IN the spring of 1997 a different type of detective made his debut on BBC television. A story called The Wrestler’s Tomb introduced the world to Jonathan Creek.

David Renwick’s hero was an introverted magician’s consultant who lived in a Sussex windmill. There were no car chases or generic explosions to keep viewers hooked. Just a cracking murder mystery with a hero who was part-Sherlock Holmes and part-Harry Houdini. Seventeen years later the series, like its leading man, is still going strong. Alan Davies is back as that lord of illusions in a Paddington-style coat.

At first it looks like Creek is also back on home ground, as the mystery at the heart of the first episode seems tailormade for him.

A musical version of classic 19th Century “locked-room” novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room has been a huge hit with London theatre audiences, thanks to its mix of gothic melodrama, sizzling romance, and great tunes.

The standing ovations look likely to stop when the leading lady Juno Pirelli (Ali Bastian) is found stabbed in a locked dressing room, with no weapon, no sign of any intruder – and no explanation as to how her attacker escaped.

It sounds like a case for Creek, but he is now happily married and working alongside his wife Polly (Sally Alexander) in the corporate world. As Juno’s life hangs in the balance, you know it’s only a matter of time before Jonathan returns to sleuthing.

With Davies’ 17 years’ experience under his belt, it’s hard to imagine anyone else filling Creek’s shoes these days.

However, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, and Nicholas Lyndhurst were all mooted for the lead before the stand-up comedian signed on the dotted line. He was just the sort of offbeat, bold bit of casting the show needed to stand out from the crowd. Any naysayers who thought Davies out of his depth in his first dramatic role were soon silenced as the show became a massive hit.

Of course there have been plenty of peripheral changes over the years.

Jonathan, like Doctor Who, has seen companions come and go, with original sidekick Maddie Magellan (Caroline Quentin), Carla Borrego (Julia Sawalha) and Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) all moving on to different projects.

Thankfully the writer (Renwick) and leading man return to the scenes of the crime time and again. And with a new generation of fans warming to the older episodes on channels such as Drama, there’s no sign of Jonathan falling out of favour with the masses just yet.

After this run, we have no idea how long it’ll be before Creek returns, but Alan does offer a few words of comfort to die-hard fans. “The duffle coat is always on standby, even if the periods of dufflehibernation are quite long these days”.