Jonathan Creek - Series 3 And 4 [DVD] [1997]

The third series sees Jonathan paired yet again with Maddy Magellian, an unauthordox, bossy investigative journalist. The pair try to unravel six baffling mysteries including a man selling his soul to the devil, an elderly woman who is predicting death, ab alien skeleton, a mysterious murder in a strange house and a gangster who seems to be killing from beyound the grave. Wonderful stuff.

Series Four sees the first appearance of Carla Borrengo, played superbly by Absolutely Fabulous' star Julia Sawalha. Creek and Carla try their hand at working out cases such as how a woman manmaged to grow back a full crop of hair after having it cut off, how a ghost hunter is communicating from the underword and how a killer can change colour in front of a band of witnesses. Baffling stuff.

Both Christmas specials are a welcome addition to the set as are some video diaries about the stars and writer. My one critism would be that the 2001 Xmas special and all the episodes from Series Four have been cut and edited.

JONATHAN CREEK IS FANTASTIC!

Jonathan Creek has a brilliant mind, a knack to solving impossible crimes and a brain to solve the trickiest of puzzles. His occupation as a magicians creative assistant allows him to experiment with the powers of illusion and tricks. Handy really, due to the fact that unorthodox crime-writer and journalist Maddy Magellian is always roping him in to solve seemingly baffling cases. The pair work wonderfully together and provide superb chemistry. Alan Davies makes Jonathan Creek his own and lends him a friendly, cuddly persona while Caroline Quentin's sharp performance as Maddy helps to make the programme the success it is.

SERIES THREE: (6 x 50 minutes) First broadcast 27/11/99 - 2/1/00
Episode 1 - THE CURIOUS TALE OF MR. SPEARFISH: Lenny Spearfish isn't having a great life until he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil. Luck seems to be on his side after that, and Jonathan and Maddy try to solve how he can twice escape a close contact shooting and the finding of a trasure chest in the back garden. 8/10
Episode Two - THE EYES OF TIRESIAS: A old lady seems to be having dreams that foretell grisly deaths. Can Jonathan unfoil her dark dreams or are they for real? 10/10
Episode Three: THE OMEGA MAN: Fans of the X-Files will love this episode. An alien life form, carefully perserved in a metal cabinet is stolen by the UN, but the skeleton vanishes when they remove the casing? Can Jonathan and Maddy tear themselves away from a book signing to shed some light on the case. 10/10
Episode Four: GHOST'S FORGE: What can a spooky old house have to do with a newspaper writing competition? Jonathan investigates whilst Maddy improves her powers of illusion 9/10
Episode Five: THE MIRACLE IN CROOKED LANE: Jonathan tries to explain how a women who is in a coma can be seen at church? A hilarious episode, especially the fan club. 10/10
Episode Six: THE THREE GAMBLERS: The third series ends with a drugs ring-leader suspicious death, but has the monster returned from the grave to punish his murderer? 8/10

Christmas Special: Black Canary (90 minutes) First broadcast 24/12/98
The tradgic suicide of a retired illusionist prompts Jonathan to revisist his romantic haunts. Whilst Maddy tries to shed light on the case as well as dealing sith a cockroach siege. Rik Mayall guests as the swash-buckling Gideon Pyke, a brainy policemen who seems always one step ahead. 10/10

Caroline Quentin, who plays Maddy decided after this point that wanted to persue other projects. Julia Sawalha (Absolutely Fabulous) joined the cast in the form of fiesty television presenter Carla Borrego.

Christmas Special (2: SATAN'S CHIMNEY: First broadcast 26/12/01
A famous film star is murdered under suspicious circumstances on the set of her latest movie. But how could the killer fire a gun through a glass window in a locked room without braking it? Can Carla assist Jonathan? 10/10

Series Four: (6 x 55 minutes) First broadcast: Eps 1-3 1/3/03 - 15/3/03 and Eps 4-6 14/12/04 - 28/2/04
Episode One - THE COONSKIN CAP: A bizzaire murder in a locked gym proves hard work for the recently reunited Carla and Jonathan. They may be able to solve the case - if they'd stop fighting. 9/10
ANGEL HAIR: How could a kidnapped girl who has had her hair hacked off two days earlier have grown a full crop back less than 48 hours later. 10/10
Episode Three - THE TAILOR'S DUMMY: Jonathan tries to fathom why a man jumped to his death and how a man could change colour in front of a witnesses eyes. 9/10
Episode Four: THE SEER OF THE SANDS: How could legendary ghost-hunter Justin Mallory be talking to his lover from beyond the grave? 10/10
Episode Five: THE CHEQUERED BOX: How can a qualifiewd Police Inspector be innocent of a murder that he was seen and photographed committing.10/10
Episode Six: GORGONS WOOD: A bleak wood holds a deadly secret for Jonathan to unravel when a priceless statue is stolen from a local musseum. 9/10

The extras that are included on this set are video profiles of the stars and writer, deleted scenes and a pop video. The only let down I encountered with this set is that the episodes from Series 4 and the 2001 Xmas Special have been cut. Drama at it's brilliant and unpredictable best. Enjoy!

This fantastic boxset shows the return of the BBC's greatest ameature sleuth, Jonathan Creek (Other wise known as Alan Davies, famous stand-up comedian), whose flair for the intricacies of stage magic and illusions, help Creek solve the mentally baffling and lateral thinking crimes and murders.

However, no ameature sleuth is ready to watch with out a side kick. In series four and the first Christmas special, 'Black Canary, we see the unorganised, larger than life character: Maddy Magellen (Performed beautifully by comedian Caroline Quentin, whose other appearances have been in 'Men Behaving Badly' and 'Kiss Me Kate'). However, due to her departure, their was a gap and someone else was needed to fill the empty void. And that was Julia Sawalha (Who is also another well known comedian and was a main character in the BBC's 'Absolutly Fabulous' where she played the part of Saffy. Also, the voice of Ginger in the film 'Chicken Run'). Julia played the young, beautiful and niave TV Presenter whose main programme she presents is a Docu-drama/Drama-mentory similar to BBC's Crimewatch.

I wont spoil the plotlines as i think each story should be fresh from the start. No clues, no spoilors, not even knowing what each episodes mystery is. If you've never watched Jonathan Creek before, I'd advise you to buy Series One and Two boxset as these set up the style of comic drama and are also puzzling and original stories. If you have seen Jonathan Creek before, buy the boxsets, a great collection to your DVD's and you will be able to pick up on the clues given through out the episodes.

I hope you enjoy the Jonathan Creek boxset if you decide to buy it. I did and still believe 'Black Canary' to be the best ever Jonathan Creek episode.

Other guest stars inclue: Jim Bowin (Bullseye "Settle down, settle in"), Jonathan Ross, Griff Rhys Jones, Jack Dee, Adrain Edmondson, Celia Imrie to name but a few.