Jonathan Creek

[Dave]

I used to really like this BBC1 series. The writer, David Renwick, also writes the excellent comedy 'One Foot in the Grave'. Alan Davies, who plays Jonathan Creek, has a very funny dead-pan humour; he is also a stand-up comedian. It has won several awards and is still very popular. It has many big named actors as guests. But, I just felt that the first episode in this new series was missing something. Caroline Quentin is no longer in it, so that is one big difference, but I also felt that the story wasn't as inventive as they used to be.

What do you think?

Do you love the crime-solving magician and can't get enough of his puzzles, or is it now a tired old formula that should have stopped when it ran out of ideas?

 

[nic]

I love Julia Sawalha (especially as Saffy in Ab Fab) but I am missing Caroline Quentin. The tention and comedy between Maddy and Johathon was great.
What did happen to Maddy? I only caught part of the Christmas special which I think it was revealed all.

I liked the casting of Quentin, it was nice to see a female lead who wasn't of the usual "build" shall I say.

Fun to see Adrian Edmondson too. (Though I kepted expecting him to speak in his "Eddie Hilter" voice)

 

[Jay Jay]

Well I must admit the first episode just didn't 'shine' for me. I think there's definitely something lacking and have to agree with nic, think the tension and comedy between maddy and johnathan was brill.

Will give it a chance though, cause I really liked Johnathan Creek before.

J

 

[nic]

Originally posted by Dave
but I also felt that the story wasn't as inventive as they used to be.

Did you catch last Saturday's with the kidnapped lady having her head shaved?
I worked that one out well before the end, so I was pleased with myself, but also felt a little let down.
I guess it's like magic. The mystery attracts you to it, but once you know how the trick is done it loses its wonder.

 

[Dave]

I did catch the second episode, and I thought that it was better than the first. My wife disagreed though.

I thought that it would be a case of identical twins. Especially, when he made reference to the solution being an 'old story', I was thinking of Shakepear. The solution was much more complicated, and a little far-fetched IMHO.

The dog thing was very silly too.

I'll probably keep watching anyway.

BTW I can't remember why Maddy left either.

 

[Maria8475]

I think they said Maddy left to publise her latest book in the states, or something like that.

I watched a couple of eps of the latest series and also figured them out. Which has rarely happened before so i was seriously disappointed.

Then there's the weird history thing between Jonathan and the character Julia plays that they don't actually explain which was annoying me.

Still if only for the sake of loyalty i would have continued to watch it - but did they stop showing it or something?

 

[Dave]

No, there were only a few episodes -- four I think -- which would be good if it meant they were better quality rather than simply quantity, unfortunately I think the series has 'jumped the shark'.

 

[Dave]

There was an Easter special on tonight. It wasn't totally pants, but it was rather over complicated, and the same tired old formula. It would probably be good to watch while doing the ironing. The Con was unrealistic. The ending was unfulfilling, and the very end - just not funny.

 

[reiver33]

I watched this and was a bit let down. The timeline seemed off - the girl was 17 in 1988 but didn't seem anything like late 30's in the 'present'. Plus it did seem to be glossing over the death of an unborn child. I really should get round to buying the originals which I remember enjoying...

 

[Rosemary]

We don't have this showing over here at the moment but I do enjoy watching Jonathan Creek.

Caroline Quentin is at the moment cast as the main character in Blue Murder, another good actor.

 

[The Bloated One]

Agree with all the comments. It was obvious who did it far too early on and became boring.

A real shame as the couple of episodes I saw several years ago with Caroline Quentin (I think) were quirky and very watchable. The bath that turned over and killed its occupants was a classic!

TBO

 

[JagLover]

The original series was very good. Last night's episode was rather dull, perhaps if it had been an hour rather than an hour and a half it would have been faster paced and better.