User Reviews

I remember this series coming in for a fair bit of flack at the time of its transmission, and I don't remember being bowled over, but upon revisiting, I rather enjoyed it, some good use of humour, well delivered lines, and some good performances, notably the one from Selina Griffiths.

Renwick always manages to mix humour and sadness incredibly well, we get the funny opening, which sees Jonathan release the tied up criminals, then we get Polly's recollection of the death of her rabbit as a child, and her creation of the Sandman.

It feels a wee bit padded in the middle I guess, but overall I really enjoyed it. 7/10

I have enjoyed all the episodes of this show, even when I thought it was stupid that his sidekicks were so rude and fickle towards Jonathan! And they were. I just always loved Jonathan's funny character and his ability to figure out the answers to all the puzzles. He's a cutie and likable. So I like his wife, I like seeing him with someone who is pretty and kind to him! He deserves to be happy! I liked this mystery, the humor and especially that he is happily married. I think she is his best "sidekick."

Why oh why have they kept Jonathan's wife in the series, she adds absolutely nothing as far as character development or storyline, has absolutely no personality, no warmth, no humour, etc, etc. Bring back Sheridan Smith or Caroline Quentin who actually added to the storyline. Whereas in the past series Jonathan's sidekick actually gave some humour to the storyline the wife character is dry, abrasive, badly portrayed and adds absolutely nothing. The actress is either very good at playing an annoying character or actually is just annoying. The stories themselves are OK, but even the character of Jonathan Creek seems to realise that he's made a big big mistake with his wife! Get a divorce quickly for the sake of the series.

Arguably the worst episode of Jonathan Creek. Yes the series is probably well past it's peak but there's usually something to enjoy in each of the more recent episodes. I remember watching series 5 when it was released and how disappointing the episodes were in comparison to the 'classics'. I've recently re-watched the series from beginning to end and do find some enjoyment in this series but this episode never really gets going.

In the Sinner and the Sandman, you get to find out a bit more about Polly's childhood and you also get to meet more of the dull village residents. None of these characters really add anything apart from contributing a few 'small' mysteries for Jonathan to solve. It's as though David Renwick is trying to focus too much on the humor and not great story telling that we've been spoiled with in the past. That said, it cannot be easy coming up with endless fantastic mysteries for Jonathan to solve, but unfortunately this episode completely misses the mark as nothing really happens.

By far the weakest episode of the weakest series.

If you thought it couldn't get any worse after the season opener, well you were wrong. In my opinion this is the worst episode ever.

The main problem with this episode is that there's no crime. And no crime equals no tension and no drama. For a programme that is supposed to be a crime drama (albeit a comedy one), that is fatal. Maddy and Carla were investigative journalists, so their association with Jonathan provided him with a string of murders and thefts to solve, but Polly doesn't inhabit that world, so it would be contrived to have Jonathan stumble into crimes now, I get that. And this is the primary reason why they should never have teamed him up with Polly. She has steered the show down a route it should never have taken. I could just about forgive them if she had an ounce of energy or charisma, but she doesn't. Maddy, Carla and Joey all had a lot of spunk and lifted the show, but the Polly character is flat and lifeless.

And so to the episode itself. There's not much to say because nothing much happens. It mainly concerns Jonathan figuring out how somebody could predict some winning lottery numbers thirty-odd years before the lottery even existed. There is a subplot about a local beast roaming the fields that goes nowhere and an equally pointless tale about Polly losing her rabbit as a child and becoming afraid of the sandman.

There are touches of humour involving Jonathan inadvertently setting a couple of burglars free, a misunderstanding concerning his remark about whacking the ketchup bottle and the painting depicting him as a cherubic angel with a very small todger that he gets all defensive about, but even they're not up to par.

This season started badly and it didn't improve with this episode. All of the characters--Jonathan's wife included--are so unlikeable as to be off-putting, and the "humor" is in such poor taste as to be borderline offensive. I'm not sure what the writers were going for with this season, but I'm left wondering why on earth Jonathan would stay with his wife and subject himself to all of this. I'm certainly not going to watch the rest of the season.