Jonathan Creek The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (1997–2016) watch online HD

The great beauty of the first four series of Jonathan Creek was not only trying to guess how they did it before Jonathan did but observing the relationship between the two main characters, Jonathan and Maddie (and later Carla). While I like Sheridan Smith and her character I feel that the spark is missing here. If the tale of ghostly deeds they were trying to solve had some credibility it might not matter. Sadly it does matter here because the story is a mess.

Rosalind Tartikoff's tale of satanic goings on at the Catholic school were unfathomable. There is also something wrong with the timescale. The text message mentioned the Circles of 1968 but Rosalind referred to it being exactly 50 years ago which would have been 1963. Also it was never explained who sent the photo and the code note to her. But even if you accepted all this confusing nonsense why the hell would Rosalind now live just a few minutes from the school that haunted her so much? As Victor Meldrew would say I Just Don't Believe It.

I still can't fathom why Fariba felt the need to move her father's body (or at least his head) from the barn to the study. Why was it necessary to hide the fact that he was into magic? He was performing a magic trick with Brad not having S&M sex with him! But even if you go along with this ridiculous premise then there are a few questions that even the newly brainwashed Jonathan would be compelled to ask in the circumstances: How did she know that Rosalind would peer through the keyhole? When it came to remove the body why didn't she just chuck the head out of the window with the clothes and shoes? And when she found a few minutes to retrieve these items before the police turned up how come she didn't leave telltale footprints alongside the two prints of the boots? Added to this why didn't Brad remove these items having helped her dispose of the rest of her father's remains?

And the magic act that Jonathan and Joey witnessed through the barn window was a bit pathetic. I know one of the magicians was dressed as a tribute to David Renwick's friend Ali Bongo but I can't believe that Brad would carry on doing shows like this so soon after the chain saw accident. Also wouldn't the tricks be more daring/dangerous than a pumpkin head floating in the air?

And finally the embracing plot of the conspiracy theory-proving film on the DVD. Wouldn't it have been simpler for the agents to remove this from Franklin's study rather than leaving it for Jonathan to find? Also why risk killing Franklin via the accident with the chainsaw when it may not have proved fatal? And I knew as soon as I saw that statue of the angel at the school that it would land on someone's head.

I noticed some continuity errors/goofs: - How did Pryke see the photos on the stairs when he is confined to a wheelchair? - The globe still shows Africa after Rosalind and the doctor break down the door but it shows South America in the photo Jonathan has of the same scene has at the end. Considering this was the way in which he uncovered the truth it was vitally important to get it right. - Why did the doctor take a crowbar into the house when he turned up? He didn't know anyone was locked in a room, all Rosalind said to him was "get over here now"? - Also Joanna Lumley clearly doesn't know if her daughter's character is called Fabria or Fariba as she uses both at different times (I'm sure at one point she called her Fabreeze). - Why would the male secret agent have a comb when he has cropped hair? Jonathan would usually have spotted that straight away. - After Joey is grabbed round the neck in the Quiet Room she doesn't bother to tell Jonathan what has happened when he gets there, she just points at the picture and he somehow guesses what has occurred.

There were a few moments of the old magic such as Joey and Jonathan's meeting and the scene in the theatre foyer but even these were flawed. Eg the misunderstanding regarding Jack/Jacqueline's gender. This would have been perfect for Maddie but coming out of Jonathan's lips sounds wrong as he's not that insensitive. Plus a lot of the comedy in the old shows came from Jonathan's dislike of 'other people' Here he has become one of those people so he has no one to kick against.

All-in-all a mildly entertaining but seriously flawed show. Perhaps David Renwick has been taking the same de-talent pills that Caroline Aherne took when she returned to write new episodes of The Royle Family and managed to ruin all the things that made it so much fun. Let's hope he stops taking them before the next series comes along.

I used to watch Jonathan Creek for the, if slightly unbelievable, complex and convoluted ways in which the murder had been done. This was quite the opposite. I'd say it was like an episode of Scooby Doo but that would be giving it too much credit. 3 story arcs that were in no way relevant to each other and entirely unnecessary to say the least, I was left wide eyed with disbelief at the big reveal at the end to tell us all what had happened.

Pretty much everything do to with the reveal was ludicrous to the point of frustration, and then to top it all off there was a totally unnecessary last 10 minutes which was even worse. The only part I liked was the reveal for the 'supernatural' element, which unfortunately had no relevance to the death or the main part of the story.

This new special is not as terrible as other reviewers would have you believe. I believe it's more disappointing than intrinsically bad. Had this been the first time I ever watched Jonathan Creek, I imagine I might have enjoyed it.

However, with the series strong track record in mind, this Easter special feels laboured and not very fresh. The central mystery - a body vanishing from a locked room - is making its 3rd appearance in the show's history (at least), and on one occasion the solution was practically the same. Seasoned fans (Creekians? Creeksters?) therefore may find themselves puzzling most of it together well before the final reveal. The novice viewer, however, might well be in the dark to the end and get that great satisfaction that fans have come to love.

What bothered me more, though, were the side-plots. The whole business at the school felt bit messy and wasn't a good enough mystery to warrant so much screen time. And the bit tucked on at the end just felt excessive, adding absolutely nothing to the story. But my real beef is with the flimsy and implausible "spiritual" motive that makes an uncalled-for sideways entry at the end, and which is decidedly un- Creekian.

Still, I just haven't the heart to flunk this episode. I'm too fond of the series for that, and part of me will always be happy to see some more of it. I just hope that the new series, which is in the pipeline for 2014, won't push me over the edge into bitterness territory.

Parka-man is his usual boring born-again self, again assisted by famous celebs, like Purdey from the New Avengers (who manages to make a conscious emotional statement just before she dies in a hospital bed after having been crushed by a large concrete statue) and Neil & (P)Rick from the Young Ones: ''Mmmmmmmm, something isn't right, but what?'' What amazed me, was the fact that his sidekick almost got strangled at the abandoned old school and the two of them weren't even remotely interested in who just tried to kill her. ''Let's get out of here, Jonathan!, this place gives me the creeps!'' . Then we have a Young One, who allegedly is paralysed, but looks remarkably fit in his suit and on his wheelchair. He even disables a super-crook and his non-speaking black female accomplice with his integrated laptop. Don't get me started on a loose bolt on a chainsaw leading to an accidental decapitation of the other Young One (''Rick's head! Yeah, ugh ugh, Neil's head! Cliff's head! NO NO!'' was what I started to sing). The neck/head would probably be partially severed, but would never roll off ''guillotine''-fresh. Anyway out of this head they apparently made a ''Non-Living Doll''. Replace petrol with diluted apple-juice and hey presto!, a totally incoherent ridiculous Creek episode is born.

Jonathan Creek - The Clue of the Savant's Thumb (DVD) 2013 -

It was a great pleasure that Rik Mayall is back as good old "Gideon Pryke", but it was completely impossible for "Gideon Pryke" to get to the upstairs crime scene.

Jonathan Creek last seen in 2010, finally returns in April 2013, to investigate an terrible crime committed inside a locked room, but when the police arrive the body has vanished.

With the disappearance of the dead body from the sealed room, no crime appears to have been committed, but there is photographic evidence of the terrible crime.

Exciting Jonathan Creek episode with a great cast, moved forward with a steady pace, with no dull moments. First watched on television, and more carefully when recently issued on BBC DVD bought from www.amazon.co.uk.

The quick and clever explanation near the end is not too complicated, but there is much more to come after the locked room mystery is solved, that make this whole new episode a very satisfying experience.

Looking forward to the Jonathan Creek cast with Alan Davies, Rik Mayall, Sheridan Smith, Sarah Alexander all returning again each year, in more brand new Jonathan Creek episodes.

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Three years have past since Jonathon Creek's last case; he is no longer designing magic tricks instead he is working for a London advertising agency. In the opening scenes we see flashbacks to the school days of Rosalind Tartikoff where one of her class mates is found dead one morning with a strange circular mark on her forehead. In the present Rosalind returns home to her husband and adoptive daughter locked in a room; she sees that he is dead through the keyhole and even thinks to take a picture but when the door is forced open there is no sign of the body! Paranormal investigator Joey Ross is soon taking an interest in the supposedly impossible mystery and it isn't long before she gets Jonathon to join the investigation. Inevitably the case is quite contorted, has plenty of twists and even a false finale before the case is finally solved.

This was a welcome return for 'Jonathon Creek'; a series I'd assumed was long over. Thankfully Alan Davies slips back into the role as if he hadn't been away and Sheridan Smith is good as his sidekick Joey. The rest of the quality cast includes the likes of Joanna Lumney, Nigel Planer and Rik Mayall; who played a paraplegic detective who could only move one finger. The story was delightfully far-fetched with more twists than anybody could guess. When we do learn what happened it was enjoyably macabre. Some parts were a bit too far-fetched; in one scene the bad guys cover Jonathon and Joey in petrol and threaten to light it only to have another character say he switched the containers for apple juice… are we meant to believe that nobody there could smell the difference! A minor niggle perhaps but as it happened at the end it stood out somewhat. Overall this was a fun story and I hope we haven't seen the last of Jonathon Creek.

As an American, I was thrilled to learn there were Jonathan Creek episodes I hadn't seen, and I took great joy in watching this one, The Clue of the Savant's Thumb. Just don't ask me what it was about.

Jonathan is now married and works for an advertising agency, leaving the world of magic behind him. At a cocktail party, he and his wife meet Franklin Tartikoff, a satirist, and his wife Rosalind (Joanna Lumley).

The Tartikoffs have an adopted daughter, Fariba, who some time later arrives home from the Ademans. At the same time, Rosalind is returning from an old school chum's funeral but can't get into her husband's study. She starts yelling to Fariba to answer the door, but there is no response. Looking in the keyhole, she sees her husband's body and Fariba fainting.

When the police arrive, Inspector Pryke, in a wheelchair, is with them. No body. A paranormal investigator, Joey Ross, asks Jonathan to help. They find out that Rosalind is tortured by an incident at the school she attended - a religious or initiation gone wrong, which happened some years earlier.

Then there is an attempt to kill Fabriba. Jonathan figures out how Franklin died and how the "locked door" mystery actually happened. After an attempt is made to kill Fariba, Jonathan discovers just how Franklin died and how the illusion of the locked door was created. The reason for his death is tangled with a government plot, putting Jonathan and everyone else in danger.

I admit I didn't know what was going on for part of this - there seemed to be subplots that were unnecessary and made no sense. And there were some obvious problems with the script. I'll list a few. The time of the Catholic school rituals - Rosalind said it was 50 years ago, making it 1963 but another time it's 1968. Who sent her that photo and code note? We're never told. And if that school haunts her even now, why did she live nearby?

I didn't get the business in the locked room - why was the body hidden? Why can't anyone know he did magic? How did Fariba know Rosalind would even look through the keyhole?

There is a discussion of photos on a staircase. I thought Pryke was in a wheelchair - how did he see them? And Joanna Lumley called her daughter every name under the sun - Fabria, Farbia, Fariba - really.

Those are only a few - there are a dozen others. I do love the show but this one I thought was off the mark.

On Creek's last outing in 2009 I wrote a review with the above title (minus 'part 2'). Here we are yet again - only this time there are two mansions. We don't expect realism from the series, of course, but I think it used to make sense, more or less, within its own weird universe. That's been ditched here, and it's merely a farrago of tosh.

However, it has its charms. There are lots of clever touches and some good jokes. (For some reason I laughed for ages at 'more Titian'.) If you are watching a recording, pause it so that you can read the book titles when they appear.

This episode also has excellent guest stars, all of whom play up exactly as they should.

All in all, it's nonsense, but lots of fun and worth watching.

I really suppose we should have not watched this in the first when it was billed at 90 minutes. Previous episodes at 60 minutes were often quite boring too. But we gave it a try.

The basic premise of all JC stories is a death in a locked room near the beginning and Creek works it all out at the end. In between there is a lot of padding and all the way through far too much very loud music. A terrific cast clearly thought they were hamming it up, I hope Joanna Lumley was very made up, she looked awful.

Ric Mayall and Nigel Planer played it all very much for laughs, the former doing a Peter Sellers from that film about a bomb, or Goldmember. The whole thing drags along and by the end we simply did not care and rued the fact we did not switch off earlier.