The Judas Tree (Jonathan Creek)
"The Judas Tree" | |
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Jonathan Creek episode | |
Episode no. | Episode 27 |
Directed by | David Renwick |
Written by | David Renwick |
Produced by | Rosemary McGowan |
Original air date | 4 April 2010 |
Running time | 94 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Judas Tree" is the twenty-seventh episode of the British
Financial constraints at the BBC delayed broadcast of the episode from January until April 2010. Davies' fee for the episode was reduced by 25 per cent, and the production's design budget was also subject to a significant reduction, as the BBC attempted to achieve efficiencies with the show. The episode was watched by 5.45 million viewers, and received mixed reviews from critics. David Brown of the Radio Times and Vicky Frost of The Guardian both praised the plot and Davies' performance, however Paul Whitelaw of The Scotsman felt that the series ought to be retired.
Plot
The episode begins in 1988, with flatmates Emily (Florence Hall) and Kim (Susanne Ahme) lost while driving. Emily sees a nearby house across a field, but when she turns around again the house has vanished. She begins to cross the field, but is seized about the ankle by an old man (Sean Buckley) in the grass. Emily beats him off and flees.
In the present day, Emily begins working as a housekeeper at Green Lanterns house, owned by crime novelist Hugo Dore (Paul McGann) and his wife Harriet. The Dore's other housekeeper, Mrs Gantry, (Doreen Mantle) tells Emily about Green Lanterns' mysterious past. In the late nineteenth century, the house was owned by Dr Thadeus Northcote (Kevin McGowan) and his wife (Amanda Hadingue). Dr Northcote had an affair with his Egyptian housekeeper, Selima El Sharad (Sofia Hayat), who supposedly put a curse on him when the affair ended. Selima accurately predicted the exact date and time of his death, and no foul play was ever discovered.
Emily contacts paranormal investigator Joey Ross about strange events at Green Lanterns, including a ghostly apparition in the woodshed and threatening letters sent to Harriet in Emily's handwriting. One of them seems to say 'Beware the approach of ISIS.' Joey and her investigative partner Jonathan Creek agree to take on the case. However shortly after their arrival they get stuck in a cellar, and Creek realises they mistook the handwriting and it means 15:15. Harriet is defenestrated, and identifies Emily as her killer, showing part of her dress at which point Emily sees a piece is missing, before dying in Hugo's arms. After Emily is arrested, Jonathan solves the 1988 mystery, postulating that house Emily saw was actually a standing film set which blew over in the wind when she turned away. He suggests that the man in the field was actually the site watchman, reaching out to Emily in an attempt to free himself from beneath the set. He and Joey continue their investigation at Green Lanterns, and Jonathan is also able to solve the second mystery. He deduces that Selima had a pocket-watch constructed for Dr Northcote containing lethal hydrogen cyanide, beneath a thin sheet of glass which could be shattered by a high-pitched noise at a specific tone. At the predicted time of his death, Dr Northcote took out his pocket-watch, and a nearby Selima screamed at the required frequency to break the glass, releasing the hydrogen cyanide which killed the doctor on the spot. She claimed to have screamed as she saw Death approaching. Jonathan additionally theorises that Hugo framed Emily for Harriet's death, but is unable to convince the jury at her trial, who find Emily guilty.
Still determined to solve the case, Jonathan and Joey return to Green Lanterns and follow Hugo to the
A running sub-plot throughout the episode sees Joey begin working as an assistant to Jonathan's boss, magician Adam Klaus (
Production
"The Judas Tree" is the second feature-length Jonathan Creek special produced since the series concluded in 2004. The first such episode, "
The episode sees the return of Alan Davies as the series' titular sleuth Jonathan Creek, Sheridan Smith as his crime-solving partner Joey Ross and Stuart Milligan as his boss, magician Adam Klaus. Doreen Mantle guest-stars as Mrs Gantry, in a role created specially for her by Renwick, with whom she worked on his BBC comedy series One Foot in the Grave. Paul McGann plays Hugo Dore, and Sasha Behar appears as his wife Harriet. Behar had auditioned for and been offered a role in the series before, but ultimately turned it down in favour of playing Maya Sharma in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.[4]
In 2009, the
Davies stated that he hoped Renwick would continue to create new episodes of Jonathan Creek, but thought another full series would be unlikely.[4] Series takes five months to film, which Davies described as a "hefty commitment" and "quite hard-going",[9] and that it is difficult to create the number of mysteries required and present them in a 50–60 minute format.[4]
Reception
"The Judas Tree" averaged 5.45 million viewers, attaining a 21.3% audience share in its timeslot,
References
- ^ Wylie, Ian (10 December 2008). "Writer: Why I revived Jonathan Creek". Manchester Evening News. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ^ "Jonathan Creek: The Judas Tree". BBC Online. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- Trinity Mirror. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Wylie, Ian (1 April 2010). "Jonathan Creek: Alan Davies". Manchester Evening News. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (19 October 2009). "Davies: 'BBC is delaying Creek return'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ "Jonathan Creek: The Judas Tree (DVD)". BBC Shop. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ McGinty, Stephen (3 September 2009). "Jonathan's up the Creek as BBC cuts star salaries". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ Singh, Anita (2 September 2009). "Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies takes BBC pay cut". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ Fletcher, Alex (2 April 2010). "Alan Davies ('Jonathan Creek')". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ Plunkett, John (4 April 2010). "TV ratings: More than 3m watch Malaysian grand prix". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
- BBC Magazines. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ Frost, Vicky (2 April 2010). "Good eggs: This Easter's TV highlights". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ Whitelaw, Paul (5 April 2010). "TV Preview: Doctor Who / Jonathan Creek - The Judas Tree / Outnumbered / Comedy Roasts". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
External links
- "The Judas Tree" at BBC Online
- "The Judas Tree" at IMDb