History Trivia / JonathanCreek

* ActingForTwo: Alice Pattern plays two roles in "Gorgon's Wood"; The niece of a celebrity chef who sweet-talked her uncle into lending a multi-million-pound relic to her mother's museum [[spoiler:so they could steal it, and the prostitute she used to "sweeten" the deal.]]

** John Bird plays D.I. Gallo in "The Three Gamblers" and Horace Greeley in "The Sinner and the Sandman".

* CreatorChosenCasting: Caroline Quentin was always David Renwick's first choice for Maddy Magellan, while Alan Davies was cast after director Susan Belbin saw him during a rehearsal for a sitcom. Davies was invited round to talk to Renwick and "turned up in his duffle coat with straggly hair and a broad grin [and] was self-evidently the closest match yet to Creek as we had always seen him".

* ThePeteBest: Stuart Milligan is considered the definitive Adam Klaus, particularly since Creator/AnthonyStewartHead only played him in the pilot episode.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: In the first episode, Maddy is amazed at how computers can be used to touch up photos. In the years since, people are more amazed at seeing photos that ''haven't'' been altered in any way.

** Nicholas Lyndhurst was the first choice to play Jonathan. He read the script and felt it wasn't for him.
** Anthony Head's Adam Klaus was meant to be in every episode of the first series, but there were budget issues that required elaborate scenes to be scaled down and superfluous ones to be cut altogether. Klaus' scenes frequently fell under both categories, and hence he was removed entirely.

* CastTheRunnerUp: Quite a few candidates for Jonathan Creek appeared in the series:
** Creator/HughLaurie was actually cast at one point before the pilot was filmed, but left the project because of Jonathan's reluctance to solve crimes -- Laurie couldn't find the character's motivation for ''actually'' following Maddy on her investigations. Somewhat ironic, given that Series/{{House}} is something of a DrJerk Jonathan Creek - obsessed with puzzles, not so much with people.
** Creator/RikMayall later turns up in the series as a police detective who's just as smart as Jonathan, and Creator/BillBailey as a hapless magician who decidedly isn't.

** A straighter example is Maddy's cameraman boyfriend from the pilot (played by Alistair McGowan) who was intended to become a recurring character, but is never mentioned again.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: In the first episode, Maddy is amazed at how computers can be used to touch up photos. In the years since, people are more amazed at seeing photos that ''haven't''been altered in any way.

* TakeThat: The first episode of the 2014 series features a young upstart detective whose dress and mannerisms are all digs at BBC's own ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', right down to the distinctive camera zooms and editing when he's making his deductions. Of course, Jonathan Creek was solving impossible crimes on BBC primetime ''before'' it was cool, so he has to take the newcomer down a peg or two.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Previous candidates for the role of Jonathan included Creator/RikMayall, Creator/HughLaurie (who was still being typecast as an UpperClassTwit back then) and even Music/BillBailey.
** Hugh Laurie was actually cast at one point before the pilot was filmed, but left the project because of Jonathan's reluctance to solve crimes -- Laurie couldn't find the character's motivation for ''actually'' following Maddy on her investigations. Somewhat ironic, given that Series/{{House}} is something of a DrJerk Jonathan Creek - obsessed with puzzles, not so much with people.
** Rik Mayall later turns up in the series as a police detective who's just as smart as Jonathan, and Bill Bailey as a hapless magician who decidedly isn't.

* TakeThat: The first episode of the 2014 series features a young upstart detective whose dress and mannerisms are all digs at BBC's own ''{{Sherlock}}'', right down to the distinctive camera zooms and editing when he's making his deductions. Of course, Jonathan Creek was solving impossible crimes on BBC primetime ''before'' it was cool, so he has to take the newcomer down a peg or two.

* TakeThat: The first episode of the 2014 series features a young upstart detective whose dress and mannerisms are all digs at BBC's own {{Sherlock}}, right down to the distinctive camera zooms and editing when he's making his deductions. Of course, Jonathan Creek was solving impossible crimes on BBC primetime ''before'' it was cool, so he has to take the newcomer down a peg or two.

* TheOtherDarrin: Adam Klaus was played by Anthony Head in the first episode but he had to drop out owing to his role in [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] although his photo appears on Adam Klaus t-shirts and posters throughout Series One. From Series 2 onwards he's played by Stuart Milligan, and appears in pretty much every episode.
* ThePeteBest: Stuart Milligan is considered the definitive Adam Klaus, particularly since Anthony Stewart Head only played him in the pilot episode.

* RetroactiveRecognition: The [[spoiler: fake]] police guard in "The Three Gamblers" is a young [[Series/InspectorGeorgeGently Sgt. Bacchus]]! He changed a lot in the intervening decade, but you'll recognise the voice.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Previous candidates for the role of Jonathan included Creator/RikMayall, Creator/HughLaurie (who was still being typecast as an UpperClassTwit back then) and even BillBailey.

** A straighter example is Maddy's cameraman boyfriend from the pilot (played by [[HeyItsThatGuy Alistair McGowan]]) who was intended to become a recurring character, but is never mentioned again.
* RetroactiveRecognition: The [[spoiler: fake]] police guard in "The Three Gamblers" is a young [[Series/InspectorGeorgeGently Sgt. Bacchus]]! He changed a lot in the intervening decade, but you'll [[HeyItsThatVoice recognise the voice]].

* HeyItsThatGuy: Possibly second only to ''Series/DoctorWho'' for having a reputation for well-known British actors in unlikely roles.
** From ''Doctor Who'':
*** The Fifth Doctor as a vicar in "Danse Macabre"
*** The Sixth is the murder victim in the pilot episode.
*** And the Eighth appears in the 2010 Easter special "The Judas Tree".
*** While Joey, Jonathan's partner from "The Grinning Man" onwards, is the Eighth Doctor's audio companion [[Characters/BigFinishDoctorWho Lucie Miller]].
*** The vicar from "The Judas Tree" is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E3VictoryOfTheDaleks Churchill]]!
*** Romana appears in "Satan's Chimney".
*** Vicki is in "Jack in the Box".
*** Martha's mum Francine, meanwhile, stars in "The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish".
*** And Carla is [[Recap/DoctorWhoTheCurseOfFatalDeath Emma]].
** Comedian Creator/BobMonkhouse as the AssholeVictim Sylvester Le Fley in "The Scented Room" - Monkhouse later used this as an example for his comment "my non-comedic acting roles tend to be the sort of person who would keep their cocoa warm by burning down an orphanage".
** "Black Canary" features [[Series/{{Coupling}} Kate Isitt]] as Charlotte and [[Radio/GoodnessGraciousMe Sanjeev Bhaskar]] as a doctor.
** "The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish" had [[Series/NotTheNineOClockNews Griff Rhys Jones]] as a lawyer.
** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Adrian Edmondson]] appears in a recurring role as Carla Borrego's husband, Creator/RikMayall appears as Gideon Pryke, and Nigel Planer shows up as Maddy's blind date in "The Reconstituted Corpse". If they'd gotten Christopher Ryan as well, they'd have a full set of [[Series/TheYoungOnes Young Ones.]]
** Comedian Jack Dee in "Angel Hair" as a songwriter who married a pop starlet (whose actress is probably still well-remembered from ''Series/CoronationStreet'').
** [[Series/RedDwarf Hattie Hayridge]] appears as a comedy magician.
** A somewhat obscure one: One of Adam's girlfriends was Eurydice in Jim Henson's ''Series/TheStoryteller.''
** [[Series/OneFootInTheGrave Margret]] appears as Jonathan's doctor and the wife of the murder victim in "The House of Monkeys".
** Gillian Bailey in "Gorgon's Wood" is also [[{{Series/Merlin}} Prince Arthur's mother]].
** [[Series/{{Hustle}} Eddy]] shows up in season 1 as a band member and season 2 as a bum.
** [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Geoffrey McGivern]] appears in a few episodes as Maddy's publicist.
** Music/BillBailey appears twice as street performer Kenny Starkiss.
** [[Series/{{Coupling}} Susan Walker]] is [[spoiler: Jonathan's wife]] Polly.

** "Black Canary" features [[Series/TheYoungOnes Rik Mayall]] as Gideon Pryke, [[Series/{{Coupling}} Kate Isitt]] as Charlotte, and [[Radio/GoodnessGraciousMe Sanjeev Bhaskar]] as a doctor. Pryke returns in "The Case of the Savant's Thumb".

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Adrian Edmondson]] appears in a recurring role as Carla Borrego's husband, Creator/Rik Mayall appears as Gideon Pryke, and Nigel Planer shows up as Maddy's blind date in "The Reconstituted Corpse". If they'd gotten Christopher Ryan as well, they'd have a full set of [[Series/TheYoungOnes Young Ones.]]

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Adrian Edmondson]] appears in a recurring role as Carla Borrego's husband in Series 4.

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Nigel Planer]] shows up as Maddy's blind date in "The Reconstituted Corpse".

** Comedian BobMonkhouse as the AssholeVictim Sylvester Le Fley in "The Scented Room" - Monkhouse later used this as an example for his comment "my non-comedic acting roles tend to be the sort of person who would keep their cocoa warm by burning down an orphanage".

** "The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish" had [[Series/NotTheNineOClockNews Griff Rhys Jones]] as a lawyer .

*** The vicar from "The Judas Tree" is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E03VictoryOfTheDaleks Churchill]]!