Jonathan Creek

Yes, I admit it, all my comments here are coloured by the fact that I loved this high quality, well written, funny, intelligent, crime-drama-comedy show since the pilot episode (The Wrestler's Tomb).

Jonathan Creek is one great show: seemingly impossible murder mysteries combined with an interesting sexual tension between the two leads (at least, it was in the first 3 series when we had Maddy, not that I disapprove of Julia Sawalha) and some good comedy. The writing was great, the acting was likewise, and the show saw Alan Davies become a new "thinking woman's sex symbol" almost overnight. :P

But seriously, Jonathan Creek deserves not only its BAFTA but also a place in the UKTV hall of fame.

I loved this series with Carolyn Quentin as Maddy. However, after she left, it simply wasn't as charming. Maddy provided comic relief and believability in her character as unique and "real folkes". I watched the entire series. I am American and we seldom see really Smart TV series. Unlike most UK Series that I watch repeatedly, (on my 5th viewing of New Tricks & Dalziel) for their character driven shows, JC sold out after Maddy was replaced with a different type of female lead. Maddy and Jonathan were quirky and unique. As the show progressed it became "a sell-out" to American type-casting, pretty blondes all in a row. The following UK Series illustrate the wonderful beauty of realistic, "non-blonde stereotyping" and/or "pretty people" characters that I love. You can't beat Warren Clarke as Andy Dalziel in Dalziel & Pascoe, truly rare and beautiful in my eyes. Alum Armstrong as Brian in New Tricks. New Tricks, an older mature character driven series gives us a real Blonde role model. (America has only come close in The Closer and Major Crimes). Blonde Amanda Redman as Sandra was not at all typical, she was a real tough, non apologetic, non whinning, non flirting, character. Endeavor, Morse, Lewis, Frost, George Gently and more...all of these intelligent series have flawed real people as characters as real people. Jonathan Creek lost that when Maddy left the show. Jonathan turned into an odd unrealistic sham of a character after that and the show suffered. I finished the series only in hope that Maddy would return and Jonathan would return to his original "nerdiness" Maddy made the series and required me to research her SWEET choices in life.

This has to be the best series made by the BBC for many years. The stories are well written, the acting by Alan Davies is great considering he's a comedian rather than a proper actor. The stories keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing till the very end.

The earlier episodes are the best with Caroline Quentin as his tough as nails sidekick. The more recent episodes with Julia Sawalha from ab-fab fame are still good but they have become more predictable and silly at times - with the writers seeming to run out of ideas and Davies seems to be getting bored with it all, which is a shame because theseries is one of the most watched shows in Britain and is a change from the usual mind-numbing Saturday night crap:Pop idol, Blind date, Lotto show, casualty and many others.

Please let this show continue for many years to come!

My rating for earlier episodes 1997-2000:-10/10

MY rating for recent episodes 2001-present :- 8.5/10

Overall 9/10

Starting watching this after being gifted a Britbox subscription, and the first three seasons are excellent. Well-thought out problems/plots, interesting, 3 dimensional characters with an odd but palpable chemistry between the main 2, great acting, humor, etc. Season 4, not only is the chemistry between the 2 leads odd, but the mysteries are further out there. What I liked about the first 3 seasons is that you could actually figure out the mysteries - you might not know the why, but you could sometimes figure out the how. Fair mysteries, where the viewer really was given most of the pertinent information. This starts to ebb as we hit season 4. I just watched the first episode of season 5, and yeah, so far, it's the worst. I guess it just jumped the shark.

For years now, I've heard my friends and relatives in the UK singing the praises of "Jonathan Creek". Unfortunately, I had never gotten the chance to experience the genius that is this show. But thanks to BBC-America, I can savor each and every mystery on Thursday afternoons (we get 2 episodes back-to-back!). I realize that, especially in the past 3 years, American television has consisted of a lot of very bad reality shows, and little else. Anything of substance is quickly taken off the air.. so that two more Real World/Survivor/Bachelor clones can take its place. There are millions of Americans who are starving for intelligent, thought-provoking entertainment. Of course Americans can handle "Jonathan Creek" -- why else would BBC-America continue to air it? This is an amazing show, and I truly wish our television big-wigs would realize that these kinds of shows work. Alan Davies is the ultimate anti-hero. Davies is gorgeous as the shy, rather nerdy, Jonathan. (I've developed a bit of a crush on him, to be honest :D) Maddy, played by the amazing Caroline Quentin, is the kind of role-model American women need: a tough-as-nails every-woman, who looks nothing like the malnourished actresses and models we see every day. The Americans who love this show are intelligent and witty, and we know good television when we see it.. and this is by far the best show I've had the pleasure of watching in a very long time.