Jonathan Creek

''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solving seemingly supernatural mysteries through his talent for logical deduction and his understanding of illusions.

Production

The series ran semi-regularly from 1997 to 2004, broadcasting for four series and two Christmas specials, initially co-starring Caroline Quentin as Creek's collaborator, writer Maddy Magellan. After Quentin's departure in 2001, Julia Sawalha joined the cast as new character Carla Borrego, a theatrical agent turned television presenter. Following a five-year hiatus, the series returned for a one-off special on 1 January 2009, " The Grinning Man", which featured Sheridan Smith as another paranormal investigator with whom Creek joins forces. A further 90-minute special " The Judas Tree", was filmed in October 2009 and broadcast on 4 April 2010; while a third special, "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb", was shown at Easter 2013. Smith had previously worked with Renwick on his sitcom ''Love Soup''.

Sheridan Smith reprised her role as Joey in both specials. Series 5 comprised three episodes and featured Sarah Alexander as Jonathan's wife Polly. These episodes were shown at 9pm on Friday 28 February, 7 and 14 March 2014 respectively.

In 2014, conflicting reports surfaced regarding Alan Davies's view of the show. In one article published online he was said to be 'happy to do Jonathan Creek for another ten years' and praised David Renwick's talent as a writer.

On 4 March 2016, it was reported that the series would be returning for another 90-minute one-off special, with filming to begin in summer 2016. This new 90-minute special aired on 28 December 2016. Sarah Alexander returned as Jonathan Creek's wife Polly, alongside guest stars Warwick Davis, Emun Elliott and Rosalind March.

The cult success of the series won it the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 1998. It was notable for featuring comic characters and sub-plots that lent a lot of humour to the series. Unusually, it was produced by the BBC's in-house Entertainment department rather than the Drama department – this was because Renwick preferred working with people he knew rather than the people at Drama who might not share his vision. It has included guest-stars such as Bob Monkhouse, Griff Rhys Jones, Rik Mayall, Jack Dee, Bill Bailey, John Bird, Nigel Planer and Ade Edmondson; who are mainly associated with comedy, but who gave straight performances.

The first two series were broadcast in the U.S. on a number of PBS stations, while the remainder aired on BBC America.

Concept and casting

David Renwick wanted to write a detective series that dealt with the actual work of detection rather than action, which most crime dramas appeared to focus on at the time. Also, whereas most of these were about ''who did it'' ('' Inspector Morse'' or '' Taggart'') and ''why it was done'' (''Cracker''), this new series would be about ''how it was done'', with such tropes as murders committed in locked rooms, a person being in two places at once or impossible thefts. Finding a culprit would still be part of the detective's job, but the emphasis would be on discovering how the crime was committed.

Magic would play an important part of the series, but it would be in the form of tricks and sleight-of-hand used by stage magicians to audiences. The programme often exposed how such tricks are actually done, but in a way quite banal compared to the trick itself.

The series would also focus on the relationship between Creek and his collaborator Maddy Magellan, a writer who often uses dishonest means in order to expose miscarriages of justice. The relationship would be a mainly platonic one, though they do at some stage consummate their relationship only to agree that it must never happen again. (In his early planning, Renwick had thought that Maddy should be Creek's stepmother and that they would investigate crime in memory of his murdered father. However, he decided that the concept of the avenging son was far too "Batman" and in the series Creek's parents are mentioned as having moved to America.)

Caroline Quentin was Renwick's first choice for Maddy Magellan, but the casting of Creek proved something of a problem. Renwick had wanted Nicholas Lyndhurst, but he turned it down. Rik Mayall was also offered the part, but was, at the time, busy with stage work (he would later guest-star in a Christmas special of the series). Hugh Laurie showed a great deal of interest and agreed to take the part, but later turned it down as he could not figure out Creek's motivations for investigating the cases Maddy involves him in, especially when he shows so much reluctance in some of the episodes.

Others who were tried for the part included Nigel Planer (who would later guest star) and Angus Deayton (who had already worked with Renwick and director Susan Belbin on '' One Foot in the Grave''). Almost a dozen actors were considered before Susan Belbin saw Alan Davies during a rehearsal for a sitcom. Davies was invited round to talk to Renwick and "turned up in his duffle coat with straggly hair and a broad grin ndwas self-evidently the closest match yet to Creek as we had always seen him".

The role of Adam Klaus was originally cast to Anthony Head in 1997 in the pilot episode ("The Wrestler's Tomb"). However, after accepting the role of Rupert Giles on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', Head was unable to play Adam Klaus in later episodes, leaving the way clear for Stuart Milligan to take over the role. This explains why Adam Klaus is missing in episodes 2–5 of series 1.

Cast

Guest cast

Many well-known actors have appeared in the series, including Bob Monkhouse, Rik Mayall (who had been considered to play Jonathan) and Jack Dee who are better known for their comedy roles. Other guest stars, both comedy and straight, have included: Rob Jarvis who made two appearances, each time as a different character, Colin Baker, Sheila Gish, Alistair McGowan, John Bluthal, Lysette Anthony, Simon Day, Selina Cadell, Peter Davison, Pippa Haywood, Dermot Crowley, Deborah Grant, Amanda Holden, Nicola Walker, Francis Matthews, Griff Rhys Jones, Maxine Peake, Rebecca Front, Terrence Hardiman

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