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Guest stars
Jack Dee, Tamsin Greig, Trevor Peacock and Adrian Edmondson.
Directed by Christine Gernon
First transmitted 8th March 2003
Ratings 9.30 million
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The Puzzle:
Dudley Houseman is a man who to all intents and purposes has everything. A thriving career as a successful composer, and a fairytale marriage to gorgeous pop queen Sally Ellen Oakley. A marriage that according to tabloids has made him "the luckiest man in Britain".
The problem is, Sally Ellen Oakley the sex icon is just a male fantasy, artificially engineered for the cameras. Angels like that can't possibly exist in real life. Or can they?
When the luscious Maria comes along, Dudley is tempted to wonder if he has, indeed, died and gone to Heaven. All the more so when his new lover appears able to grow back a full head of hair that only two days earlier has been hacked off by a ruthless kidnapper. Can Jonathan Creek provide the answer?
[Solution]
Quiz
Five quick questions to test your knowledge of the episode.
Alan Davies
"The role that Jack Dee played was perfect - a dour, bright, creative type. Dour and bright is a contradiction, but you understand what I mean. Originally I think Jack may have played the role that John Bird took in an earlier episode, and I think that David was always keen to have Jack in. He was a big admirer of his and it worked very well.
"Also in that episode was one of my favourite actresses, Sophie Thomson. We were really chuffed to have her. [She's] extremely funny and talented, another one of those people who, in another life, would be a household name but is just much respected and always in work. I hope she is anyway, I haven't seen her recently.
David Renwick
"Brendon Baxter was someone I came up with to spice up the whole relationship between Carla and Creek. I'm always desperate to do what people aren't expecting to do.
"We had a big debate in Miracle In Crooked Lane about the fact that I had suddenly plonked in a scene with Jonathan and Maddy in bed together, saying: "Well, we finally did it." "Yes, we won't be doing it again." "No we won't." I just loved the fact that we just got it out of the way and didn't labour it, with people saying "Will they, won't they?" Who cares?
"I enjoy it far more when they're bickering and being abusive to each other - that's where all the fun is to me - it's not like a soppy, romantic thing. I thought it worked very well, and it was the same with Carla. I thought, 'Why don't I just start these shows and have her married?'
"There was some doubt cast upon that. I think Verity said, "Do we really want this, isn't this going to ruin the sexual chemistry between the two of them if she's married?" I said, "No, I think it gives it a far more interesting and novel sexual chemistry that not only is she married - so she's kind of tied up - but then there's a suggestion that she might have got married for the wrong reasons."
Booked at last:
Tamsin Greig, who played dog (and Creek) loving hairdresser Pam, was one of the two frontrunners to play Carla Borrego, alongside Julia Sawalha. Unfortunately she was unavailable, playing Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel Four comedy Black Books at the time.
Cameo King:
David Renwick is seen briefly as one of Dorothy's co-conspiritors. He was also the distorted voice of skeleton-costumed Lorna in Danse Macabre.
The Solution: (point your mouse over the space below)
Dudley's housekeeper, Dorothy, had arranged for Maria to be abducted and filmed having her head shaved, supposedly as part of a ransom demand. Dorothy had also planted a suspicious looking envelope with a fake videotape and locks of hair for Dudley to discover. He was meant to assume that Maria was planning on sending him this to extort ransom money from him.
The reason Maria sported a full head of hair after the tape had supposedly been made was because the kidnapping took place after Maria had fought Sally Ellen and left. When Dorothy appeared to play the prerecorded tape in Houseman's VCR, she was actually accessing a CCTV picture of Maria, kidnapped minutes before and held captive in a nearby lorry.
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Trivia
Three of The Young Ones have appeared in Jonathan Creek - Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer and Ade Edmondson.
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