Is it still dependant on something?
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Well it might not happen if I fail to write something good.
I shouldnt be spreading doom and gloom and doubt and insecurities, although thats my role!
We hope to go into pre-production sometime in the summer so it will be tight!
Each one, I have tried to address as a one-off really.
I fancied doing a serial of some kind afterJonathan Creek, something in a similar mode toJonathan Creek.
I wrote four of those and it was turned down!
So that took up a large part of that year.
It fell through because I walked off!
I felt we were going in different directions really.
Is it something that still might happen?
No, not now.
Theyre kind of thrown together in a rather ungainly relationship.
I thought it had interesting possibilities, and that was one of the things that appealed to ITV.
I mean this man is seen in a coffin at the beginning of episode one and never again!
It was a bitRebecca-like in that respect.
They want to explore more of the relationship with the husband and the father.
That and a million other things meant it didnt happen.
It must be quite frustrating to have come that far with writing it and then it doesnt happen?
Yes, very frustrating at the time.
Who was going to play the step-mother?
That was still to be decided and also part of the problem; casting was part of the problem.
There were all sorts of availability problems.
Is that a problem with Jonathan Creek as well?
It has such a fantastic cast.
Where do you find the inspiration for the tricks, if that is the starting point for Jonathan Creek?
Do magicians ever say Oh you should try this or that?!
It must be quite hard to come up with the ideas?
you might use books, I have read Houdinis secrets and all of that.
Everything is there somewhere if you could look it all up.
Most of it is fairly boring of course, this is the trouble.
One of the problems is coming up with a solution that you still feel fulfilled by.
Its like when you see David Copperfield flying around the stage, you know it must be wires!
But to see all the complexities of the gantries and wires and rails wouldnt be particularly illuminating or enthralling.
You just want to see the trick!
Is there a favourite you have written over the years?
I dont know, I am mentally spooling through twenty-eight episodes and solutions.
Why hadnt I brought him back before?
Everything is better as a one off!
Then you have to think if you do bring him back, what do you do with him?
I think a lot of my decisions for his character were triggered because of the accident he had himself.
Although he had the accident before he came toJonathan Creekthe first time, forThe Black Canary.
That was the first thing on television he did after his accident.
I just keep thinking, Will I be able to think of anymore?
Obviously something likeJonathan Creekwas a pre-existing property and doesnt fall into that category.
I think that might be a bit of biting the hand that feeds you.
I dont know, I dont rule anything out particularly.
So that was how that came about.
David Renwick, thank you very much!
