--- title: "Jonathan Creek" year: 1997 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/jonathan-creek" fi1m_score: 78 critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-09-16T21:56:24.625555+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T21:56:43.134470+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Jonathan Creek (1997) Created by David Renwick · 50m · Mystery, Comedy, Drama **Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 70 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* We had a perfectly good explanation for the locked room until someone supplied the correct one > David Renwick’s mystery comedy is worth the evening for its clever puzzles and prickly original partnership. The explanations reward attention, though the jokes are uneven and later pairings lose some of the appeal. ## Synopsis Jonathan Creek (Alan Davies) and Maddy Magellan (Caroline Quentin) face a locked-room mystery: something has happened that appears to have no workable explanation. Their uneasy partnership brings arguments as well as investigation, while the case turns on clues that can be examined and understood. Jonathan Creek needs to work out how the apparent impossibility has been achieved, with the answer depending on reasoning rather than accepting appearances. The series also features Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha), as further investigations mix elaborate puzzles with comedy. ## Review David Renwick’s *Jonathan Creek* is good company for anyone who likes stopping a mystery to argue about how it was done. Its locked-room puzzles ask us to look closely, and its comedy gives that concentration a welcome interruption. The attraction is a solution we can follow once the crucial mistake in our thinking has been exposed. The jokes and partnerships are less dependable, but the mysteries give us reason to forgive quite a lot. Caroline Quentin makes Maddy Magellan a useful source of friction for Jonathan Creek, played by Alan Davies. Their uneasy partnership gives the mysteries a second interest: how these two people manage to work together at all. The odd-couple business can feel forced, and some exchanges seem to have been included because a comedy is expected to contain jokes. When the pairing works, however, their conversations make the reasoning enjoyable to listen to, even when there is a fair amount of explaining to get through. We were delighted by the locked-room explanation, because the clues let us understand where our thinking had gone wrong. David Renwick’s writing recognises the pleasure of discovering that an impossible event has a practical explanation. Some contrivances require generous co-operation from us. But the programme is sufficiently open about its far-fetched premises that accepting them usually feels like a fair arrangement, particularly when the answer gives us something worth discussing afterwards. The cinematography, credited to Geoff Harrison, Peter Jackson and Simon Maggs, keeps the spaces readable, which matters when we are trying to understand an apparently impossible crime. John Asbridge’s production design gives us rooms worth examining for practical reasons. The setting has to sustain our curiosity while the characters argue through the possibilities. This is unobtrusive work, and it helps make the eventual explanation feel grounded in a place we understand. Editing credits go to Paul Garrick and Mark Lawrence, and the balance between investigation and explanation is not always right. An answer can arrive in too much of a hurry, giving us less time with the reasoning than the puzzle deserves. When the payoff is also foreseeable, the wit cannot entirely rescue it. The rushed resolution of a special exposes that weakness particularly clearly: ingenuity needs room to be appreciated, even after the guessing is over. Later partnerships do not consistently recover the original pair’s appeal, and that matters even when the plotting remains inventive. A new person beside Jonathan Creek has to make the conversation worth hearing, not just provide someone to receive the explanation. The early comedy can be uneven too, so there is no need to pretend every exchange with Maddy Magellan works. Even so, their friction gives the investigations an interest that a clever solution cannot supply on its own. By the standards of traditional detective fiction, the programme’s readiness to be far-fetched feels entirely reasonable. It expects us to enjoy examining an unlikely problem, and allows enough wit to keep the exercise sociable. Watch it with someone prepared to explain a theory, and give them a chance to be wrong before offering yours. *Fi1m score 78, published 16 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (4) - **The i Paper**, Mark Butler (80/100, inferred): The piece celebrates Jonathan Creek on its 20th anniversary as a satisfying mystery series with strong chemistry between leads and clever, clue-based solutions that viewers can follow. It contrasts the show's grounded approach favorably with the more convoluted style of Sherlock. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/jonathan-creek-sherlock-mystery-drama-77881) - **The Independent** (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the clever plotting and witty script of the debut episode while noting some uneven comedy and chemistry issues, ultimately deeming it surprisingly thoughtful entertainment. The locked-room mystery and odd-couple dynamic between Creek and Maddy are highlighted positively. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/last-night-5567805.html) - **The Times**, Paul Hoggart (70/100, inferred): The critic appreciates the show's quirky throwback style to prewar detective stories and stage entertainment, praising its offbeat freshness and honest embrace of far-fetched plotting over pretentious realism. It notes the episode's focus on ratings-driven TV as a sly commentary. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/review-c2mj76vx7ts) - **The Telegraph**, Michael Hogan (3/5): The review finds the Christmas special's plotting ingenious and the script witty overall, with strong moments of explanation for the impossible crimes. It criticises the rushed ending, predictable payoff and failure to recapture the original chemistry with new sidekicks. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/12/28/jonathan-creek-review-creaky-return-alan-daviess-amateur-sleuth/) ## Details - **Created by:** David Renwick - **Creator:** David Renwick - **Director:** Sandy Johnson, Keith Washington, Marcus Mortimer, Christine Gernon, Richard Holthouse, David Sant - **Writer:** David Renwick - **Cinematography:** Geoff Harrison, Simon Maggs, Peter Jackson - **Editor:** Paul Garrick, Mark Lawrence - **Production design:** John Asbridge - **Producer:** Susan Belbin, Rosemary McGowan, Verity Lambert - **Cast:** Caroline Quentin as Maddy Magellan; Alan Davies as Jonathan Creek; Julia Sawalha as Carla Borrego; Stuart Milligan as Adam Klaus; Sarah Alexander as Polly Creek; Kika Mirylees as Zola Zbzewski; John Bluthal as Jack Holiday; Charles Kay as Elliot Strange - **Runtime:** 50m - **Release (the US):** 9 May 1997 - **Genres:** Mystery, Comedy, Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTz9CKoLXp0 ## Where to watch in the US - BritBox: streaming, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: CA, GB, IE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Columbo* (1971): Patient observation and an unassuming investigator make the explanations worth waiting for. - *Trick* (2000): A magician and a physicist investigate apparent miracles while irritating each other. - *The Lady Vanishes* (1938), Fi1m 88: A baffling disappearance, brisk comedy and companions who have to learn co-operation. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lady-vanishes.md) - *Inspector Montalbano* (1999): Dry humour and a fallible investigator keep the crimes rooted in everyday life. - *The Last of Sheila* (1973): A malicious guessing game for anyone who enjoys testing every suspicious detail. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/jonathan-creek