Mackenzie Crook on creating Detectorists

Mackenzie Crook talks about writing, performing and creating BBC Four's Detectorists.

Mackenzie Crook was 'very nervous' about directing

The 43-year-old wrote, starred in and directed BBC Four's Detectorists and told Digital Spy that he would be keen to direct again.

Mackenzie Crook writes to metal detecting forum

I'm thrilled that metal detectorists themselves gave the show a chance, enjoyed it and could relate to the situations and characters. Even though the show had to appeal to a wide audience, it's been the views of the detectorists that have been most interesting to me.

Mackenzie Crook interview

I'm always thinking of ideas and trying to keep writing.

Series one of Mackenzie Crook's brooding sitcom bows out tonight, with Crook's character Andy vowing to quit the metal detecting game in order to win back girlfriend Becky. Predictably, it doesn't last long, especially since the high-stakes land at Bishop's Farm has been deserted by the police excavators, leaving the amateur detectorists to have another root around for their fortune. Meanwhile, Lance (Toby Jones) sees the light regarding his ex-wife, and a treasure-related revelation leaves the door for a second series wide open.

Radio Times review

Before this utterly charming series had even begun, headlines were written about the show belittling metal-detecting. Nothing could be further from the truth. The pastime was more of a peg on which to hang a sitcom about people, a celebration of the rural pace of life. It's gathered momentum and confidence as it's gone on, with characters we really care about.

Whether or not the series is recommissioned, the appropriately poetic ending has a "just right" feel to it, and it's better the more you think about it. For Mackenzie Crook, as star, writer and director, Detectorists has been a quiet but unequivocal triumph.

Detectorists, TV review

Mackenzie Crook's sitcom has saved its sparkliest treasures for those who stick around to earn them.

As unobtrusive and gentle as its rural metal-detecting characters, Mackenzie Crook's BBC4 comedy has surreptitiously become indispensable viewing. The hobby-based friendship between Crook and Toby Jones's Andy and Lance may seem trite but there's a wealth of acutely observed detail and subtle humour, and the performances are finely judged.

Radio Times review

A bizarre decision by BBC4 to consign this gently beguiling sitcom to a 10pm grave. Anyone would think the channel was trying to bury it. But Mackenzie Crook's show deserves to stand the test of time, with its sly, nerdy humour and touching interactions.

This week Danebury Metal Detecting Club is looking for a new president, a wedge is driven between friends Andy and Lance, and heartache is in the air. There are nuggets of drama amid the well-staged gags (writer/star Mackenzie Crook is also doing a terrific directing job - look at the opening gag for just one example) and we're desperate to know how the series will pan out. The nervy dynamics of the pub quiz will be familiar to anyone who does them: "Round three: the Balearic Islands"!