‘Perhaps there is a little wonder left in the world…’
Between 2014 and 2022, writer, director and actor Mackenzie Crook quietly delivered one of the greatest modern-day British comedies with Detectorists, his gentle and loving dissection of what it means to be a hobbyist. I loved it so much that I wrote an article about why I loved it. Small Prophets, Crook’s latest foray into TV comedy, shares more than a few strands of DNA with what came before it and while it never threatens to match it, at least not in this first season, it’s still excellent television…
Michael Sleep (Peace Quigley), an eccentric man who lives alone following the mysterious disappearance of his partner, begins growing homunculi in his garden shed after receiving an alchemical recipe from his ailing father, Brian (Michael Palin). Michael enlists the help of his co-worker and friend, Kacey (Lauren Patel), whilst trying to avoid his Gareth Kennan-esque boss, Gordon (Crook), and his demanding not-quite brother-in-law, Roy (Paul Kaye).
While Small Prophets is never as outright funny as Detectorists, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, most of which come from Quigley, who delivers a memorable and likeable turn as the show’s unlikely protagonist. Mileage will vary with this one depending on your tolerance for magical realism – a curious subgenre that can easily be… well… shit, if not executed properly – but I found the more fantastical elements to be nicely engineered eventually, even the wonky computer effects add to the charm (although I wish Crook would make his needle drops a little more diverse – I’ve heard enough earnest folk music between this and Detectorists to last a lifetime.
Despite being totally different in terms of their premise, if you liked Detectorists, you’ll almost certainly like Small Prophets too. Crook is becoming one of the most reliable TV comedy writers in the business.
