The new series from MacKenzie Crook. It starts on BBC2 this evening (9-2-26) 10.00pm BBC2. It’s also available on the BBC Iplayer too.
I’m sure I’m not the only one looking forward to this.
Be careful – no spolier alerts please.
Small Prophets
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Looking forward to this too.
Yes, me too. He has a lovely rural/folkish emphasis in his writing that I really like.
Detectorists is of course perfection, and I would put the last episode – with the Witness-style gazebo-raising, silent and unmentioned marriage proposal, and last-minute revelation – in contention as one of the best finales to any series. Somewhere it is always summer in that beautiful field, and the sun is always about to start dipping low behind a welcoming country pub.
His Worzel Gummidge was nominally for kids, but I didn’t care – once again his love of the countryside and the people who live in it, plus their ways and traditions, shone through (see also Bridget Christie’s The Change for a similar passion for rural life).
Crook seems to plough his own little TV furrow, but according to something I saw on Facebook (so it MUST be true), he’s worth 6 million of your English pounds. Very well deserved, I say.
Also, out of those who made their name in The Office, I would much rather watch anything from Mackenzie Crook than anything from the *vastly* overrated (not least by himself – see him laugh at his own material) Ricky Gervais. He and his shows leave me absolutely cold.
ditto. Espesh re: Crook’s charm and cultural value.
Also the nasty aftertaste left by Gervais.
We binged the whole lot tonight and loved it. The best thing I’ve seen so far on TV this year by some way.
I’ve just done the first three as it’s nearly time to hit the hay. Michael Palin’s character reminded me if my dad especially, and this is not a spoiler, when they mentioned a knitting machine. When he died I found six knitting machines in the house.
I watched the first episode and liked it. No iplayer here (at least not without some technical jiggery-pokery) so I’ll have to remember to watch the old-fashioned way. Same time next week…
Have watched them all now- loved it, including the speed boat chase at the end!
Spoiler?
Or red herring?
I’ll start watching it after I’ve had me tea.
It’s just after the shootout – no it’s very gentle (unless that itself is a spoiler)
Looks interesting
I loved Detectorists.
And I wish that I’d seen Mackenzie Crook in Jez Butterworth’s “Jerusalem” on the London stage…
I saw it, it was one of the best things I have ever seen in the theatre. Mackenzie Crook was excellent, but Mark Rylance was truly astonishing.
It took us two seasons to get into the Detectorists. We’ve watched the first two episodes of Small Prophets and once again wondering what the fuss is about. No doubt we’ll be proved Wrong once again.
And by the way, what’s the point of splitting it into 6 episodes, surely much better as a two- parter?
We watched the first two episodes last night and were absolutely enchanted. I expect you were distracted by your Wordle duties.
It was intriguing but if it wasn’t for Detectorists I think I’d have given up by now. And Michael Palin simply can’t do doddery old man (even though he is).
As I said above, I’m sure I’m Wrong and will end up loving it …
I feel pretty much the same way. Lovely as it is I don’t think it works as well as The Detectorists. The plot is just ever so slightly too ridiculous for me to align the supernatural element with the everyday- the dividing line is too severe. I understand there will be a second series so that would explain why so many of the story elements were left unresolved. By the way, am I the only one to see a slight resemblance to Steve Coogan’s (brilliant but woefully overlooked) Saxondale- both in the appearance of Michael and with his passive aggressive neighbour?
The first time I saw the trailer, for a moment I thought it was the return of the taciturn genius that was Saxondale.
We’ve only watched the first part of Small Prophets, but we are immediately intrigued and hooked. I’m not comparing it with The Detectorists, it’s an entirely different beast, so it’s far too early to say whether or not it ‘works’ as well as that did.
I can’t agree with Lodes verdict regarding Palin’s old doddery man; we see the contrasting clarity of his memories of Egypt with the random fog of forgetfulness about other aspects of his family’s history. In that respect he is anything but doddery, as he’s still focused upon what is of profound importance to him. It’s an amplification of the impact of his Egyptian experience that is then transferred to his son; I think Palin brought that across well.
[Potential slight plot spoiler but I’ll try to keep it vague]
There is a development near the end when Palin reveals an important piece of information regarding the homunculi. When I watched I though that was a lapse in the writing, but it makes sense if you accept Pailin’s character not being in complete control of all his memories at a particular time.
Without going into too much detail, the alignment of the supernatural with the everyday was one of the show’s major pleasures, I thought.
Talking of the supernatural, two evenings running my health app has shown me as fast asleep while watching a couple of episodes of Small Prophets. I’ve obviously reached a state of perfect bliss.
Excellent!
Loved the detectorists but small prophets is rather meh.
Binge watched it last night and give it nine out of ten. It has quite a few of those brilliant moments where I was expecting one thing and then Crook’s script/plot caught me off-guard, as per The Detectorists, but sometimes it felt a bit rushed (unlike The Detectorists) and, perhaps, contrived (cue shots of nature and assorted quirky characters).
Sequels are clearly on the cards. Should that come with a spoiler alert? Hope not, but how long does that embargo need to be observed?
Embargo until I’ve watched it at least! I could binge watch it but I’m trying to make it last a little while. I shall watch ep’s 3&4 this evening and 5&6 by the end of the week.
If you must jump the gun head up your post ‘Spoiler alert’ and that will be fine.
Cheers (;
Thoroughly enjoyed it. Mackenzie Crook has a great imagination and he has done it again with this. Looking forward to more of his work,soon I hope.
We’ve watched two episodes, but wish I hadn’t read the 5 star reviews as I think my expectations were set a bit high. We will definitely stick with it though, as there are some brilliant laugh out loud moments, particularly around customer interactions in the DIY store, and it’s lovely to see Michael Palin again.
Saw the first one (on You Tube) tonight. Yep, very much the kind of thing I like. There’s a detail I don’t quite understand but maybe it’ll resolve itself later.
Watched 1st episode, quite liked it apart from the music. Really dislike that slowed down acoustic stuff with female vocals. Probably just me
Binged the rest this evening. I’ll be thinking about it for days. We really enjoyed it.
Music spoiler alert!
4 words
Modest Mouse Float on
It’s no Float On by The Floaters though.
A song for busted flushes everywhere.
Modest Mouse I liked that.
I enjoyed this bit too
It is not up there with Detectorists, but that was a one off & will likely never be bettered IMHO.
However, i certainly enjoyed it & enjoyed the unlikely friendship- Lauren Patel was great casting for that role. I agree with a comment above about it feeling a bit rushed & would have loved the pace to be a bit more detectoristy (not a word)
We did all 6 episodes on iPlayer over 3 nights & as we live near Stockport, enjoyed an added fun game of ‘oh that’s the cafe on Hillgate’
My son lives in Stockport i’ll have a look for it when I’m next there.
Time will tell how much I like Small Prophets however I was slightly underwhelmed by The Detectorists. It was very enjoyable, but I felt it was a little too pleased with itself, especially the longer it went on. Still glad I watched it though
Loved the bit about the buckets…particularly with the backdrop!
Celebrity Barrel Scrapers!
Watched the last episode last night (the one with the speedboat chase).
We were delighted, charmed, intrigued, laughed out loud several times, spotted little touches of cheeky brilliance and can’t wait to see more of the yarn.
Outstanding work I reckon.
It’s wonderful. The attention to detail and the little touches are fabulous. The Danish handball match was commentated on by the Greeters Guild head honcho (and rather good 80’s footballer) Jan Molby.