Jack in the Box (17 May 1997)

Crusading journalist Maddie Magellan is instrumental in getting a man released from prison after serving nine years for a murder she believes he did not commit. The next day, the victim's ... See full summary »

Director:

Marcus Mortimer

Writer:

David Renwick

Stars:

John Bluthal, Colin Stinton, Bernard Kay

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
John Bluthal	...	Jack Holiday
Colin Stinton	...	Scott Reisner
Bernard Kay	...	Oliver
Maureen O'Brien	...	Kirsten Holiday
Robin Soans	...	Alan Rokesmith
June Watson	...	Rachel Rokesmith
Caroline Quentin	...	Maddy Magellan
Helena McCarthy	...	Mrs Rokesmith
Andrew Powell	...	Police Officer at Shelter
David Thorpe	...	Police Officer in Cottage
Alan Davies	...	Jonathan Creek
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Neville Spivey

Storyline

Crusading journalist Maddie Magellan is instrumental in getting a man released from prison after serving nine years for a murder she believes he did not commit. The next day, the victim's widower apparently shoots himself after locking himself in his personal nuclear fall-out shelter. Investigators and engineers insist that no one could have gotten in or out of the shelter after the door was sealed. Yet those closest to the alleged suicide insist that his hands were so crippled with arthritis that he could not have run the bolts on the massive door, let alone pulled the trigger on a gun. Maddie coerces reluctant sleuth Jonathan Creek into investigating the case.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1997 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The outlet on a toilet is not directly below the pan, but the cistern, meaning there was nothing really unusual about the position of the hole.

User Reviews

Original and well written

I am a big fan of British detective series, and this one is totally unique. It is the only detective series without a detective. Instead of Holmes and Watson, there is Jonathan Creek (who creates magic tricks for a big time magician) and Maddie (an investigative journalist).

There is humor, and all the typical scenes for a mystery (e.g. interesting characters, eating unusual food, interesting settings, sarcastic comments, sexual tension, etc.) but the solution to the crimes are the best of any series I have ever seen. I have said out-loud while watching an episode, "There can't be any solution to this." And then, once you see the solution, it is so obvious, you can't see how you couldn't figure it out.

Clever, funny, unusual, and unfailingly fascinating, it is a first rate mystery series.