TV Review: Jonathan Creek "The Grinning Man"

Following a five year hiatus, British crime drama Jonathan Creek returned on New Years day for a special feature length episode: The Grinning Man. With both writer David Renwick and star Adam Davies returning, could Jonathan Creek relive his past successes?

It's business as usual for Creek, as he is presented with another impossible and seemingly supernatural mystery. It's a very familiar scenario: a man spends a night alone in a room, and when the room is checked in the morning he has vanished without a trace. There's supposedly no way out, no way in, everyone is baffled and just assumes that the room is haunted - and it certainly doesn't help that there's a creepy picture on the wall.

The mystery itself is ingenious, impossible to guess during the episode but brilliantly simple when revealed, and as Creek recaps on all the subtle hints and clues he'd noticed over the course of the episode there's a fantastic satisfaction as you sit back and reflect on the sheer genius of it all. It's very comforting to know that Renwick still has it in him to create these excellent scenarios, and you can't help but think that there's still a lot of life in Creek left.

The performances, too, are great. Naturally Davies is excellent as Creek, as is Stuart Milligan as Adam Klaus, Creek's flamboyant and amoral boss. But the surprise performance came from Sheridan Smith, who'd risen to fame through her role in comedic sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, as she puts in a fine performance as Creek's assistant, Joey Ross. The interaction between Creek and these two other characters really adds to the episode's entertainment value, and whether it's their light hearted bickering or their heavy discussions that make for the shows more dramatic moments, it all feels very real, and are among the best performances over the Christmas period.

Jonathan Creek has always been known for it's comedic sub plots, which deviated a little from the mystery and injected a little humour into an otherwise heavy atmosphere, and The Grinning Man is no different. But with the episodes two hour length, the sub plot has ended up with too much focus, and instead of providing a little light hearted fun on the side, distracts too much from the main mystery. While there is still the occasional funny moment, it's usually surrounded by tedious dialogue and pointless scenes, that don't really add much to anything.

As well as the more comedic sub plots, there's an entire second mystery sub plot introduced about half way through the episode, for no obvious reason apart from the writer's attempting to fill up the extra hour. It's not nearly as interesting as the main mystery, and while it does tick all the boxes for gruesome and bloody, it's not nearly as clever as the impossible room idea that is unfortunately pushed to the side to make room for it. It's a bit annoying sitting through this, as well as the pointless and tedious romantic sub plots, when all we really want to hear is how everybody disappears from the impossible room.
The Grinning Man is another good episode of Jonathan Creek, but it's not about to go down as a classic. While the original mystery is suitably ingenious, the sheer length of the episode hinders it. Instead of a pacey and thrilling mystery, it's a drawn out and occasionally tedious showing from Creek. It's still good, and everything that made Jonathan Creek what it was is still there, and even after the end credits you'll be wondering whether there's a paranormal influence behind the whole plot. But there's too much unnecessary fat to make it great.

4/5

Right, I've run out of television to talk about now. Bollocks.

Is never going to be able to take a bath again - tomdoodle16@live.co.uk