Jonathan Creek-The Judas Tree (2010 Easter Special) (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Series	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	92:59
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Renwick
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Alan Davies Stuart Milligan Sheridan Smith
Case	Alpha-Transparent
RPI	$24.95	Music	Julian Stewart Lindsay

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The follow up to the spectacular highly-rated 2009 Jonathan Creek special The Grinning Man and possibly the finale for the clever and inventive British series is the 2010 Easter Special The Judas Tree. This new special features a new mystery, focusing on the possible delusions of a beautiful young housekeeper, witness to strange seemingly-paranormal events leading to the accusation of brutal murder. Series creator/writer David Renwick reprises his role as director for this special, as well as reuniting Alan Davies as the title character with Stuart Milligan, once again portraying the sleazy Adam Klaus, and bringing back the 2009 companion Joey Ross, once again played by Sheridan Smith.

     Despite running shorter than Renwick's directorial debut, the 90-minute special is more laboured with a slower pace and a mystery that takes a while to reveal itself, and even longer to unravel its intricacies. The humour and solution are much more forced than in previous efforts, though the core puzzles are as fresh and intriguing as they ever have been, making a great case for this series continuing despite the less-than-stellar ratings. Fans will enjoy the unchanged story structure and surprisingly dark, nihilistic revelations that make every character uncertain and morally gray; a less intelligent series could never hold the same weight, nor carry out the events with such noble execution.

     Jonathan Creek's future remains uncertain, and it would be a shame for this to be the series finale, docking on an underwhelming barebones DVD package. (Part of the issue with the series continuing is the amount of time it takes Renwick to pen each episode, said to be many months, which conflicts with everyone's scheduling even in a short season.) Still, those who have collected the series now have another DVD to add to their collection, and the complete package is one that any mystery fan should check out.

Video

     The video is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced. For the most part, this Jonathan Creek set features a very strong image transfer, with a spectacular amount of detail across the colourful special. The scenes in the dark are very detailed with no low level noise, which makes the obtrusively grainy opening and mid-episode flashbacks all the more strange. This would appear to be a drawback of shooting on digital video if the rest of the episode didn't look so superb! The overall transfer is far superior to every previous Jonathan Creek set, even giving HD displays something impressive to look at.

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

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Overall

Audio

     The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo).

     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, 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

     Jonathan Creek remains an exceptional, unique mystery television show, with elements of drama and comedy mixed in with unforgettable characters. While far from terrible, this special isn't the high point of the show's run and I hope it doesn't serve as the series finale.

     Both the video and audio transfers are above average. Disappointingly there are no extras whatsoever.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall