In my opinion this was pretty much the only thing worth watching on TV last night. What with the political debate and the final of Master Chef I think all channels gave up any thought of programming anything decent. All channels were pretty much full of repeats.

On that subject, have you noticed with the advent of Freeview we now have heaps more channels, but pretty much the same amount of programmes. The ABC are just as guilty of this as everyone else. There was a big hoo ha over the launch of the new 24 hour news station this week, even taking over the High Definition feed from ABC1 and when I checked it out what did I find? No new news shows, just a lot of repeats of shows previously shown on ABC1. I should have known better than to expect something new.

OK back to Jonathon Creek, because as I said this was worth watching. For anyone that has not seen the show before Jonathon Creek (Alan Davies) designs magic tricks, or illusions for a famous magician for a living. You know the sort of thing, making things disappear, sawing a lady in half, trap doors etc. But he also has a sideline in solving mysterious crimes. In this episode he is aided by Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) who is also involved in the mystery business. But I wasn’t all that clear on how. Apparently she appeared in an earlier episode, where I guess she was introduced. Anyhow being out of work she takes up the position of on stage assistant to Jonathon’s magician.

Alan Davies also seen in Qi on ABC1

Now you will recognise Alan Davies from the panel show Qi, currently being aired on ABC1 and numerous other British TV shows. Bob & Rose springs to mind, I believe that series was run twice on Channel 7. He is also a stand up comedian and brings some of that humour to Jonathon Creek. Sheridan Smith has been seen recently on Australian television in Gavin and Stacey, playing Rudi the sister of Smithy and is rumoured to be dating James Corden, who plays Smithy and is co-writer of Gavin and Stacey.

Sheridan Smith, she's also in Gavin and Stacey also shown on the ABC

In The Judas Tree Joey has a friend Emily, who has taken up a job as assistant house keeper at a country retreat. She is already of a nervous disposition, having seen a house disappear and been dragged by the ankles by a creepy old man when she was younger. The country house also has a mysterious death in it’s past. A hundred or so years ago the then owner was cursed by an Indian woman and then died exactly when she said he would, in the middle of a field with no one around him and no sign of an injury.

The Indian woman starts to appear to Emily and there are mystery threats written in Emily’s hand writing to the lady of the house, that she swears she did not write. Jonathon and Joey arrive to look into the strange goings on and then the Lady of the house is killed, apparently by Emily. Once again she denies any involvement, despite the fact that the dying woman says it was her with her last breath.

Jonathon and Joey set about solving both mysteries, the current one and the one from the past.

Now I won’t give the ending away, in case you want to watch it and I would recommend it, or any other Jonathan Creek episode. The way the mysteries are revealed is quite clever and there is some gentle humour throughout each episode, this one featured a running joke about Jonathan’s magician boss having been labeled a racist and he kept getting stitched up with fake videos on Youtube. So look out for the show next time it surfaces. This episode was on the ABC but it could pop up on any channel.

If you don’t want to wait for the repeat, you can watch it now on ABC iView. This is a great site for catching up on any ABC shows you may have missed here’s the link www.abc.net.au/iview

Popularity: 14% [?]

Technorati Tags: abc, abc iview, abc1, Alan Davies, british tv shows, caption id=, Jonathon Creek, jonathon creek 8211 the judas tree 250710 abc1, sheridan smith, show

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