Jonathan Creek | Births, Marriages & Deaths | Costume Fatigue |

Jonathan Creek | Births, Marriages & Deaths | Costume Fatigue | People Like Us

 Jonathan Creek

 Jonathan Creek, recently making its American debut on BBC America, treads the same mystery-lite territory as Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder but without the complex plot structures. Okay I’m kidding, about the complex plot structures, but not by much, Jonathan Creek storylines are about as difficult to figure out as an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, the Hardy Boys (even the Shaun Cassidy / Parker Stevenson incarnation) could solve the Creek cases in half the time, there simply isn’t much of a challenge. Unlike, to pick an example at random, Inspector Morse the mystery is hardly a mystery in Jonathan Creek and yet I heartily recommend mystery fans give Creek a spin. Why?  For the cast mostly, and for the occasional moments of creepiness it manages to create. 

Actor / Comedian Alan Davies (A Many Splintered Thing – a marvelous comedy that we can only hope will get a US airing) stars as Illusionist Jonathan Creek, a nice enough bloke who spends his time palling around with authoress Madelline Magellan as portrayed by the wonderful Carolyn Quentin (Men Behaving Badly, Kiss Me Kate). Episodes usually center around some sort of paranormal mystery (a woman foretells various deaths, an “alien” skeleton disappears under the noses of stereotypical US military boobs) that Creek takes the better part of an hour to unravel. Of course you and I, gentle viewer, have figured out the solution before the first commercial break. Never-the-less Davies and Quentin are such charming performers that Jonathan Creek can be forgiven for its lack of weight. If you’re looking for a fluffy mystery that’s not too filling defiantly give Jonathan Creek a taste.

Jonathan Creek airs Sundays @ 8:00PM on BBC America

 Births, Marriages & Deaths 

Another recent premier on the stateside arm of the Beeb is Births, Marriages and Deaths. Written by Tony Grounds (Sex and Chocolate, Ghostbusters of East Finchly) and directed with a surfeit of style by Adrian Shergold (Inspector Morse, Last Christmas) Births, Marriages and Deaths is a dark but wonderfully written, acted and directed mini-series that touches on the lives of three best mates in the wake of a stag night that goes horribly wrong. The opening sequences set the tone perfectly, a sort of Pulp Fiction,Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrels feel emanates (without being overly derivative of either) that lets you know this isn’t your mum’s BBC mini-series. I haven’t enjoyed a non- fantasy mini-series this much since Buddha of Suburbia from yonks back. and the thanks go squarely to the superb cast. Essentially an ensemble effort,

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