Jonathan Creek: Daemons' Roost (2016)

Jonathan Creek: Daemons' Roost (2016)

Dir. Sandy Johnson | 1 episode, approx 89 minutes.

The overly dramatic opening of Daemons' Roost is a loving nod to the classic British horror films made by Hammer Studios in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

It seems odd in some ways, but also carries through into the main story; e.g. the taxi driver who's unwilling to drive up to the large house, like a movie coachman who's afraid to take travellers to the castle's gates.

When the "...tale of terror" ends the modem day mystery takes over, and for a time the story is significantly better than anything in series five.

Having not spoken to her stepfather (Ken Bones) in fifteen years, at his behest Alison (Georgie Lord) returns to the family home to finally discover what caused the deaths of her mother and sisters. But things go awry and Jonathan's talents are needed.

Jonathan Creek: Series V (2014)

Jonathan Creek: Series V (2014)

3 episodes, approx 58 minutes each.

Note: the following review contains spoilers for the previous JC outing, The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (2013). If you're as sensitive to spoilers as I am and haven’t watched the Savant's Thumb episode, it would be advisable to not read beyond this sentence.

The fifth series of the show is unusual for a number of reasons. Firstly, while there are a significant number of minor mysteries in need of solving, there's no mysterious deaths in any of the episodes, in a locked room or otherwise. Speaking of episodes, there's only three of them, not the usual six. And finally, at no point does Jonathan wear his trademark duffel coat, which is like asking us to accept Columbo without his raincoat, or Sherlock without his pipe.

If all of that wasn't bad enough, he's married still to Polly (Sarah Alexander). Not only does Polly's pissy attitude stand in the way of his doing what he does best, but the duo have zero chemistry. One wonders why they're together at all. There's no feeling of love or even affection. It's like a marriage of convenience, most of which is hers. When the character interjects it's usually to belittle or dissuade Jonathan (Alan Davies) from getting involved. She deadens the narrative flat.

Jonathan Creek: The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (2013)

Jonathan Creek: The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (2013)

Dir. David Renwick | Approx 89 minutes

Jonathan's life has changed. He's retired from the crime solving business, but seems ill at ease in his new role and awkward in his new clothes.

I accepted the changes without much affront, but one thing bugged me: where the hell is the windmill? I'd never move out of a windmill, not for anyone!

When a dead body turns up and mysteriously disappears from a locked room on the same day, Jonathan's curiosity is piqued. How could he resist?

Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) is on hand to both complicate and help, in equal measure. I really like Sheridan and she doesn't disappoint in the role. Her chemistry with Alan Davies is good and her eagerness is only equalled by her sassiness.

Jonathan Creek: The Judas Tree (2010)

Jonathan Creek: The Judas Tree (2010)

Dir. David Renwick | Approx 93 minutes

The Judas Tree had Jonathan's spirited opposite, Joey Ross, return for another of the feature-length outings that kept the series sporadically alive for years after the regular weekly format ended. The unlikely duo investigate a macabre mystery involving a ghostly apparition and an unexplained death.

The Adam Klaus character is once again shoehorned into the story but it's less forced this time.

However, I did get the feeling more than once that creator/writer/director David Renwick was overcompensating for something by filling the story with multiple twists and turns, some of which ask the viewer to make some sizeable leaps of faith and logic. Perhaps the BBC's decision to chop the budget had him worried? To his credit, though, he managed to not let that aspect visibly weaken the production; it looks just as good as what he had delivered previously.

Jonathan Creek: The Grinning Man (2009)

Jonathan Creek: The Grinning Man (2009)

Dir. David Renwick | Approx 118 minutes

A feature-length adventure (of two whole hours!) that saw the wooly-haired sleuth return to our TV screens after a lengthy five-year absence.

It's written and directed by series creator David Renwick, so the quality is high. The only dip is with the inclusion of an entirely superfluous subplot featuring magician Adam Klaus. I mean no disrespect to actor Stuart Milligan, but it goes nowhere interesting and serves no purpose other than to give the character something to do; its removal would've strengthened the pace of the main plot considerably.

When last we saw JC he was being tormented by Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha), but she's moved on to graze in pastures new. What is it with the women of the series? They never stick around for long enough.

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.

Jonathan Creek: Christmas Specials (2008)

Jonathan Creek: Christmas Specials (2008)

2 episodes, approx 90 minutes / 120 minutes, respectively.

There are more specials than what's included on this particular DVD release, but they weren't made until after its release (2008), so you'll either need to buy them separately if you want them or save yourself some cash and buy the recent 14-Disc Complete Collection (2017) box set - the latter isn't really a good option for me seeing as how I bought the individual releases in a more timely manner, so I'm reviewing them this way.

What you do get are two feature-length specials: Black Canary (1998), which takes place sometime between Series II and Series III, and Satan's Chimney (2001), which takes place sometime between Series III and Series IV.

There's two new characters introduced; one in each of the two episodes. Firstly, there's Gideon Pryke (Rik Mayall) in Black Canary. Gideon is Jonathan's equal in some ways. He didn't become a regular but does make a subsequent appearance in the show, and if things had worked out differently he could've been a great recurring addition. He's woven into a story that involves someone from Jonathan's past reappearing and, of course, needing a head-scratchingly complex murder mystery solved.

Jonathan Creek: Series I, II and III (1997-2000)

Jonathan Creek: Series I, II and III (1997-2000)

S1: Pilot, approx 90 mins + 5 episodes, approx 60 mins each |

S2: 6 episodes, approx 50 mins each | S3: 6 episodes, approx 50 mins each

A mystery/detective series, but the titular Jonathan (Alan Davies) isn't an actual detective, he designs magic tricks for a stage magician.

His knowledge of stage magic, or rather his understanding of what it takes to create the perfect illusion, enables him to take available clues from a crime scene and work backwards.

He assesses the impossible without ever dismissing the implausible. In a sense, the show is less of a traditional 'whodunnit' and more of a 'howdunnit' in which every episode keeps you guessing right up to the inevitable reveal.

It's not all death and murder, though. There's also a lot of comedy, much of which revolves around Jonathan's relationship with his partner in crime-solving, the female writer/investigative reporter Maddie Magellan (Caroline Quentin). He's the reserved, quiet sort, whereas she's the bold, outgoing kind. As the show progresses their relationship deepens and they spend more and more time under each other's feet, and on each other's couch!