Skeptical TV Shows You Might Have Missed – Jonathan Creek

Since Q.I has finally (finally!) reached Australian TV, I thought I might mention an earlier TV show which features Alan Davies -- Jonathan Creek.

I began watching this years back when it featured on ABC TV, when I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as ‘skepticism’. What I immediately liked about this show was how much it reminded me of Penn and Teller’s iconoclastic attitude towards magic and illusion. In fact, after hearing that P&T are planning on doing a murder-solving show, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were inspired by Jonathan Creek.

Jonathan: Yes, bringing you back to the real world for a second. We’ve got a major crisis on our hands with the snake trick. To no-one’s surprise, Health and Safety aren’t too keen on the idea of us using a live python in the act as, in their view, “these creatures can be rather dangerous“. Well, yes! That’s sort of the point. What would they suggest? You perform a death-defying escape from the coils of a very large earthworm??

Here’s a short clip from Episode one, Season one (you can find pretty much every episode online, but the box sets are still out there and I highly recommend any of the series).

Why this show? Essentially, the hard-done-by Jonathan works as a magician’s assistant for an arrogant American magician (Adam Klaus, played originally by Anthony Head and from second-episode onwards by Stuart Milligan) in London’s theatre district. But Jonathan is more than an assistant -- he’s usually the creative force behind the tricks and you’re often given the secrets behind many classic stage performances… funny how no one seems to complain about how these are blatantly revealed! After being contacted by the feisty true-crime writer Maddie Magellan, played by Caroline Quentin (the two proceed to have the most absurdly difficult relationship which leads you to sympathise with Jonathan even more), she manages to entice Jonathan into helping solve crimes. Many of these, as you might guess, are approached as logic puzzles or very much like solving how a magic trick is done.

Francesca: So you er… create all these fantastic illusions for Adam Klaus. So you must know all the secrets.
Jonathan: Well I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut. Ever since I told one of his girlfriends he had a hairpiece. She thought I said ‘herpes’. Tried to circumcise him with a tin opener.

Overall the show features a skeptical-approach with ‘how we can all be fooled’. It’s primarily a crime drama -- an additional bonus is that you’ll spot comedians like Jack Dee, Nigel Planer, Griff Rhys Jones, Hattie Hayridge and Rik Mayall playing serious characters too. Throughout the episodes, you’ll see variations of magic classics like ‘a locked room mystery’, escapology, ‘the Assistant’s Revenge’, mentalism, substitution and so forth -- these are either shown as actual tricks on stage or used as part of the crimes committed (if this sounds familiar to those who watch The Mentalist, it also features a similar integration of the main character’s former career being used in criminal investigations).

Whilst I wasn’t as keen on the series after Seasons 1-3, which co-starred Julia Sawalha (as Carla Borrego), it’s the consistant charm of Jonathan and the ingenuity of the stories that make every series well worth catching.

This year a special was aired -- The Grinning Man -- and it is just as good as the earlier series. The fan site for Jonathan Creek reports that there is ‘New Creek for Easter 2010‘ -- an episode called The Judas Tree.

The 90 minute special, entitled The Judas Tree will again star Sheridan Smith as Joey Ross along side regular Alan Davies. David Renwick will also direct again, having caught the bug with the previous special, The Grinning Man.

Tagged as: Alan Davies, BBC, comedy, crime drama, Jonathan Creek, Links Elsewhere, Magic, Penn and Teller, Q.I, Science, skeptical tv, Skepticism, The Mentalist, tv, TV shows