Jonathan Creek
- TV comedy drama
- BBC One
- 1997 - 2016
- 32 episodes (5 series)
Comedy drama following a creator of magical illusions who finds his expertise suited to solving murders and mysteries. Stars Alan Davies, Caroline Quentin, Stuart Milligan, Julia Sawalha, Adrian Edmondson and more.
- Series 3, Episode 4 repeated at 8pm on U&Drama
Streaming rank this week: 591
Episode menu
Daemons' Roost
Further details
According to legend, a 19th Century sorcerer named Jacob Surtees would summon the powers of Hell to terrorise and subjugate his victims at his home, Daemons' Roost. Contemporaneous accounts describe his impossible feats of telekinesis, which have remained unexplained to this day.
One hundred and fifty years after his death, the house is occupied by another, equally macabre, figure: veteran film director Nathan Clore, whose output of horror movies in the 1970s generated its own brand of terror.
With his health failing, Clore has summoned home his stepdaughter Alison, to finally share with her the chilling truth of what happened to her family there when she was a child.
However, days before her arrival Clore suffers a debilitating stroke, rendering him paralysed and unable to communicate the truth Alison has hoped to learn.
Within the house the ghostly presence of Jacob Surtees can still be felt, as Alison and her husband Stephen unearth clues to the mystery that become more challenging and opaque, the deeper they probe.
Stephen's own life has been marred by tragedy. When his first wife Imelda was found poisoned to death in a bizarre locked room case it was only through the deductive talents of Jonathan Creek that the puzzle was eventually solved.
Can Jonathan assist again? Or perhaps his wife Polly, and her understandable aversion to hideous deaths, will persuade him to pass up the challenge - especially as there's already a psychopathic killer on her husband's trail, with a score to settle.
In the meantime help may be at hand in the shape of the Reverend Wendell Wilkie - a devotee of the impossible crime puzzle and Jonathan Creek fan - who becomes drawn into the mystery when he calls round to perform an exorcism.
As the puzzle unfolds, with ever more sinister twists and turns, the gruesome rituals that were once enacted in the dungeon of Daemons' Roost are frighteningly revived - with horrifying consequences.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 28th December 2016
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 90 minutes
Cast & crew
| Alan Davies | Jonathan Creek |
| Sarah Alexander | Polly Creek |
| Jason Barnett | Ryman |
| Ken Bones | Nathan Clore |
| Emun Elliott | Stephen Belkin |
| Georgie Lord | Alison Belkin |
| Rosalind March | Phillipa Teller |
| Warwick Davis | Rev. Wendell Wilkie |
| John Ritchie | Taxi Driver |
| Caoimhe Clough | Young Alison |
| Susan Coyle | Priscilla |
| Jo Martin | Nina |
| Ryan Oliva | Patrick Tyree |
| Nicole Cooper | Imelda Belkin |
| Chris Forbes | Detective Sergeant Alben Barkley |
| David Renwick | Writer |
| Sandy Johnson | Director |
| Rosemary McGowan | Producer |
| David Renwick | Executive Producer |
| Steven Canny | Executive Producer |
| Mark Davies | Editor |
| Brian Sykes | Production Designer |
| Tracy Gilham | Casting Director |
| Rhona Russell | Costume Designer |
| Paul Herley | Director of Photography |
| Maxine Dallas | Make-up Designer |
| Theo Vidgen | Composer |
| Fay Selby | 1st Assistant Director |
Video
2016 special trailer
Jonathan Creek is back for a one off special this Christmas on BBC One.
Featuring: Alan Davies (Jonathan Creek), Sarah Alexander (Polly Creek), Jason Barnett (Ryman), Ken Bones (Nathan Clore), Emun Elliott (Stephen Belkin), Georgie Lord (Alison Belkin) & Warwick Davis (Rev. Wendell Wilkie).
Press
Jonathan Creek review
It's not easy pulling off the classic Christmas combo of spooky and cosy, but this special makes it look (super)natural.
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Guardian, 29th December 2016Jonathan Creek Christmas special review: Daemons' Roost
This year's Jonathan Creek Christmas Special proves that there's life in the old duffel coat yet.
Louisa Mellor, Den Of Geek, 29th December 2016Kicking off with a gloriously lurid tribute to the heyday of Hammer horror, the latest mystery for Alan Davies's mooching sleuth sees him drawn to the seemingly cursed country seat of Daemons' Roost to reconnect with a previous client. Along with wife Polly (Sarah Alexander), he inevitably digs up much more than he bargained for. Warwick Davis provides enthusiastic comic support as an illusion-loving vicar, while Creek's much-missed duffle coat makes a cameo.
Graeme Virtue, The Guardian, 28th December 2016Jonathan Creek special review
Well, Jonathan Creek's 2016 Christmas special, 'Daemon's Roost', is neither festive, nor particularly special but it is the best that the show has been in recent years. Although if you recall 'The Sinner & The Sandman' you'll know that that's not a particularly high bar to vault.
Rob Smedley, Cult Box, 28th December 2016Jonathan Creek, review
A creaky return for Alan Davies's amateur sleuth in the spooky seasonal thriller.
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 28th December 2016After two year's away, Jonathan Creek is back with a 90-minute special, reuniting Alan Davies with Sarah Alexander.
According to legend, a 19th century sorcerer named Jacob Surtees would summon the powers of Hell to terrorise and subjugate his victims at his home, Daemons' Roost. Contemporaneous accounts describe his impossible feats of telekinesis, which have remained unexplained to this day.
One hundred and fifty years after his death, the house is occupied by another, equally macabre, figure: veteran film director Nathan Clore (Ken Bones), whose output of horror movies in the 1970s generated its own brand of terror.
With his health failing, Clore has summoned home his stepdaughter Alison (Georgie Lord), to finally share with her the chilling truth of what happened to her family there when she was a child.
However, days before her arrival Clore suffers a debilitating stroke, rendering him paralysed and unable to communicate the truth Alison has hoped to learn.
Within the house the ghostly presence of Jacob Surtees can still be felt, as Alison and her husband Stephen (Emun Elliot) unearth clues to the mystery that become more challenging and opaque, the deeper they probe.
Stephen's own life has been marred by tragedy. When his first wife Imelda was found poisoned to death in a bizarre locked room case it was only through the deductive talents of Jonathan Creek (Alan Davies) that the puzzle was eventually solved.
Can Jonathan assist again? Or perhaps his wife Polly (Sarah Alexander), and her understandable aversion to hideous deaths, will persuade him to pass up the challenge - especially as there's already a psychopathic killer on her husband's trail, with a score to settle.
Elliot Gonzalez, I Talk Telly, 27th December 2016Alan Davies's on Xmas TV, but isn't feeling festive
Why Alan Davies is a serious Christmas grump. A funny one, though...
Emma Jones, The Mirror, 18th December 2016