As an American, I was thrilled to learn there were Jonathan Creek episodes I hadn't seen, and I took great joy in watching this one, The Clue of the Savant's Thumb. Just don't ask me what it was about.
Jonathan is now married and works for an advertising agency, leaving the world of magic behind him. At a cocktail party, he and his wife meet Franklin Tartikoff, a satirist, and his wife Rosalind (Joanna Lumley).
The Tartikoffs have an adopted daughter, Fariba, who some time later arrives home from the Ademans. At the same time, Rosalind is returning from an old school chum's funeral but can't get into her husband's study. She starts yelling to Fariba to answer the door, but there is no response. Looking in the keyhole, she sees her husband's body and Fariba fainting.
When the police arrive, Inspector Pryke, in a wheelchair, is with them. No body. A paranormal investigator, Joey Ross, asks Jonathan to help. They find out that Rosalind is tortured by an incident at the school she attended - a religious or initiation gone wrong, which happened some years earlier.
Then there is an attempt to kill Fabriba. Jonathan figures out how Franklin died and how the "locked door" mystery actually happened. After an attempt is made to kill Fariba, Jonathan discovers just how Franklin died and how the illusion of the locked door was created. The reason for his death is tangled with a government plot, putting Jonathan and everyone else in danger.
I admit I didn't know what was going on for part of this - there seemed to be subplots that were unnecessary and made no sense. And there were some obvious problems with the script. I'll list a few. The time of the Catholic school rituals - Rosalind said it was 50 years ago, making it 1963 but another time it's 1968. Who sent her that photo and code note? We're never told. And if that school haunts her even now, why did she live nearby?
I didn't get the business in the locked room - why was the body hidden? Why can't anyone know he did magic? How did Fariba know Rosalind would even look through the keyhole?
There is a discussion of photos on a staircase. I thought Pryke was in a wheelchair - how did he see them? And Joanna Lumley called her daughter every name under the sun - Fabria, Farbia, Fariba - really.
Those are only a few - there are a dozen others. I do love the show but this one I thought was off the mark.
Jonathan is now married and works for an advertising agency, leaving the world of magic behind him. At a cocktail party, he and his wife meet Franklin Tartikoff, a satirist, and his wife Rosalind (Joanna Lumley).
The Tartikoffs have an adopted daughter, Fariba, who some time later arrives home from the Ademans. At the same time, Rosalind is returning from an old school chum's funeral but can't get into her husband's study. She starts yelling to Fariba to answer the door, but there is no response. Looking in the keyhole, she sees her husband's body and Fariba fainting.
When the police arrive, Inspector Pryke, in a wheelchair, is with them. No body. A paranormal investigator, Joey Ross, asks Jonathan to help. They find out that Rosalind is tortured by an incident at the school she attended - a religious or initiation gone wrong, which happened some years earlier.
Then there is an attempt to kill Fabriba. Jonathan figures out how Franklin died and how the "locked door" mystery actually happened. After an attempt is made to kill Fariba, Jonathan discovers just how Franklin died and how the illusion of the locked door was created. The reason for his death is tangled with a government plot, putting Jonathan and everyone else in danger.
I admit I didn't know what was going on for part of this - there seemed to be subplots that were unnecessary and made no sense. And there were some obvious problems with the script. I'll list a few. The time of the Catholic school rituals - Rosalind said it was 50 years ago, making it 1963 but another time it's 1968. Who sent her that photo and code note? We're never told. And if that school haunts her even now, why did she live nearby?
I didn't get the business in the locked room - why was the body hidden? Why can't anyone know he did magic? How did Fariba know Rosalind would even look through the keyhole?
There is a discussion of photos on a staircase. I thought Pryke was in a wheelchair - how did he see them? And Joanna Lumley called her daughter every name under the sun - Fabria, Farbia, Fariba - really.
Those are only a few - there are a dozen others. I do love the show but this one I thought was off the mark.