Jane and I recently caught up with the Easter special edition of Jonathan Creek. This detective drama, featuring Alan Davies as the eponymous hero, began in 1997 but has subsisted with occasional programmes in recent years and I think it was the first time we have watched it.

Creek’s genius is his knowledge of stage magic and illusion. He thinks things through to unveil mysteries and put his finger on the ball. All in all, it rose to be moderately entertaining at points but it ended feeling rather flat. There did seem some incongruity between humour and horror (the cast is studded with actors such as Nigel Planer and Rik Mayall) and many characters had Carry-on names (Pryke, Tartikoff) but the subject matter was often much darker than the treatment it was being given. There was cleverness in the puzzles solved and illusions penetrated but it was not quite enough to distract from an overblown plot.

I would not shy away from considering watching other episodes in future but I shall not be pining away, waiting for another to be released.