The show’s premise is unspectacular, but it’s the delivery that makes it enjoyable, as well as Cole’s impressive effort at holding things together – talking to a bunch of puppets for an hour straight can’t be easy. Detective Feltz seeks to find the killer of greedy property developer John Bearington III by interrogating five suspects. These witnesses consist of Sister Ruth with the shady past, Bearington’s mistress, his daughter, his ex-employee and the superintendant.
Every puppet has a genuine motive to kill the despicable character of Bearington (a puppet seen only in an opening noir-style clip that depicts the investigation of his death), and this cleverly written storyline is multi-layered and plays with the element of suspense until the last scene.
For a show that is unrelenting and shameless with puns, the humour (and Cole’s fake accent) is initially quirky and charming, but eventually appears to be a vehicle on which the story relies. Who Killed John Bearington III is successful in staying true to its genre from start to finish, although it may not be what a modern-day audience responds to. The obvious humour seemed more suited to an older demographic, rather than the Gen Y crowd the show attracted.
Delightfully-cheesy in parts and tedious in others, Who Killed John Bearington III is a decent first effort for White-Knight Productions. It has some really good things going for it: a strong setup, solid characters, some witty humour and best of all, puppets. Ultimately though, the show seemed to drag once the murder-mystery gimmick wore off, and an ending was all-too anticipated.
