Alan Davies would return for more Jonathan Creek “like a shot”

“The show changed my life.”

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Tuesday, 11 April 2023 at 12:00 am

Alan Davies has revealed that he would do another season of Jonathan Creek “like a shot” if the script was written.

He made the comments in a new interview with The Guardian speaking about the legacy of the long-running British mystery crime drama series.

Davies recalled: “The first series won a BAFTA for Best TV Drama. I didn’t know how awards shows worked, so I went back to my seat while everyone else was swept off backstage for a photocall.”

He added: “People still ask if we’re going to make more. If David wrote another script, I’d do it like a shot. The show changed my life. And it’s the only BAFTA I’ve ever won.”

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Alan Davies as Jonathan Creek.
BBC

Created by David Renwick (One Foot in the Grave, Love Soup), the series initially premiered on BBC One in 1997. The drama ran until 2016 and saw the titular character, played by Davies, using his natural ability for solving puzzles to tackle head-scratching crimes and murders.

The unique character lived in a windmill in Sussex and initially teamed up with investigative journalist Maddy (played by Caroline Quentin).

 

Although the series wrapped up in 2016 with a special episode that aired on 28th December, the fan-favourite series continues to have a soft spot in many people’s hearts but it could very well have been the case that Davies was not the series lead.

In the same interview, creator and writer Renwick also revealed that the likes of Hugh Bonneville and Hugh Laurie were contenders for Creek.

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He said: “I had earmarked Nicholas Lyndhurst and Caroline Quentin as the leads. Caroline had made a big impression in Men Behaving Badly and was born to play the strong but flawed Maddy Magellan. She jumped at it, but Nick was busy with Goodnight Sweetheart and so sadly passed.

“Rik Mayall and Hugh Laurie were interested for a while. We shot screen tests with Hugh Bonneville, Angus Deayton, Nigel Planer and Alex Jennings too – all great actors but not quite right.

“Then one day Susie saw Alan Davies rehearsing a sitcom in a church hall. He read with Caroline and it suddenly clicked.”