Jonathan Creek

Jonathan Creek: The magic has gone

There's a distinct sense of faded glory about Jonathan Creek these days. Where once the crime capers were a BBC jewel, paving the way for modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and the whole 'geeks are sexy' movement, now it limps along like an inferior Midsomer Murders.

Jonathan Creek: Is it time for the show to bow out?

Jonathan Creek's latest series came to a conclusion tonight (March 14) with 'The Curse Of The Bronze Lamp'. But has Alan Davies's magical magician lost some of his old charm?

Review: Jonathan Creek series five, episode two

Since last week's episode of Jonathan Creek, Jonathan and Polly have been busy settling into village life, getting involved in parish politics and seemingly never actually going to work.

After a decade of occasional one-offs and Christmas specials, Alan Davies's magician/sleuth finally returned for a new Sherlock-style mini-series last month, beginning with a neat spin on that old favourite, the locked door mystery. Unfortunately, Creek disappears off into the shadows again after Friday's final episode, but anyone suffering withdrawal symptoms can catch the show's first four series over on Netflix.

Alan Davies having won us over on QI, the revived Jonathan Creek is a pleasantly unchallenging proposition. A show in hock to Midsomer Murders - rural setting, quality cast, mystery and shortbread - this feature-length episode finds Creek and Polly's rural idyll proving turbulent. There's apparently something out there in the bushes, while the vicar's wife has an ear for imagined double entendre. When a cosmetic makeover at an elderly man's house reveals an odd secret, Jonathan's advice is sought.

Radio Times review

With Jonathan Creek settling down to rural domestic bliss, the most exciting things in his life are the prophecies of biblical retribution in the parish newsletter and the occasional local burglary. This soapy version of Jonathan Creek is a far cry from the days when there'd be an unfathomable murder within the first few minutes of each episode. Instead there's a hump-backed beast that's been sighted prowling the gardens at night while the village buzzes with gossip about a recent lottery winner who's at the centre of a sex scandal.

It's only when Jonathan hears how an eccentric (and useless) psychic apparently predicted those winning lottery numbers 50 years earlier that events take a more interesting turn and Jonathan gets to flex his mystery-solving muscles.

How Jonathan Creek is inverting the English whodunnit

Creator David Renwick upset some fans of the detective drama by showing whodunnit (and how) near the beginning, rather than the end, of the latest episode - but it's so well written that it's still great fun watching Creek unravel the mystery.

Jonathan might be missing his windmill this week as he discovers the highs and lows (mostly lows) of being part of a rural community.

He and Polly have moved into that massive country pile she ­inherited from her father and, although we're not told where it is, I wouldn't rule out Midsomer.

It's full of colourful, slightly odd ­characters, but one of the things that makes Jonathan Creek different is that it serves up a mystery that's not preceded by the word "murder".

This is so rare in television when you think about it (though Sherlock is rather good at it too) we should encourage more writers to follow scriptwriter David Renwick's example.

After all, death is such a downer, isn't it?

Anyway, the locals have welcomed Jonathan and Polly wholeheartedly - even to the point of including their portraits as part of a new religious painting, much to the embarrassment of Jonathan.

But the big mystery this week revolves around a retired mystic called Astrodamus.

He was ­generally thought of as being pretty rubbish but a discovery this week seems to suggest he made the most ­extraordinary prediction in the history of predictions.

You can rely on Jonathan to get to the bottom of this puzzle - but even if he doesn't it's not a matter of life and death.

Hooray for that.

Alan Davies brings charm to another muddled episode

Ultimately, tonight's episode of Jonathan Creek was a step up on last week's opener. The central mystery wasn't solved about twenty minutes in and felt like it had more in common with the Jonathan Creek of old. On the other hand there was still far too much going on and Davies and Alexander continue to be utterly unconvincing as a married couple.

TV review: Jonathan Creek

All in all, it was well made, great fun, totally implausible and quickly forgotten. Mention should be made of Sarah Alexander's heroic efforts as Creek's wife Polly. Wife, girlfriend, partner or chum, his female sidekick remains one of the most thankless roles on television.