The lowdown:  'Jonathan Creek' stars Alan Davies as the title character, who designs illusions for stage 
magician and serial womaniser Adam Klaus (Stuart Milligan). Creek also uses his expertise in the fields
of logical deduction and illusionism to solve baffling and seemingly impossible crimes. Many of the crimes
are murders, and often involve the classic "locked room" scenario, and Creek uses his skills to prove how
the crime was actually committed and that there was no magic involved. Creek is aided by investigative
journalist Maddy Magellan (Caroline Quentin) in the first three seasons. Maddy was replaced by theatrical
agent Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha) in the final season, after Quentin left the show. Sawalha in turn was
replaced by Sheridan Smith as paranormal investigator Joey Ross in two feature-length specials when the
series was revived after five years. A total of 24 episodes and two specials were made over four seasons,
and broadcast on BBC1 between 10 May 1997 and 28 February 2004. Two further specials were broadcast
on 1 January 2009 and 4 April 2010.

The episode:  'The Judas Tree' is the second special to be broadcast since Jonathan Creek ended in 2004.
It was originally intended to be broadcast on 1 January 2010, but was held over until Easter of that year for
budgetary reasons. Jonathan and Joey are called in to investigate strange happenings at Green Lanterns,
the home of crime writer Hugo Dore (Paul McGann). Hugo's wife Harriet is pushed out of a window and dies,
but her death is not quite what it seems. Jonathan solves both this case and a strange death that occured
130 years earlier, when a previous owner of the house had died under seemingly impossible circumstances.
The death of Harriet is linked to an incident that occured in 1988 and an unsated desire for revenge.

Who connections:  Paul McGann is the third Doctor to have appeared in Jonathan Creek. Colin Baker was
in the feature-length pilot episode, while Peter Davison was in the first episode of season 2. A number of other
Doctor Who actors have had guest roles. Anthony Stewart Head (School Reunion) played Adam Klaus in the
pilot. Mary Tamm and Maureen O'Brien have also been in the series, as have Geoffrey Beevers (The Keeper
of Traken), Bernard Kay (The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Colony in Space), Michael Cochrane (Black Orchid
and Ghost Light), Maureen Lipman (The Idiot's Lantern) and Ian McNeice (Victory of the Daleks). Sheridan
Smith plays the Eighth Doctor's companion Lucie Miller in the Big Finish series of audio adventures.


Video:  Hugo Dore     6.2mb         Terror in the night    2.4mb         Hugo and Jonathan    5.9mb
Video:  Harriet dies    6.4mb

      

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