Inside Soap (3-9 April 2010)

Our favourite windmill-dwelling magician's assistant returns for a new special on BBC1 this week, in which he investigates a case involving a young woman who seems to be possessed by the spirit of a Victorian sorceress.

"It's a very dark story," reveals Alan Davis, who plays the sleuth. "It's also the first time you see Jonathan in court. Often he doesn't have a lot to do with the police - they just turn up and say, 'Thank you very much, Mr Creek' and take the culprit away - so to play that side ws interesting."
This new case also sees the return of paranormal investigator Joey Ross, played by Sheridan Smith, who finds herself recruited for conjurer Adam Klaus' stage show.
"That was quite a surprise," she tells us. "I can't swim, and in the last special I got plunged into water, and I'm scared of heights, so for this one I'm up on wires! I'm conquering all my fears through Jonathan Creek."
Although Jonathan and Joey have gone their seperate ways since the last case, it's not long before they're reunited.
"She tracks him down, and he pretends to be irritated," Alan grins. "There's something intriguing about her, as there is with Sheridan in real life! Joey's like an irritating little sister."
"She rubs him up the wrong way," Sheridan agrees. "But I'm so thrilled to be back - I thought I might have been booted out!"
Jonathan's first meeting with tthe troubled young lady, Emily, takes place before he gets involved in the case, and the chance encounter suggests a hint of romance between the two - which historically is not an area in which he's enjoyed an awful lot of luck!
"Jonathan's had the odd fling," Alan recalls. "He once slept with Maddy Magellan, I think the line afterwards was, 'Well, we won't be doing that again, will we?'. And there was a VAT inspector who was turned on by the fact he kept his receipts in a suitcase. But generally he blows it with girls - and messes up this time, too."
The case throws up plenty of hurdles for Jonathan and Joey to overcome, some of which seem to be paranormal - though Sheridan's unsure about how much she believes in the ghostly side of things.
"I'm a bit on the fence," she shares. "I daren't say I don't believe in case a spirit comes to haunt me! I had to do interviews early one morning for Legally Blonde, which I'm appearing in in the West End, and thought, 'Shall I just stay the night at the theatre?'. But I decided there wasn't a chance I was sleeping there on my own in case the theatre ghost got me!"