Sarah Alexander

Marley's Ghosts which was of a number of original sitcoms that are to be produced by the repeat-heavy network GOLD. Unlike the Sky and NBC collaboration, Marley's Ghosts is an awfully traditional affair albeit one with a far-fetched plot line in which magistrate Marley (Sarah Alexander) finds herself plagued by a plethora of undead faces from her past. The craziness begins when Marley's drunken husband Adam (John Hannah) dies after choking on a chicken bone. When his ghost reappears at his own funeral, Marley starts conversing with him much to the chagrin of her colleague and lover Michael (Nicholas Burns). Michael's fury at Marley's situation leads him to be hit by the car of the inept local vicar (Jo Joyner) with both eventually dying and joining Adam as ghosts only Marley can see. It's clear to see that writer Daniel Peacock has primarily written for children's TV up to this point as Marley's Ghosts has a rather juvenile streak running throughout it. A lot of the jokes are quite obvious however I have to admit that I did chuckle quite a few times especially at a recurring gag involving a pair of randy pensioners. Despite a loopy premise and some corny gags, Marley's Ghosts was strangely watchable thanks primarily to its game cast. I particularly thought that John Hannah gave a better performance than the show deserved as Marley's depressed husband who realised the error of his ways after his death. Similarly impressive was Jo Joyner who gave one of her best post-Eastenders turns to date and she seemed to be having a whale of time as the kooky vicar. While Marley's Ghosts isn't going to win any points for originality it does give me hope that the people at GOLD know what they're doing when it comes to producing original content and I'm looking forward to what they have to offer in the future.

Even though I don't believe in ghosts whatsoever, I've placed this to one side for this new comedy, where Sarah Alexander is Marley, whose husband, lover, and vicar all kark it in varying degrees of amusingness, and then return to haunt her. John Hannah, Nicholas Burns, and Jo Joyner all torment Alexander in a really annoying and intrusive manner, a set of supernatural pests who exasperate Marley more than frighten her, their presence more like a summer ant infestation than the Amityville horror.

Radio Times review

This original scripted comedy is an attempt by Dave to break out of its reputation for just peddling Mock the Week repeats, and it's certainly an ambitious beginning. Daniel Rigby headlines the series as Chris, a bumbling and allergy-ridden cop sent undercover into the Armenian Mafia who must try to keep his cover without actually committing any crimes.

The series has a strong cast - Coupling's Sarah Alexander is good as Chris's no-nonsense police handler and Sherlock's Yasmine Akram excels as the femme fatale who may suspect Chris's secret - but generally speaking, Undercover's high concept is a little too ambitious to be supported by the weak plotting and thin jokes on offer.

Jonathan Creek's mind meets its match in the problem-solving brilliance of a kidnap victim, held chained in a locked room. Strands of what appear to be separate storylines weave into a neat reveal as we follow the fortunes of a horny cleaner, a corpse in a nice hot bath, visiting twin sisters and party balloons. Josie Lawrence joins Alan Davies and Sarah Alexander for this final jaunt, along with June Whitfield - who puts in a delightful double appearance as the bickering twins.

TV review: Jonathan Creek

All in all, it was well made, great fun, totally implausible and quickly forgotten. Mention should be made of Sarah Alexander's heroic efforts as Creek's wife Polly. Wife, girlfriend, partner or chum, his female sidekick remains one of the most thankless roles on television.

Jonathan Creek: Should it have returned?

The introduction of Sarah Alexander as Creek's wife Polly was a nice touch, but I realised quite quickly that Creek works best when Alan Davies has a sidekick like Caroline Quentin or Sheridan Smith to bounce off of.

Jonathan returns with wife Polly (Sarah Alexander) for a fifth series and he's quickly absorbed in the mystery of an actor stabbed in a locked room. It's a strangely sad case, making Creek's work experience boy, Sherlock-obsessive Ridley, and his extremely weak powers of deduction about the most entertaining aspect here. Better are the uncanny goings-on in Polly's family home after the death of her father, both debunked and given real-life meaning by Creek's enthusiastic cynicism.

After several years away from detecting action, Alan Davies dusts off his dramatic acting talent to tackle three new cases as unofficial sleuth Jonathan Creek. Our hero's trademark low-key humour weaves itself through the mystery action, which kicks off with a spot of smartphone rage on a trip to the theatre with wife Polly (Sarah Alexander, right with Davies). The familiar faces popping up in the loosely strung plot include Raquel Cassidy as a highly strung friend whose son fancies himself as Sherlock Holmes, while Ali Bastian calls on her Strictly experience as an aspiring West End musical star, complete with stalker...

Radio Times review

David Renwick beckons us back into the world of his reluctant detective for the first new series in a decade. And what a horribly strange world it is, full of knowing puzzles and macabre games.

Creek's new wife Polly (Sarah Alexander) is less than keen: "I sometimes wonder, Jonathan, exactly what I married! Free admission for life to the twilight zone?"

This first instalment is typically high black comedy. The main story revolves around an actress in a West End musical (listen out for some fine pastiche Lloyd Webber) who is stabbed in her dressing room, while locked inside - the victim of a seemingly impossible crime.

But that case is just a frame on which to hang all sorts of other treats and tricks, including a lovely bit with a young would-be detective who makes a string of Sherlock-style deductions... that are completely wrong.

It's great fun, and the story becomes like an ingenious music box packed with little clockwork mechanisms. There's a grinning corpse, a mystery letter, a demonic child and a nasty moment with a tuba that is pure, horrible Renwick.

Jonathan Creek: The Letters of Septimus Noone - review

Alan Davies slips back into the title role more easily than he sits on a pony. As his wife Polly, Sarah Alexander brings a sprightly canter to an old dobbin of a show. If anything it's the audience - especially those who weren't wearing their rose-tinted glasses - who'll have felt the most out of place.