a murder after all, but that the man she saw may not have even died in the first place. Jonathan, meanwhile, is convinced that the removal of the dead woman's stockings plays a more important role than they initially suspected.
11	"Mother Redcap"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	28 February 1998
A judge on a police protection programme is killed by a rapier blade to the heart after a brief struggle, 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 in the same room. A connection between the cases is drawn when Maddie discovers the body of a vagrant woman... missing a fingernail.

[edit] Christmas Special (1998)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
12	"Black Canary"	90 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	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 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 other 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 — along with the debonair Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke, the police officer officially in charge of the case. Back at the theatre, Adam has fallen in love with a virgin woman from Austria in her thirties, but she may have more layers than even he knows. Guest-stars Rik Mayall as Pryke and Francis Matthews

[edit] Series 3 (1999-2000)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
13	"The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish"	50 minutes	David Renwick		27 November 1999
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. Adam, meanwhile, has to deal with a rather awkward court case where a woman claims he asked her to perform unnatural acts with a kipper. Guest-stars Griff Rhys Jones.
14	"The Eyes of Tiresias"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	4 December 1999
When an old woman experiences dreams of the future, including the murder of a prominent Swiss businessman and a prediction of a car crash, Jonathan must find out what is happening before her dreams of being attacked by a one-eyed man with a sword come to pass.
15	"The Omega Man"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	11 December 1999
Maddie is contacted by a man who makes a living investigating the existence of aliens and who claims to have found a real alien skeleton. The US Air Force 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 without leading the military to Maddie.
16	"Ghost's Forge"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Richard Holthouse	18 December 1999
An old friend of Maddie's wants her and Jonathan to investigate a house called Ghosts Forge, as she is having an affair with a man who keeps muttering about it in his sleep. Although married with a baby, he has no recollection of his past life before a few years ago. Investigations reveal that the last owner of the house was found dead several years ago and the place is now being rebuilt into flats. As Jonathan looks into the man's real identity — his only clue being a package in the attic containing six books by a best-selling author — Maddie takes the opportunity to perform a disappearing trick of her own.
17	"Miracle in Crooked Lane"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Richard Holthouse	28 December 1999
A former glamour model, now living quietly with her rich, older husband in the countryside, is seriously injured when her garden shed explodes, leaving her badly burned. However, a reliable, independent witness insists she spoke to the unharmed woman several hours later as she went to church. 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.
18	"The Three Gamblers"	50 minutes	David Renwick	Keith Washington	2 January 2000
A drug dealer and criminal who was shot six times in the head somehow climbs up the stairs from the cellar in the intervening time between his body being dumped and it being discovered months later. 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. Guest-stars John Bird.

[edit] Christmas Special (2001)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
19	"Satan's Chimney"	120 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	26 December 2001
With Maddie gone to America on a book promotion tour, Jonathan teams up with Carla Borrego, a theatrical agent representing an escapologist who is being hired for Adam's show. They investigate how a well-known actress could have been shot through a window during the filming of her latest movie without the glass having been broken. The enquiry also turns up an old secret used to kill blasphemers in a castle owned by the film's producer, as well as the fact that the actress was pregnant twice... but only had an abortion the second time around. Julia Sawalha first appears as Carla Borrego.

[edit] Series 4 - Part 1 (2003)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
20	"The Coonskin Cap"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Christine Gernon	1 March 2003
After an awkward break-up some months ago, Jonathan and Carla — now married to the producer of a Crimewatch-like television show — unite to investigate the mysterious 'Daisy Chain' serial killer who wears a Davy Crockett hat and strangles women named after flowers. However, things take on a new dynamic when the killer shoots at police during a reconstruction of a murder and escapes from a locked room while the only window was in full view of those present. Later, a policewoman is strangled in the middle of a school gym from which the killer again had no means to escape. Adrian Edmondson first appears as Carla's producer-husband.
21	"Angel Hair"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Christine Gernon	8 March 2003
A pop star's husband is baffled as to how his mistress can regrow a full head of hair barely two days after she had it all hacked off for a fake kidnapping video. Meanwhile, Carla is jealous of Jonathan's relationship with a make-up consultant on the show, believing that the woman is in a rebound relationship after the death of her dog.
22	"The Tailor's Dummy"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Christine Gernon	15 March 2003
A well-known designer commits suicide by jumping out a window after reading a bad review of his work, but that leaves the question of why he chose to throw his treasured parrot out the window first. Subsequent events, with a man changing his physical appearance in a matter of seconds while threatening the journalist who wrote the review, also prompt several questions. To answer these, Jonathan must work out what the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Marx Brothers video, and a drawer full of socks have to do with the solution to the mystery.

[edit] Series 4 - Part 2 (2004)

#	Title	Running Time	Writer	Director	Original airdate
23	"The Seer of the Sands"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	14 February 2004
A man who investigates 'supernatural' occurrences 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 scene of 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.
24	"The Chequered Box"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	21 February 2004
A top detective is photographed after apparently murdering a prosecutor by hanging her in her office. The detective has something of a fascination with death. What is in the strange chequered box he forces onto his daughter and who is the mysterious "Mister G" with whom they have a deal? Jonathan, for his part, is more concerned as to how a piece of chewing gum got moved from one potted plant to another.
25	"Gorgon's Wood"	60 minutes	David Renwick	Sandy Johnson	28 February 2004
A priceless Eastern porcelain monk (said to have a curse on it that will bring nothing but evil to its owners) is stolen in front of several witnesses, prompting Jonathan and Carla's discovery of a major case of sibling rivalry, a disfigured prostitute who resembles another person, and a twisted love affair.

[edit] Christmas Special (2008)

A 90-minute 2008 Christmas special is planned. News of the comeback was reported in the Daily Mirror on May 31, reporting that David Renwick who wrote all of the previous episodes had returned and that filming would commence shortly, stating "After a five year break I think we're all looking forward to getting Creek back on the screen".^[2][3] The BBC Press Office has since confirmed that the special will guest star Sheridan Smith as Joey Ross and Stuart Milligan will reprise his role as the magician Adam Klaus.^[4]

[edit] Music

The distinctive theme tune is an arrangement of Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre by Julian Stewart Lindsay, who also wrote the underscore for the first three series and the two specials.

In keeping with the mysterious allusions that pervade Jonathan Creek's investigations, the name of the protagonist of the series is a cryptic translation of the German composer Johann Bach's name^{[citation needed]}, who himself encoded his own name in the notes of his final composition, The Art of the Fugue.

[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 scripts 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. Series Two was quietly released in Region 1 in late 2007.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jonathan Creek at BBC Cult
• Jonathan Creek homepage
• Jonathan Creek at the British Film Institute
• Jonathan Creek at the BBC Programme Catalogue (episode airdates and directors)
• Jonathan Creek at the BFI's Screenonline
• Jonathan Creek at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by EastEnders

British Academy Television Awards Best Drama Series 1998

Succeeded by The Cops