'' is a British Mystery Television Series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick . It ran for four series and two Christmas specials from 1997 to 2004. The series is primarily a crime drama — its cult success won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 1998 — but features comic characters and comic sub-plots. Somewhat anomalously, it was produced by the BBC's in-house Entertainment department rather than the Drama department. The distinct Theme Tune is an arrangement of Camille Saint-Saëns ' '' Danse Macabre '' by Julian Stewart Lindsay , who also wrote the underscore for the first three series and the two specials.
Several well-known actors have appeared in the series including three who are better known for comedy playing rare straight roles, Bob Monkhouse , Rik Mayall and Jack Dee .
Other guest stars, both comedy and straight, have included: Geoffrey McGivern , John Bluthal , Nigel Planer , Kate Isitt , Sanjeev Bhaskar , Griff Rhys Jones , Hattie Hayridge , Alistair McGowan , Tamsin Greig , Colin Baker , Jim Bowen , Peter Davison , Maureen O'Brien , Lysette Anthony , Mark Caven, Lorelei King, Mary Tamm , Geoffrey Beevers , Annette Crosbie , Maureen Lipman , Paul Blackthorne , Jimmi Harkishin , and Bill Bailey (who was pencilled as the original Jonathan Creek).
Jonathan Ross , Michael Grade and Bamber Gascoigne have all appeared as themselves.
See also: List Of Jonathan Creek Cast Members
The series follows the exploits of Jonathan Creek, a designer of illusions for a Stage Magician , and — in the first three series — Maddie Magellan, a pushy journalist, as they work together to solve baffling crimes where others have failed to do so.
Creek contributes his superb lateral-thinking brain, and Magellan is a plausible liar who never seems to have trouble sneaking in to closed crime scenes. The programme usually features 'impossible crimes', for example a mysterious crime having been committed in a sealed environment from which no earthly criminal could have escaped (a " Locked Room Mystery "). Several episodes deal with apparently paranormal thefts and murders, which Jonathan solves using his knowledge of misdirection and illusion, giving the character a passing resemblance to stage magician turned paranormal investigator James Randi . Creek gradually changed from an antisocial Anorak to a man with a great deal of wit and charm. This helped to fuel the romantic thread between him and Maddie. Jonathan's trademark Duffle Coat was actually Alan Davies' own coat that he wore to the auditions; it helped him win the role, as the writer and producers thought it suited the character.
Creek's employer is the Amoral and ambitious Adam Klaus, a flamboyant performer with a sinister stage persona who is really a drug-addled, comically insensitive womaniser. In some instances, his magic tricks go comically wrong. The character appears on camera infrequently, his shenanigans usually revealed to or by Jonathan in conversation with other characters. Some aspects of the character were inspired by Ali Bongo .
For the 2001 Christmas special and thereafter, Caroline Quentin declined to appear, and so a second supporting role was introduced, Theatrical Agent Carla Borrego, played by Julia Sawalha . After her first appearance, the character married TV producer Brendan Baxter ( Adrian Edmondson ), and she became a TV Presenter .
Part of the humour comes from the fact that Jonathan often doesn't want to get involved in other people's problems, and has to be pressured into it by Maddie or Carla. In "The Scented Room", which centred around a theft from a critic who had lambasted Adam's act, he took great delight in announcing he had solved the crime but wasn't going to tell anybody how it was done. Initially Jonathan was only brought in to investigate because he was asked by Maddie due to her having a connection to the crime, or because it involved an old friend of his, but as time went on and he acquired a more significant reputation, he was independently recruited by such varied contacts as a chief of police or the United States military.
The 2003 and 2004 series were made up of three episodes each but were released on DVD as a single six-episode series.
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2
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Jack in the Box
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David Renwick
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Marcus Mortimer
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17 May 1997
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After Maddie successfully campaigns to free a man she believes to have been wrongly imprisoned for murder, the elderly husband of the victim, a retired comedian, is found shot dead in his nuclear fall-out shelter The otherwise empty bunker is locked from the inside, so apparently he shot himself, but everyone insists he had crippling arthritis in his hands, and couldn't even pour himself a drink, much less pull a trigger, so how did he actually die
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3
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The Reconstituted Corpse
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David Renwick
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Marcus Mortimer
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24 May 1997
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A famous cosmetic surgeon is shot dead at his home after an altercation with his ex, Zola, on live television about her recent autobiography Zola is the prime suspect, thanks to one of her earrings being discovered at the scene of the crime, but when Maddie investigates she finds Zola has a watertight alibi (albeit thanks to camcorder footage apparently made by her stalker) Although the case is seemingly resolved, the next day Maddie calls Jonathan for help after Zola's body falls out of her new wardrobe, despite the fact that she saw it was totally empty when it arrived
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4
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No Trace of Tracy
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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31 May 1997
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Tracy, a teenager who loves seventies rock music, goes to visit her idol, retired rock star Roy Pilgrim (Jonathan is also a fan) She is clearly seen entering his house but then vanishes Roy protests his innocence, insisting he never invited her in the first place and what's more had been knocked out and handcuffed to a radiator at the time and never even saw Tracy enter Jonathan sets out to find Tracy and clear Roy's name, but what connection does Tracy's disappearance have with the Creed of Eden, an Earth-loving cult that Roy is a member of
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5
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The House of Monkeys
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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7 June 1997
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A respected cancer doctor is found impaled on a samurai sword in his locked study, having apparently been yelling and hurling books at someone mere seconds before His wife, an old family friend of Jonathan's, asks Jonathan and Maddie to help find his killer Suspects include the rather odd son, the air-headed daughter-in-law and assorted monkeys used for research, but what role does an envelope containing a copy of his book play in the investigation
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7
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Time Waits For Norman
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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31 January 1998
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A friend of Maddie's asks Maddie and Jonathan to discover what her husband, Norman, has been up to after reliable independent witnesses place him on both sides of the Atlantic only minutes apart (Jonathan, meanwhile, has to deal with a rather awkward romantic encounter with a bald tax inspector)
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8
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The Scented Room
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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7 February 1998
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A priceless painting disappears from a locked room and the owner demands Jonathan help him, but Jonathan refuses due to his dislike of the man after he published a negative review of Adam's show the only hint he will give Maddie is that a spam sandwich is involved in the solution
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9
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The Problem at Gallows Gate (part 1)
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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14 February 1998
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A young rich eccentric apparently commits suicide by jumping off a balcony after discovering his girlfriend in bed with someone else, but three weeks later, during Jonathan's badger watch, he is witnessed strangling her in her kitchen by Adam Klaus's older sister, Kitty
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10
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The Problem at Gallows Gate (part 2)
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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21 February 1998
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Their attempts to prove their own innocence hampered by the police's dislike of Maddie after the publication of her recent book (as Maddie grows increasingly frustrated with Jonathan's s-less typewriter), Jonathan and Maddie begin to realise that not only may Kitty not have witnessed a murder after all, but that the man she saw may not have even died in the first place Jonathan, meanwhile, is convinced that the removal of the woman's stockings plays a more important role than they initially suspected
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11
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Mother Redcap
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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28 February 1998
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A judge on a police protection programme is killed by a rapier blade to the heart after a brief struggle, but only his wife, who insists she's innocent, was in the room at the time, and the only evidence at the crime scene is a torn fingernail As Jonathan investigates the murder, Maddie and a new friend are investigating the derelict Mother Redcap Inn, where seven men apparently died of fright after looking out of a window in the same room A connection between the cases is drawn when Maddie discovers the body of a vagrant woman - missing a fingernail
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14
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The Eye of Tiresias
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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4 December 1999
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When an old woman apparently experiences dreams of the future, including the murder of a prominent Swiss businessman and an apparent prediction of a car crash, Jonathan must find out what is happening before her dreams of being attacked by a one-eyed man with a sword come to pass
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15
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The Omega Man
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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11 December 1999
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Maddie is contacted by a man who makes a living investigating the existence of aliens, who claims to have found a real alien skeleton The US army intervenes and takes the skeleton, but it vanishes on the way to the military base, leaving Jonathan to try and find out where it went
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16
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Ghost's Forge
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David Renwick
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Richard Holthouse
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18 December 1999
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An old friend of Maddie wants she and Jonathan to investigate the house 'Ghosts Forge', as she is having an affair with a man who keeps muttering about it in his sleep Investigations reveal that the last owner of the house was found dead several years ago and the house is now being rebuilt into flats As Jonathan looks into the man's real identity- his only clue being a package in the attack containing six books by Gerald Estleman-, Maddie takes the chance to pull off an illusion of her own
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17
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Miracle in Crooked Lane
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David Renwick
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Richard Holthouse
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28 December 1999
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A former nude model, now living quietly with her rich, older husband in the countryside, is seriously injured when her shed explodes, leaving her badly burned However, a reliable, independent witness insists she spoke to the unharmed woman several hours later as she went to church Jonathan investigates with the help (and hindrance) of his rapidly growing fan club, all of whom dress exactly like him two of them even live in windmills
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18
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The Three Gamblers
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David Renwick
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Keith Washington
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2 January 2000
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A drug dealer and criminal who was shot six times in the head somehow climbs up the stairs from the cellar in the intervening time between his body being dumped and it being investigated later Three months later, Jonathan and Maddie try to investigate, but things are hampered by the killer's belief that his victim has supernatural powers and will kill him from beyond the grave
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21
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Angel Hair
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David Renwick
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Christine Gernon
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8 March 2003
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A pop star's husband is baffled as to how his mistress can regrow a full head of hair barely two days after she apparently had it all hacked off for a fake kidnapping video Meanwhile, Carla is jealous of Jonathan's relationship with a make-up consultant on the show, believing that the woman is in a rebound relationship after the death of her ''dog''
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22
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The Tailor's Dummy
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David Renwick
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Christine Gernon
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15 March 2003
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A well-known designer apparently commits suicide by jumping out a window after reading a bad review of his work, but that leaves the question of why he chose to throw his treasured parrot out the window first Subsequent events, with a man apparently changing his physical appearance in a matter of seconds while threatening the journalist who wrote the review, also prompt several questions To answer these, Jonathan must work out what the life of Franklin D Roosevelt , a Marx Brothers video, and a drawer full of socks have to do with the solution to the mystery
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24
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The Chequered Box
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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21 February 2004
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When a top detective (who solves a rather strange death at a speed that would impress even Jonathan) is photographed apparently laughing at the body of a lawyer who's been hung in an office (And possessed evidence that incriminated his daughter in a drug-smuggling ring), Jonathan and Carla must clear his name of murder, when the only prominent clue is a piece of chewing gum that moved from one plant pot to another
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25
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Gorgon's Wood
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David Renwick
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Sandy Johnson
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28 February 2004
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A priceless porcelain monk (said to have a curse on it that will bring nothing but evil to its owners) is stolen in front of several witnesses, prompting Jonathan and Carla's discovery of a major case of sibling rivalry, a disfigured prostitute who resembles another person involved in the case, and (apparently) a torrid affair between the owner of the statue and his own niece
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