Jonathan Creek: Black Canary (A Tribute to Rik Mayall)

By the time this special of Jonathan Creek, entitled ‘Black Canary’ was aired on Christmas Eve 1998 the programme had enjoyed two successful series featuring the definitive line-up of Alan Davies as the title character, windmill dwelling magic expert Jonathan Creek, and Caroline Quentin as writer and journalist Maddie Magellan, with humorous asides from Stuart Milligan portraying Jonathan Creek’s boss, the American? Canadian? Or is he English? Who knows, but he’s a magician and a chauvinist and his name is Adam Klaus. Written by David Renwick, who had previously found fame as a writer through his stand out comedy series ‘One Foot in the Grave’ starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, the BBC commissioned this Christmas special broadcast as part of BBC 1’s festive schedule in 1998, the first 90 minute episode since the pilot episode which was broadcast in January 1997. It was also the first instalment of the series to feature the inimitable comedy genius and actor Rik Mayall, who sadly passed away suddenly on Monday. In Jonathan Creek, Mayall would portray the articulate, charismatic and slightly egotistical Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke. 

The title card to the 1998 special of Jonathan Creek - Black Canary 

'Black Canary' is one of my favourite episodes of the series, featuring as it does a stellar cast, comprising not only Rik Mayall but consummate actor Francis Matthews (who portrayed Paul Temple for television and radio and voiced Captain Scarlet no less!), Hannah Gordon, Murray Melvin and even a cameo at the end from comic actor Sanjeev Bhaskar and one of the series most compelling mysteries (none too many spoilers here so you will have to watch it!) Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin are on cracking form here and Renwick is continuing to develop their ‘will they, won’t they’ romance. Only a few minutes into the episode, Maddie tells Jonathan “I need you tonight, in my bedroom!” Only for him to discover that it is his job to come and remove a cockroach that has found its way into Maddie’s house.  There is also a great scene featuring the pair in Maddie’s car heading towards a suicide scene, with Maddie spraying dry ice on the windscreen as she is driving due to a broken down windscreen washer. A sudden halt is caused in their journey however when Jonathan Creek recalls the tragic death of the sister of the suicide victim some years prior, being accidentally sawn in half by a buzz saw whilst practising an escape trick....lengthways. Ms Magellan’s horrified follow up line of “I’ll have to sleep with a sauce pan between my legs” had me in stitches on reviewing this episode! Adam Klaus’s latest romantic interest and the Jack the Ripper ‘Frog Coat’ provide amusing distractions from the darker aspects of this story and this marks the only occasion (as I recall) of when one of Klaus’s exploits is actually woven into the plot.

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Jonathan Creek and Maddie Magellan, the definitive Creek line-up 

Directorially, the production is helmed by Sandy Johnson who had directed several episodes of the first and second series of the show, and would continue to direct instalments until the end of Series Four, following which the programme went on hiatus for five years. He would prove to be an excellent, if inevitable choice for this feature length special. Trademarks of Johnson’s direction technique include moving dutch angles to represent fear and trepidation and breathtaking establishing shots. Johnson would go on to work on other David Renwick productions including ‘Love Soup’ in the late Noughties.

Alan Davies, Caroline Quentin and the late Rik Mayall as DI Gideon Pryke

The cast are pretty solid, Francis Matthews convinces as the ex-crooner Jerry Bellinitus, who Rik Mayall’s Gideon Pryke notes shares his surname with the name of a condition which causes inflammation of the foreskin! Hannah Gordon encourages a feeling of empathy in her multi dimensional role and Murray Melvin is superb as the butler Lionel Prekopp, exuding warmth but keeping the character’s sinister edge bubbling away at the surface with great sincerity, showcasing the actor's characteristically clipped and honed delivery.

Dave Haskell as the androgynous Sgt Richie 

The real star unsurprisingly however is the great Rik Mayall, to whom I’ll be devoting the last part of this blog post. Mayall would later play DI Gideon Pryke in the rather disappointing and clumsy 2013 Easter Special of the series entitled ‘The Clue of the Savants Thumb’ by which point the character had become paraplegic in an unfortunate accident, but in his debut episode the character is quite different. Here Pryke is a charismatic investigator portrayed by Mayall with the same flair that Jeremy Brett and Peter Cushing gave to their interpretations of the character of Sherlock Holmes. When DI Pryke proposes a question during the closing chapter of the story and exclaims “one question!” A finger is immediately raised, like the drawings of Sidney Paget who illustrated Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Holmes stories, carefully replicated by the likes of Cushing and Brett mentioned above. Mayall is definitely channelling this theatrical demonstration with frequent gesticulations. Like Holmes, Pryke has his very own Dr. Watson, an androgynous (amusingly Creek and Magellan can’t work out his sex) Sergeant by the name of Richie (played by Dave Haskell) and is a force to be reckoned with, indeed Maddie suggests to Jonathan in the episode that he should maybe “leave him to it”, referring to Pryke. He also has some great one liner’s, my favourite being when he saves our protagonist from a thug in a sequence shot at Black Park in Buckinghamshire, who takes exception to Creek hastily locking the door of the car he is in. After the thug smashes the car window in and grabs our hero around the neck, Pryke immobilises him and pushes him forward. The thug remarks “What’s your game?” And Pryke responds “This!” Brandishing his police identification, followed by “What’s yours? Tiddlywinks!”

Mayall was a perfect choice for the DI and gives the role the eccentric edge it needs. It is also worth noting that this was the first role that he took on following his near fatal quad bike accident in April 1998 which left him in a coma for 5 days after suffering two brain haemorrhages. You certainly can’t tell from his energetic performance here, filmed just 4-5 months after the accident. 

Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin in a sequence filmed at Black Park 

Rik Mayall was (and this is no overstatement) a comedy genius and a totally original performer. Born in Essex but moving to Droitwich, Worcestershire as a young boy with his family, he would be schooled in Worcester and Redditch before embarking on his comedy career. As a boy raised in Worcestershire myself (I grew up in Pershore) I was often reminded by my parents and brother whenever Mayall was on the screen that he was a ‘local lad’. My first memories of him are seeing him in ‘Bottom’ with his old pal Adrian Edmondson (who would later star in the fourth series of Jonathan Creek) portraying two dole scroungers called Eddie and Richie, living in a flat in Hammersmith.  The slapstick comedy of the series greatly appealed to me as a 5 year old, as it did my brother who introduced me to the show. Following this I would see his unique performances in Blackadder, Jonathan Creek and then surprisingly The Young Ones last, a show at the cutting edge of alternative comedy, a movement for which Mayall was a founding player.

Pyrke, Magellan and Creek wrap up another case

I was then, as I am now utterly captivated by his relentless madness and bucket loads of both energy and irrepressible charisma. He was, quite simply, a total one off and a considerable acting talent as well as a comic talent. His sudden death at just 56 is not just a huge blow to the industry but it is a huge loss to the world. He still had so much to give and so much to do. It also seems especially tragic that having survived an untimely death in 1998 that he would ultimately pass away so soon. However, on a more positive note the great man has left behind an incredible legacy and (for the most part) a timeless body of work. I can think of no greater tribute than that. Now fuck off! 

The ultimate comedy duo, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in a publicity shot for 'Bottom'.

NOTE: All production stills and photographs used in this review are copyrighted to the BBC and 2Entertain. The next review will focus on the third series of the classic BBC science fiction series 'Blake's 7'.