![]() |
BBC/John Rogers |
Still annoyed about last night's Jonathan Creek. I'll get over it one day.
— Anna Scott (@annascottjots) March 1, 2014
After that disappointment think I'll go back to my old boxset & watch the decent episodes again! #jonathancreek
— vickster51 (@vickster51) February 28, 2014
Had been looking forward to the new Jonathan creek for ages but was disappointed! How can the audience know the mystery before JC!
— Lauren Thain (@LaurenCThain) March 1, 2014
The main criticism came as writer David Renwick took the unusual step to show how the victim was killed. Surely Renwick hasn't forgotten that the joy in Creek is being utterly bamboozled until Jonathan cleverly unravels the mystery. The unveiling of how the victim met her sticky end robbed viewers of that treat. That's not to say the episode was completely devoid of action, but sadly nothing seem to lead anywhere and as the episode rolled on I too (a huge Jonathan Creek fan from the very start), started to slightly lose faith in the idea of resurrecting a series I had once loved.
The introduction of Sarah Alexander as Creek's wife Polly was a nice touch, but I realised quite quickly that Creek works best when Alan Davies has a sidekick like Caroline Quentin or Sheridan Smith to bounce off of. I can just about cope with Creek not reaching for his beloved duffel coat, but without a sidekick, and a proper mind boggling mystery this felt really flat.
![]() |
BBC/John Rogers |
Jonathan Creek Continues Friday's at 9.00pm on BBC ONE.
4 comments:
David Renwick said a long time ago that he would like to do an episode like columbo (who he says Jonathan Creek is inspired by)and have the mystery revealed at the start.
I've been a fan from the very start and loved this episode as much as all the others. I'm already wishing for a series 6. Long live Jonathan Creek
By subverting the format, this episode energised the show, allowing it to evolve into something new. Loved it.
Hmm...if only subverting the format had actually made it into riveting viewing.
Unfortunately, dedicating the first 20 minutes to telling the audience what happened in order to take the mick out of Sherlock led to the remaining space being filled with minor, and highly rushed, pointless mysteries.
It hasn't got better in the second episode. It seems that since leaving the windmill and getting married, Jonathan has had to give up on the interesting mysteries and instead is solving little oddities that don't matter. Unfortunately, that just seems to result in confusion and lack of time to explore one good story in depth.
Rather than being his foil, Polly is now written in to be part of the problem, solving the mystery of her bad memory on her own. The Sandman element could have been written out and the episode wouldn't have lost anything by it.
Though I hate to say it, I'm worried that Renwick has lost his touch...
Renwick lost his touch years ago. The rot started in Love Soup series 2. Too much happening but none of it either character or plot related. David needs a producer like Verity Lambert (God rest her) to have the balls to say this script is bollocks but alas that's never gonna happen.
Post a comment