The Grinning Man (Jonathan Creek) on:
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' s Paul Whitelaw and ''' s Steve Pratt suggested that, at 120 minutes, the plot was overstretched. ''' s Mark Wright compared Smith favourably to her predecessor in the assistant role, ' s Chitra Ramaswamy and Sian Brewis for the ''
' s former Producer
that they revive ''Jonathan Creek'', the broadcaster "bit his hand off for it". "The Grinning Man" was commissioned by
"The Grinning Man" is a feature-length and the twenty-sixth episode of the
crime BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
series ''Jonathan Creek
''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...
'', first broadcast on 1 January 2009. The episode marked the series' return to television following a five-year hiatus and saw the return of Alan Davies
Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only per ...
as the show's titular sleuth. Stuart Milligan returned to the series as Jonathan's boss, magician Adam Klaus, while the episode also introduced Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...
as Joey Ross, Jonathan's crime-solving assistant. The episode was written and directed by series creator David Renwick
David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...
, who chose to revive the show as a means of delaying his retirement.
The central mysteries of the episode focused on an attic room whose occupants disappeared without trace overnight and the kidnapped partner of a stage magician.
The episode was watched by 9.91 million viewersWeekly Viewing Summary. See week ending 4 Jan 2009BARB
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
. and attained a 36% audience share. Critical reaction to the episode from ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
''The Northern Echo
''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its ...
''The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
''Julia Sawalha
Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...
as Carla Borrego, while both ''Scotland on Sunday
''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...
''Leicester Mercury
The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its ...
'' discussed the nostalgia invoked by the episode, as a result of the series having been off-air since 2004.
Plot
Set five years after the previous episode, "Gorgons Wood", "The Grinning Man" begins by introducing the Gothic mansion Metropolis. Since 1938, a number of visitors staying overnight in the mansion's attic "Nightmare Room" have disappeared without a trace. Originally owned by a spiritualist, the mansion is now the property of his grandson, stage magician Lance Gessler (Nicholas Boulton). Gessler lives with his mother, Constance (Judy Parfitt
Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film and television actress. She made her film debut in a minor supporting part in '' Information Received'' (1961), followed by supporting role in the BBC television ...
), his partner Elodie (Jenna Harrison) and their groundskeeper, Glenn ( Ciarán McMenamin). They offer shelter to paranormal investigator Joey Ross and her friend Mina ( Naomi Bentley) when the two are caught in a storm. Mina elects to sleep in the Nightmare Room and has vanished by morning. Constance calls in sleuth Jonathan Creek to investigate Mina's disappearance.
Jonathan has recently begun a relationship with an old acquaintance, Nicola (Katherine Parkinson
Katherine Jane Parkinson (born 9 March 1978) is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's '' The IT Crowd'' comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice ...
), who is opposed to his investigative career, believing it to be too dangerous an occupation. Jonathan is still in the employment of the magician Adam Klaus, whose television series is receiving heavy criticism from viewers. To Jonathan's bemusement, Klaus invests in the 3D pornography industry and begins dating the porn actress Candy Mountains ( Jemma Walker). Jonathan inspects the attic room and the bedroom directly beneath it, but finds nothing suspicious, save for a small vent in the canopy of the room's four-poster bed, which is opened when pressure is put on the mattress, releasing dead flies.
Investigating events at Metropolis, Jonathan deduces that Gessler's grandfather was a Nazi sympathiser, who laid a trap in the attic room to kill one of his enemies without arousing suspicion and which has subsequently killed anyone else who stayed in that room. Jonathan and Joey spend the night in the room, but uncover nothing. The next morning, when trying to figure out what they had done differently to all the victims, Jonathan comes to the realisation that they would have all taken a bath in the adjoining bathroom. Upon realising the secret behind the disappearances, Jonathan races back up to the attic with Glenn. Unfortunately, Joey had already climbed into the bath, which has descended and released her into a water tank below the room, where the corpses of previous victims (including her friend Mina) remain, drowned and decomposing. The bath has not yet returned to its position so Jonathan and Glenn are able to rescue her. Confronting Constance, Jonathan explains that the room the disappearances occurred in was not the real attic room, but in fact located in a flat-roofed tower next to the real attic which had slanted ceilings built in to disguise it as the attic in order to stop people suspecting any traps beneath it. The vent in the canopy was designed to leak an ectoplasmic fluid on the first victim to ensure they would use the bath.The mystery resembles the real-life case of the Jarmans, the sixteenth-century owners of the Ostrich Inn in Slough (Berkshire), who killed wealthy travellers by tipping them into a barrel of boiling water via a hinged bed in one of the bedrooms.
During the investigation, Gessler's partner, Elodie, is kidnapped. Joey follows Gessler from his stage show one night and observes him slashing Elodie's throat. She, Jonathan and Nicola later discover Elodie's dead body, but when they return with policemen, the corpse has been switched for a prop dummy. Glenn reveals that he and Elodie were in love and had recently married in secret. He suspects that Gessler may have murdered Elodie out of jealousy after she confessed their marriage to him. The police, however, receive a video of Elodie walking through a park the morning after she was supposedly murdered, with the day's newspaper in plain view for validation. Jonathan realizes that Gessler had manipulated Delia Gunning (Julia Ford
Julia Ford (born 7 August 1963) is a British actress, voice actress and director.
Early life
She was born in Chester, Cheshire and grew up in Sutton Weaver. She attended Helsby County Grammar School.
Career
Her acting work includes theatr ...
), the editor of the local newspaper, into printing a fake copy a week in advance. By making the video before killing Elodie, he could deflect suspicion from himself, leading the police to believe that she had faked her own death and run away. Gessler ensured the front page's authenticity by having Delia create the day's headline herself, releasing a briefcase full of bees in the middle of a local council meeting. Jonathan's suspicions became aroused as the following story about the construction of a motorway through six villages would have been far more engaging as a front-pager. Jonathan and Joey arrive at Delia's home just in time to save her from being murdered by Gessler, who later kills himself by gassing himself in his car.
The "Grinning Man" the title refers to is the subject of a painting, reputedly by Hieronymous Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...
, which hangs in the attic Nightmare Room. Once the episode's mysteries are resolved, Constance confesses that she rescued the painting from a burning room decades previously, leaving an elderly uncle to die as she did so. She has Glenn assist her in burning the painting in Metropolis' grounds. The episode ends with Jonathan, Joey and Adam arriving at a restaurant to celebrate with their significant others. Adam discovers that he has been conned by Candy and will not be receiving any return on his pornography investment. Joey receives a call from her partner, Alec (Adam James), who reveals that he is in Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
with Nicola and the two are now seeing one another. As the maître d' (Graham Vanas) arrives to lead them to their private booth, Jonathan jests; "Three for the Nightmare Room".
Production
David Renwick made the decision to revive ''Jonathan Creek'' for a Christmas special as a means of "deferring retirement". He considered the alternative of developing an entirely new series to be too lengthy a process, and regarded reviving ''Jonathan Creek'' as the "safe decision". He described the process of formulating a plot for the episode as an "agony" and a "torment", revealing that he had stopped writing the show in 2004 partly due to a lack of ideas. Renwick explained: "Inevitably, you set up a series which is all about impossibilities that then have to have a rational explanation, by definition it’s going to be pretty challenging stuff for a writer. So God knows why I ever embarked on it in the first place." As well as writing, Renwick also directed the episode, which was produced by Nerys Evans; ''Jonathan Creek''Verity Lambert
Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer.
Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...
died of cancer in November 2007. Davies noted that he and Renwick met quite regularly following Lambert's death, and when Renwick suggested to the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of ...
, Controller of BBC Fiction, with Lucy Lumsden, Controller of Comedy Commissioning, stating that the station was "delighted to have ''Jonathan Creek'' back on BBC One". Renwick was prepared for a negative reaction to the show's revival, describing how: "People say, Oh ''Jonathan Creek''One Foot in the Grave
''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...
''. So I tend to expect the worst."
Davies had suspected that Renwick would one day revive ''Jonathan Creek'', explaining that Jonathan's fate had been left open, unlike Renwick's other famous character - ''One Foot In The Grave''Victor Meldrew
Victor Meldrew is a fictional character in the BBC One sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'', created by David Renwick and portrayed by Richard Wilson. The character epitomised the archetypal grumpy old man. Meldrew is a foil for the bothersome aspec ...
, who was killed in a hit and run
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...
in the show's last episode. When the production of "The Grinning Man" was announced in June 2008, Davies commented: "For the last five years whenever I've passed a locked room I've thought there might be a mystery lurking behind it, so I'm very happy to return to ''Jonathan Creek'' and to have something to actually solve." He stated that reprising the role after such a lengthy hiatus was initially strange, and that: "I couldn't remember my lines on the first day. I'd sort of forgotten how precise you have to be when you work on a ''Jonathan Creek'' episode." He praised co-star Sheridan Smith in comparison, describing how: "Sheridan is extremely good at all that stuff, which works in a similar way to the script, in that she's a very bright, sharp character and Creek's a bit rusty and hasn't really been doing it for a while. So sure enough, on the first day, she knows all her lines and makes her mark. And I'm going, 'Hang on a minute, stop showing off'". Upon receiving the episode's script, Davies had gained a stone in weight since last playing Jonathan Creek, almost five years previously. Renwick suggested that they include Davies' weight gain in the plot, presenting the character as having "gone to seed". Davies, however, did not want to play a "fat Creek", and lost weight before filming began, stating: "it was my choice not to let him go too much". The actor discussed with Renwick how Jonathan may have developed in the intervening five years: "We talked about whether he’d have changed, whether he’d have done any investigating in the meantime. He probably didn’t. He still does the same job and is locked in the same relationship with Klaus and feeling a bit put upon – that hasn’t changed at all... and he still lives in a windmill". In a change from the original, Cobstone Windmill
Cobstone Mill was built around 1816 on Turville Hill in Buckinghamshire, England, and overlooks the village of Turville. It is a smock mill that replaced the original mill that had stood there since the 16th century. The machinery was previously ...
was used for the exterior shots, replacing Shipley Windmill
King's Mill or Vincent's Mill, Shipley, West Sussex, England, is a smock mill built in 1879.
History
''King's Mill'' was built in 1879 for Friend Martin at a cost of £2,500 by Messrs Grist and Steele, millwrights of Horsham. Machinery from ...
, which had been used for all other episodes. Davies grew his hair out again for the role, and wore his own duffel coat
A duffel coat (also duffle coat) is a coat made from duffel cloth, designed with toggle-and-rope fastenings, patched pockets and a large hood. The name derives from Duffel, a town in the province of Antwerp in Belgium where the manufacturing pro ...
throughout the episode. The coat had become the character's trademark in the show's first series, with Davies explaining that: "After we did the first series, I could never wear it off screen again, because people started doing the Danse Macabre
The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death.
The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...
heme
Heme, or haem (pronounced / hi:m/ ), is a precursor to hemoglobin, which is necessary to bind oxygen in the bloodstream. Heme is biosynthesized in both the bone marrow and the liver.
In biochemical terms, heme is a coordination complex "consis ...
music everywhere I went. So it's just been in the wardrobe for 12 years."
Previous series of ''Jonathan Creek'' had featured first Caroline Quentin, and then Julia Sawalha
Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...
as Jonathan's assistants Maddy Magellan and Carla Borrego, respectively. Quentin departed from the show at the end of its third series in 2000 in order to try for a second child, while Sawalha temporarily retired from acting in 2004, having become so disillusioned that she was "dragging erelf out of bed" by the end of the show's fourth series in order to film episodes. Davies explained that Renwick had always believed Jonathan needed a sidekick character, and that: "You can't really have Jonathan Creek without his sounding board when all the stuff is going on in his mind. In a novel you can have an interior monologue when a leading character is working out what's going on, but for a film or television you have to have Dr Watson
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel '' A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle ...
for Sherlock Holmes, it's somebody for Holmes to explain it to." For "The Grinning Man", a new sidekick was created in the form of Joey Ross, played by actress Sheridan Smith. Renwick described the opportunity to work with Smith as a major catalyst in his decision to revive the show. The actress had previously appeared in his series ''Love Soup
''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...
'', and Renwick's wife suggested pairing her with Davies in the new episode. Smith was approached about the role before the episode's script was written, and after readily agreeing to take the part of Ross, Renwick wrote the character's dialogue with Smith's northern accent in mind. The actress found accustoming herself to "detective talk" the hardest part of the role, explaining: "You slow down, and then speed up at the end. I kept watching Alan and going, 'I can’t do this figuring out talk.' But I learned from the master." Smith enjoyed the challenge the role presented, stating: "He's enwickwritten this feisty little northern character, and I am really honoured because he's such a great writer. I have always played chavs and slappers so I wasn't used to being an intelligent young girl."
Renwick has stated that the production of any further ''Jonathan Creek'' specials will depend on reception to "The Grinning Man", as well as his own schedule. Davies is amenable to reprising the lead role in future, stating: "If David writes more, I'm happy to do them. Unless they turned up and they were awful - but it hasn't happened so far. And he wouldn't send me an awful one anyway. But I don't know if he will come up with another one. He always says that the writing is so difficult, I'm not sure it gives him any pleasure. But I think the shooting gave him a lot of pleasure this time. He was directing for the first time and I think he really enjoyed it. So, we'll see."
Reception
"The Grinning Man" received a mixed response from critics and was watched by 9.91 million viewers, with a 36% share of the total television audience. The episode beat ITV's ''Marple Marple may refer to:
Places
* Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England
** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester
** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manches ...
'' in the same time-slot, with Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan (born Geraldine McKeown; 9 May 1932 – 30 January 2015) was an English actress, who had a long career in film, theatre and television. Michael Coveney described her, in a tribute article, as "a great comic stylist, with ...
's last episode as Agatha Christie's famous sleuth receiving just 4.48 million viewers and a 15% audience share. ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
''Huw Edwards
Huw Edwards (; born 18 August 1961) is a Welsh journalist, presenter, and newsreader. Edwards presents ''BBC News at Ten'', the corporation's flagship news broadcast.
Edwards also presents BBC coverage of state events, international events, th ...
by a woolly head." Of the episode itself, he wrote: "It skids between procedural whodunit realism and cartoonish fantasy in a way that defies belief and interest. It is a dull confusion of unknotted loose ends that breaks its own rules, suspends common sense and dumps so much unexplained plot that all suspense drains away through the holes in the story." '' The Herald's'' Alasdair McKay was critical of Davies' acting in the episode, writing that: "it really is difficult to tell the difference between the comedian and the accidental detective in David Renwick's comedy drama. Davies doesn't act, he tries to stay awake, occasionally pausing for a cryptic insight." While ''The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
''The Northern Echo
''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its ...
'', was similarly critical of the episode's length, deeming the Adam Klaus subplot "nonsense" which "could easily be removed without loss". Pratt suggested that "This would also help reduce the overlong two-hour running time, during which my attention wandered more often than it should have done." ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
''The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
'', praised Smith's performance as Joey, deeming her to be "a much more satisfying sidekick" than Julia Sawalha
Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''Press Gang'', as ...
's Carla Borrego. He enjoyed the on-screen relationship between the two lead actors, writing that: "it’s the interplay between Davies and Smith that makes this really special." ''Scotland on Sunday
''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...
''The Royle Family
''The Royle Family'' is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, com ...
'', '' Blackadder'' and '' Shooting Stars''—other major shows which returned for 2008 Christmas specials. Ramaswamy wrote: "all the comforting, well kent faces are back to soothe us through these dismal times. In a culture that is becoming more and more risk-averse, it's the oldies but goodies that we trust." Sian Brewis for the ''Leicester Mercury
The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its ...
'' also considered this nostalgia angle, but concluded that: "Jonathan Creek is the sort of auld acquaintance you’re happy to see once a year – any more than that, you feel, and his mannerisms would start to grate." She deemed the episode: "Less a blast from the past as a shuffling "excuse me". Conversely, Anne Pickles for the ''News and Star
The ''News and Star'' (formerly the ''Evening News and Star'' and ''Cumberland Evening News'') is a local tabloid newspaper in Cumbria. As of 18 October 2018, it belongs to Newsquest who produce several regional newspapers throughout the UK.
...
'' wrote that a one-off special was not enough, and "what we really wanted was a brand new series". Pickles said of the episode: "It’s the gentle, facially expressive, deeply sceptical, somehow slightly daft performance of Davies as Creek that makes this sleuthing drama such a glory. But a one-off? Oh come on... you can do better than that."
Footnotes
References
External links
"The Grinning Man"
at
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
Programmes"The Grinning Man"
at the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinning Man, The
2009 British television episodes