Jonathan Creek-Series 1 (1997)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Audio Commentary-Commentary with writer and director on pilot episode Featurette-Long Hair and Duffel Coat Featurette-Screen Test Booklet-Collector's Booklet with Production Information
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	324:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Sandy Johnson Keith Washington Marcus Mortimer Richard Holthouse
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$39.95	Music	Julian Stewart Lindsay

   Jonathan Creek finds investigative journalist Madeleine "Maddie" Magellan (Caroline Quentin) investigating the impossible murder of a famous painter, who is killed in his bedroom by a killer who completely disappears from the scene of the crime. Meeting eccentric introvert Jonathan Creek (Alan Davies), the designer of illusions for a stage magician, Maddie decides to use him to solve the baffling crime taking advantage of his superb lateral-thinking brain whilst using her skills as a plausible liar to sneak into closed crime scenes and interview suspects. The show thrills through the excellent dialogue and rapport between the two highly unusual characters - tired, doesn't-want-to-be-there Jonathan and the pushy success-at-any-cost Maddie - who are also surrounded by excellent secondary characters including chronic-womaniser magician Adam Klaus (Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head); but at the heart of every episode are the mysteries, bringing Maddie and Jonathan together to look deeper at the completely impossible, fascinating scenarios.

   The real joy of Jonathan Creek comes from the ability for the viewer to interact with the material in such a way that lacklustre anti-intellectual efforts like CSI and its numerous unbearable rip-offs cannot; the locked-room mysteries are presented straight-forward around the opening of each episode, depicted before our very eyes giving us a chance to solve the mystery as or before Jonathan and Maddy unravel the piece. Each mystery is cleverly plotted and ingeniously constructed, going against Jonathan's own ideology that a peek behind the curtain ruins the intrigue that made the puzzle interesting in the first place. Only the season finale from this first offering, The House of Monkeys, falls victim to the kind of malarky CSI partakes in, in which new information is constantly added to form a wholly unsatisfying explanation and conclusion that feels more like a deus ex machina cheat than an actual solution.

   Regardless, the first season of Jonathan Creek is excellent, unique viewing, with fascinating mysteries and engaging characters to draw one in. Although the potential romance between Jonathan and Maddy teased throughout the series is the kind of cliché seen many times before throughout film and television history, an abundance of humour and its unusual presentation between two unconventional characters makes the series feel fresh. Highly recommended viewing.

Video

   The video transfer is very varied, often featuring a high level of grain in particularly light and particularly dark scenes, though remains sharp and bright throughout, with high levels of detail and very few film artefacts. Only occasional interlacing distracts from the viewing, which is a surprise as I would have imagined the footage to have been taken from the R2 original, which lacked interlacing altogether.

   These are dual-layer discs, with the layer change occurring between episodes.

   There are English subtitles, which are accurate based on the sample of scenes I viewed with them.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

   Jonathan Creek features effective but unexceptional sound, with the excellent main theme booming lovingly through the stereo as each episode begins before taking a backseat to the superb, perfectly-synced dialogue. All audio is well mixed and audible, as is important in a show like this in which the small details can make a big difference. Although full surround would be better, its absence is not noticeable.

   The distinctive theme tune is an arrangement of Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre by Julian Stewart Lindsay, who composes the excellent, often intense orchestral underscore throughout the series.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Animated Menus with Sound

Audio Commentary with writer David Renwick and director Marcus Mortimer on "The Wrestler's Tomb"

Long Hair and Duffle Coat Featurette (24:51)

Screen Tests (12:42)

   The video and audio transfers are both fine but not exceptional.

   The few extras are mostly forgettable.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall