MovieChat Forums > Banacek (1972) Discussion > If you like this series.....

If you like this series.....

posted 10 years ago by spacekadet3
12 replies | jump to latest

You will like the British series Jonathan Creek. Found this show by googling "tv shows like Banacek" after buying and watching all the Banaceks about 2 years ago. If you like the seemingly impossible crimes with clues along the way and the solution in the last scene aspect of Banacek give this a try. Jonathan is a sort of nerdy but highly intelligent inventor of magic tricks for a womanising wealthy American magician. He gets roped into (season one) helping solve locked room type crimes then, as the seasons progress, becomes more and more famous as someone to call when others are stumped. The first few seasons are funny and smart. Most are almost always on youtube.

[–] Evariste-Galois 10 years ago

Thanks for the heads-up!

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

Thanks! So that's two "new" mystery series brought to my attention today!

Both series involve locked room mysteries? Sounds totally up my alley!

Have you heard of the author John Dickson Carr? He wrote a lot of locked room mysteries, some under the name of Carter Dickson. If you can find any of his books, they are worth reading. I admit that the ones I've read made my head spin.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] spacekadet3 10 years ago

I looked him up a few years ago to see if any of his works were made into movies but could only find radio broadcasts. I think if Carr was around today he would have written Jonathan Creek.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

Very few of his stories were filmed, but he did write a lot of radio plays for the Suspense series. Those radio plays are posted on archive.org.

If you want to read his stories, I recommend you check the local university. Public libraries generally don't have a lot of the out-of-print books, but universities do. If you don't live near a university, then use the interlibrary loan feature (where the books from another library are shipped to your local library). They might be able to get you those books from another state/province. Or just order them or something. Good luck with that, and enjoy!

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

[–] Evariste-Galois 10 years ago

Long before there was an Internet, I would guess it was in the late 60s to early 70s, he put together complete sets of original (mint) books for Rex Stout, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, and Agatha Christie.

The phone would ring at some of the oddest hours and it would be a dealer with a book. In essence: if he didn't take it, the odds were the next person on the list would.

I don't remember the book or the series, but a photocopy of one book was selling for $125. Mind you, the process of making those copies would cost a lot of money.

e.g.

"When you're good at something, never do it for free."

Joker, "The Dark Knight"

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I'm tempted to buy all those books, but they are pricey and they take up a lot of space. I prefer to just get them from the library (university libraries have more of those out-of-print books and it's easy to get a guest bar code with them these days).

Still, I wish that I could have all those wonderful books on my bookshelf and that someone else could do the dusting for me. I could just do the reading.

I like a lot of the pre-1945 Agatha Christie mysteries. I have read a lot of the John Dickson Carr books, and many of the conclusions made my head spin. I love his radio plays...they are posted on archive.org (Suspense series). The Ellery Queen books are hit and miss: some are excellent and some are extremely poor. I love the Ellery Queen radio plays as well. Those Ellery Queen minute mysteries are quite interesting (also on archive.org). I don't care much for Rex Stout, although I have seen some of the movie and TV adaptations. The TV series from about 13 years ago (Nero Wolfe) has the best soundtrack I've ever heard in any TV series.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

[–] steelblue55 9 years ago

Have been watching Banacek reruns for the first time in years and saw your comment. Thanks for the tip on Johnathan Creek. I'm going to save it for a few months and check it out this winter when there is more tv time.

There are two other shows that came to mind if you like banacek, but the crimes are murder not theft. One is monk. A casual rerun watcher may not see the link, but if you watch the first season typically the case was the "impossible" kind and monk is the brilliant detective that solves it. As the show went on the cases became more normal and it focused more on the characters and the comedy side.

The other one is called "Death in Paradise", a BBC show that turned up on PBS. It's the fish out of water theme with an uptight London detective sent to an island, but he doesn't relax or enjoy it. Each episode is a murder including the locked room and many other "impossible" types. The first two seasons, with DI Poole are pretty consistent with the type of crime. In season 3 the main character was replaced, the tone changed, and the murders become more normal. It's not bad, but doesn't have quite the same "puzzle" approach as the others.

Any other recommendations from anyone?

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 9 years ago

There is also the 1946 film The Verdict, starring Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. That is one fantastic film, and it's a locked room mystery.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

[–] steelblue55 8 years ago

Thanks for the recommendation. Am a huge Peter Lorre fan so that's enough to make me watch it, and it doesn't sound like one I have seen. I checked my tv provider and tcm and it's not scheduled or listed as available on demand, so will have to keep an eye out for it.... maybe check the libraries also.

Winter and prime tv viewing is coming soon....

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 8 years ago

I hope that you are able to find it soon!



Enjoy!

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

[–] Evariste-Galois 8 years ago

It's interesting to compare the schedules (just to keep things chronological) here: IMDB, EpGuides.com (http://epguides.com, http://www.jonathancreek.net/episodeguide.asp, and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jonathan+creek+full+episodes

YouTube also hints at "Surprise Episodes" but there's the result of a TakeDown request - strangely, the rest of the episodes seem to remain intact.

This looks interesting: http://www.virginmedia.com/newsfeeds//11587/2015/07/08/alan-davies-wants-to-bring/

I've neither checked Netflix nor Hulu, but those might be interesting places to investigate.

Finally, there are DVDs available, but they seem restricted to the UK and Australia - it's not that it surprises me, but...I just checked Amazon... They mention a region other than the US in (just) one - the others appear to either not be specified or okay in the US.

[–] vranger (444) 3 years ago

Here's an oldie but a goodie:

The Kennel Murder Case, with William Powell :-)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024210/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_41