Jonathan Creek: Series IV (2003-04)

Jonathan Creek: Series IV (2003-04)

6 episodes, approx 60 minutes each.

The first three series of JC can be seen as one collective era because they share the same two principal actors, Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin.

But Caroline chose not to return after Series III, which left a gap needing to be filled, because Jonathan's character needs an ancillary to bounce ideas off and to get (unintentional) inspiration from.

That gap was filled by Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha) and, happily, Carla made the show even better. She's a wonderfully rounded character who brought a similar kind of resourcefulness and determination as Maddie had shown but with a whole new self-important attitude supporting it. She's sometimes vulnerable beneath the hard outer shell, but goes to great lengths to hide that fact from the world.

She got her introduction in the 2001 Christmas Special. It's not necessary to have seen it, but it's advisable because it shows the genesis of their relationship and helps explain the boundaries that exist from the offset in Series IV.

They look stern and miserable on the cover, something that's really not representative of the pair at all; it's perhaps the least flattering image they could've chosen as a first impression.

Bringing a new woman into Jonathan's life offered an opportunity for new kinds of problems, and she didn't disappoint in that department, either. Maddie used his profile to help sell her books, but Carla uses it to further her television career, making the amateur sleuth a lot more famous in the process, which is something that he'd rather avoid.

She wasn't the only new addition. We'd already had Nigel Planer (Series I) and Rik Mayall (1998 Xmas Special) as guests, so it made sense to have Ade Edmondson. Ade gets a quality supporting role and even stays for the duration, yay!

At its core the show is like a British version of Columbo. Jonathan's general demeanour fools you into thinking he's not as clever as he actually is, when in fact he's a bona fide genius.