DVD
Jonathan Creek
The Complete Series 1-4 Box Set

Starring: Alan Davies, Caroline Quentin and Julia Sawalha
BBC Worldwide
RRP: £74.99
BBCDVD1563
Certificate: 15
Available 29 November 2004


Jonathan Creek is the genius behind magician Adam Klaus's stage act. He hides his brilliant mind behind a shaggy unassuming appearance. Creek embarks on a series of criminal investigations, teaming up with Maddy Magellan and Carla Borrego...

This collection features all of the episodes (including Christmas specials) from the first four series of Jonathan Creek. The feature length opening episode, The Wrestler's Tomb stars Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Adam Klaus, the creepy magician who Jonathan Creek works for. Although Head is replaced in later episodes, he pulls of a great performance.

Both Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin are perfect in their respective roles (in fact writer David Renwick originally wrote the part of Maddy for Quentin) and there isn't a bad episode in this collection. And out of the lot I only worked out how the murderer vanished in Danse Macabre, why the murder suspect was telling the truth in No Trace of Tracy, and how in The Chequered Box it appeared that the inspector was in the same room as a dead woman. The rest of the episodes managed to catch me off guard.

There is only one two-part episode (The Problem at Gallows Gate) which is a shame, because all too often the endings to the episodes seem a little rushed. There is a good mixture of dark episodes (Jack in the Box and The House of Monkeys) and 'more bizarre than grizzly' mysteries (Time Waits for Norman and The Scented Room).

The list of recognisable guest stars is another aspect that makes this collection memorable - most playing against type. Colin Baker (Doctor Who), Nigel Planer (The Young Ones), Annette Crosbie (One Foot in the Grave), Simon Day (The Fast Show), Peter Davison (Doctor Who), Pippa Heywood (The Brittas Empire), Bob Monkhouse, Brian Murphy (George and Mildred), Jack Dee, Maureen Lipman, Rik Mayall, Griff Rhys Jones and Hannah Gordon all make fantastic appearances. But of particular merit were the late Bob Monkhouse, Brian Murphy, Rik Mayall and Jack Dee - all proving that they are both accomplished actors who can play straight roles.

I also noticed that as the episodes progressed in series one and two, there seemed to be a pattern as to who was the guilty party. It seemed to be very common for Jonathan and Maddy to confront a few people at the conclusion of each episode. And you can almost bet your life that the guilty party is the one who is in the room in the background - either because it's their house or they are there to support the person that we are meant to think is guilty.

The third and fourth series of Jonathan Creek sees a dramatic shift in the on screen dynamics due to the fact that Caroline Quentin bows out as Maddy Magellan at the end of the third series and is replaced by Julia Sawalha's Carla Borrego.

Having not seen these episodes when they were originally screened, I must admit to not looking forward to the switch. Quentin and Alan Davies's characters relationship was what made this series what it was. The two worked well together and had a fantastic on-screen presense. However, I wasn't really prepared for what a fantastic job David Renwick would do in introducing Sawalha's character into the series, nor what a great job she would do of filling a very large pair of shoes.

It also helped that Adrian Edmonson was along, as Borrego's husband, to up the comedy values. And, unlike anything he's done in the past, Edmonson proves he can be a comic genius without throwing himself all over the screen, or hitting people over the head with frying pans.

The episodes in season three and four represent a real mixed bag. Some, like The Eyes of Tiresias, have extremely clever and well thought out plots, while others, like Gorgon's Wood, seem very poorly thought out and in fact the mystery is nothing that special

Highlights of season three include:

The Black Canary, which is a double length Christmas special which stars Hannah Gordon. Creek is called in when it appears that Gordon's character has committed suicide. The mystery? A witness to the death saw her arguing with a strange man before she chased him off and then put the gun to her head. However, the ground is covered in snow and only one set of foot prints exist - that of the victim. So, who was the mysterious stranger and why did they leave no evidence behind that they had been there? This episode is one of the best in this collection, not just because of the introduction of Gordon, but also because of Rik Mayall's inspector - who injects some welcome humour.

The Omega Man is a very well conceived story with a sci-fi twist/ It's the old vanishing object from within a chained box routine. This time, the vanishing object is the body of an extra terrestrial. It doesn't matter, for once, that the solution is obvious way before the credits role, this is still a great episode.

In Miracle in Crooked Lane, the actual mystery plays second fiddle to the comedy elements. Here our duffle coat wearing clue solver is caught in the middle of a convention of Jonathan Creek fanatics. Not only do they all look like Jonathan, but at least one of them thinks he has a mind that is equally as analytical as the man himself, and insists on helping to solve the crime of a badly burned woman who appears to have made a miraculous recovery, appearing to a neighbour, before dying in her hospital bed.

The Three Gamblers is a spooky tale where a dead man appears to have climbed a flight of stairs. Although this mystery is not really one that should have been brought to Creek's attention - the murderer is already known as he handed himself in - the mystery of how a dead man climbed a flight of stairs is baffling enough. This episode also star Hattie Hayridge (Red Dwarf's Holly) as a slightly mad comic - which is her act in real life.

Julia Sawalha is introduced as Carla Borrego in the second Christmas special, Satan's Chimney. Apparently Sawalha's character was written in at the eleventh hour when Quentin stated she didn't want to do any more episodes. The switch is a lot smoother than I thought it would be and Sawalha's moaning, fussy character fits in extremely well. In Satan's Chimney, Creek examines the medieval practice of killing witches (by chaining them up in a special room in a strange castle). But, when a famous escapologist attempts to escape from the room he mysteriously vanishes.

The Coonskin Cap gets season four off to a good start. This sees a policewoman killed by an unknown assailant while locked in a room with no exit. I have to say that this is one of the most ingenious crimes, as well as one of the best episodes of season four.

Angel Hair stars Jack Dee as a record producer whose girlfriend, a pop star, is kidnapped. Jack Dee's performance in this episode was surprisingly good - he really should be doing a lot more acting. Sadly though, this episode is a little silly and not really up to the usual calibre.

Maureen Lipman stars in The Tailor's Dummy. This episode sees several people witness a man jump to his death in what appears to be a straight forward suicide. That is until Creek starts to investigate a little further. This is another well conceived episode with a surprising conclusion.

Other episodes in this season include: The Seer of the Sands, a very questionable episode. While it is extremely clever (you'll be confused as to how a dead man appears to be able to answer five questions and leave his message in a bottle under the sand in which the person asking the questions is sitting) but there is a slight problem with the solution to this. Without giving too much away, how did the person who wrote the note know where this person would sit? It's not as though she sat there every day; The Chequered Box, which was enjoyable but it was also the only episode that I managed to work out way before the end; and Gorgon's Wood, another episode that seemed a little pointless and poorly thought through.

The extras for this collection include video profiles of David Renwick, Alan Davies and Julia Sawalha; deleted scenes; the Hot Stuff pop video; and a Long Hair and Duffel Coat featurette.

A fantastic collection that is well worth picking up.

Amber Leigh

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All prices correct at time of going to press.