Jonathan Creek preview

This evening, the mop-headed magician's assistant returns to BBC1 to solve another howdunnit, involving a West End play, a locked room and a grinning corpse.

The top 5 Jonathan Creek episodes

To mark the show's return, and to divide opinion among fans, we put on our duffel coat and put together our Top 5 Jonathan Creek episodes.

Preview: Jonathan Creek - series 5

This new series of Jonathan Creek is a nice return to form.

Alan Davies interview

"He's certainly punching above his weight in the wife department," laughs Alan Davies, 47, who has played Jonathan Creek since 1997.

Alan Davies interview

TV Choice caught up with Alan Davies on set...

Jonathan Creek makes fun of Cumberbatch's Sherlock

He is sporting a long black coat, has a thick crop of dark hair and an obsessive an eye for detail. But this man is not Benedct Cumberbatch's Sherlock (in case his sideburns didn't give it away) but a criminology student called Ridley in a deliberate mickey take that features in the upcoming return of Alan Davies's rival BBC One crime series Jonathan Creek.

Jonathan Creek then and now

In the 17 year history of the programme, he has attracted many a love interest carelessly working his way through Caroline Quentin, Julia Sawalha, Sheridan Smith and now, as his wife no less, Sarah Alexander.

Jonathan Creek takes aim at Sherlock

The new series of Alan Davies's whodunit introduces a character who claims to be able to make Sherlock-like deductions - but can't - in a send up of the hit BBC One drama.

Sheridan Smith quits Jonathan Creek

Sheridan Smith has quit as Jonathan Creek's sidekick because she is too busy with other projects. Now Sarah Alexander, who was introduced to the show at Easter as Jonathan's wife Polly Creek, is to take over in the role of his assistant.

The comedy crime series Jonathan Creek returns for its first outing since 2010 and it's still as baffling as ever, although there have been a few changes...

The main change is that Creek (Alan Davies) has left the world of magic and his windmill home for an ordinary working life in an office, having married a lady called Polly (Sarah Alexander). While Polly goes away on a business trip, however, his sidekick Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) tells Jonathan about a murder case involving an old friend's vanishing corpse in a locked room. Creek decides to dust off his duffle coat to take on the case - one that involves an old acquaintance of his: overbearing cop D.I. Gideon Pryke (Rik Mayall).

This episode had its ups and downs. I did feel myself giving a bit of a cheer when I saw Creek going through his wardrobe and pulling out his trademark duffle coat. The supporting cast performed well, although given that included the likes of Mayall, Joanna Lumley and Nigel Planer it's not surprising. What was surprising, however, is that given how energetic Mayall usually is it was interesting and refreshing to see him perform a role which demands almost no movement. There were some funny moments too, such as when Joey believes she has discovered a code, only to find out that Creek has solved it already. The way it's revealed was hilarious.

However, in terms of the case itself, there were some flaws in it. My brother was watching the episode as well, and remarked on one of the clues, which was a pair of footprints right up against a wall. The way the footprints were formed we by a pair of shoes being dropped from a high window and landing perfectly next to each other just in that spot. As my brother pointed out, surely the shoes would not have fallen straight to the ground, but tumbled as they fell.

So in this case, the performances as we good, but the writing could have been better. A new series is in the works so hopefully the show will return to form.