Jonathan Creek - The Grinning Man

yet again an amazing feature lenght episode of jonathon creek.they always keep you guessing threw out the entire episode.brilliant show,loved it

I love this......its a real gem. Has you guessing right up until the end and the storyline throughout is tinged with dry humour that is very amusing. Ideal for curling up on the sofa with a hot chocolate on a wintery evening. I rented this having first seen it as a Christmas Special.....fab....watch it!

if you havent seen this one its worth a watch not the best creek in the world but one that is hard to guess how its done.

Over 4 years since he had last been on our screens, Jonathan Creek returned on New Years Day of this year. Alan Davies donned on the dirty duffel coat one more time, but alas, no sign of Caroline Quentin, still the quintessential Creek 'companion' Maddie Hayes. Luckily, however, there was also no sign of his later sidekick, TV presenter Carla Borrego. Not to criticize Julia Sawahla, of whom I've enoyed since Press Gang, but Caroline Quentin left big shoes to fill, and David Renwick may have taken the wrong direction with the character. This, coupled with the 'Crimewatch' pastiche led to some of the poorer episodes during the show's fourth series (which actually comprised 2 mini 3 episode runs between 2003 and 2004).

Stepping into the companion role is Sheridan Smith, as Joey. Joey initially seems to be a bit of a mish mash of Maddie and Carla, but quickly it is clear that she is her own person. She's feisty, as expected, but comes across as les of a squealer than Carla but is not a massive overbearing personality like Maddie. Also, because of the much bigger age gap than between previous pairings, we may be led to believe that if future adventures develop there will be less romantic undertones to her and Jonathan's relationship.

So, why only 4 stars? This Creek mystery is very good, but not quite excellent. The 2 hours do lag slightly at times, and there are some annoying lags where certain plotlines/mysteries are left open without being referred to, and also some of the clues are very lightly and quickly touched upon, leaving it particularly difficult for Creek newbies to crack! Futhermore there are a few similarities to previous episodes that fans will probably have picked up on.

These small grievances aside, however, it is a definite return to form, with a much more gripping and entertaining yarn than at least all of Series 4. As is traditional in Creek the mystery is interspersed with the ridiculously comic (often thanks to bumbling lothario magician Adam Klaus) and the utterly macabre. If you enjoyed the early years of Jonathan Creek I aam certain you will enjoy this, or even if you're just a fan of good mysteries, then again this is for you.

I only hope the quality doesn't dip when we have the next Creek special, in Easter 2010.