🔥 EXCLUSIVE: Mackenzie Crook On His Ambitious Return To The BBC With ‘Small Prophets’ — “It’s The Strangest, Saddest Comedy I’ve Ever Written”
EXCLUSIVE: Mackenzie Crook On His Ambitious Return To The BBC With ‘Small Prophets’ — “It’s The Strangest, Saddest Comedy I’ve Ever Written”
When Detectorists quietly became one of the BBC’s most beloved comedies of the last decade, Mackenzie Crook cemented himself as one of Britain’s most distinctive creative voices — a storyteller capable of weaving tenderness and absurdity into something almost sacred.
Three years later, Crook is back. And this time, he’s trading metal detectors for the occult.
At MIPCOM Cannes, Crook unveiled Small Prophets, a six-part comedy-drama that he created, wrote, and directed. Produced by his Treasure Trove Productions and Blue House Productions, and distributed internationally by Sphere Abacus, Small Prophets marks Crook’s long-awaited return to television — and his boldest project yet.
“I call it a sad comedy,” Crook tells Deadline, sipping tea in a modest corner of the Majestic Hotel. “It’s about grief, superstition, and trying to make sense of the world when logic stops helping you. It’s funny, but it hurts a little too.”
From Alchemy to Absurdity
At the center of Small Prophets is Michael Sleep, played by Pearce Quigley — a mild-mannered man running a near-empty DIY store in suburban Manchester, still haunted by the disappearance of his partner Clea seven years earlier.
When his eccentric father Brian (played by the legendary Michael Palin) hands him a centuries-old recipe involving rainwater, horse manure, and alchemy to create “homunculi” — tiny, prophetic spirits — Michael’s quiet despair curdles into obsession.
“Michael is not a scientist. He’s a man who’s lost faith in everything,” Crook explains. “So when his dad gives him this bizarre, half-insane recipe, he thinks, why not? It’s a way of doing something, of feeling alive again.”
As Michael begins experimenting in his shed, aided by an unlikely ally — Kacey, a young cashier (Lauren Patel) who shares his disdain for their overbearing boss Gordon (played, in a surprising turn, by Crook himself) — the pair’s friendship deepens in ways neither expects.
Meanwhile, nosy neighbors played by Sophie Willan and Jon Pointing grow suspicious of the strange noises emanating from Michael’s garden.
What follows is a story that’s part domestic comedy, part supernatural parable — blending Detectorists’ wistful tone with a pinch of Pan’s Labyrinth’s magical realism.
“It’s Funny Because It’s So Human”
Crook admits the idea took root over a decade ago.
“I was reading about Paracelsus, this medieval alchemist, and came across a passage about creating prophetic spirits,” he recalls. “It just stuck with me. The language was beautiful, mystical — but there was also something deeply sad about it, this longing to make the invisible visible.”
That melancholy became the seed of Small Prophets.
But it wasn’t until Crook decided to write something for Pearce Quigley — his friend and collaborator from Detectorists — that the idea crystallized.
“Pearce has always been one of my favorite actors,” Crook says. “He’s got this dry, soulful humor that can turn tragic at any moment. I wanted to give him something meaty — a proper leading role.”
Producer Gill Isles (Car Share, Detectorists) was immediately on board.
“When Mackenzie sent me the first pages, I was hooked,” Isles tells Deadline. “It’s such an odd mix — grief, comedy, folklore, stop-motion animation — but somehow it works. Every time he brings me something new, it’s something I’ve never seen before.”
Stop-Motion Spirits & the Grotesque
In one of Small Prophets’ most daring creative choices, the “homunculi” — the small, magical beings that Michael tries to summon — are brought to life through stop-motion animation.
Crook collaborated with Scottish animators Ainslie Henderson and Will Anderson, known for their BAFTA-winning short The Making of Longbird.
“There’s something beautifully imperfect about stop-motion,” Crook says, holding up one of the tiny clay figures on his phone. “You can see the fingerprints, the tremor of movement. That’s exactly what this show is about — the human hand trying, failing, creating.”
Henderson, who Crook met two decades ago during the early days of reality TV (Fame Academy, of all places), says the collaboration felt “strangely inevitable.”
“Mackenzie’s work always had that tactile, handmade quality,” Henderson explains. “He’s not afraid of showing the seams. When he told me he wanted to make something that looked both magical and slightly wrong — like it shouldn’t exist — I thought, that’s stop-motion in a nutshell.”
Casting A Legend — And A Ghost
Landing Michael Palin was, by all accounts, a dream come true.
“I’d worked with Sir Michael on Worzel Gummidge,” says Crook. “He hadn’t acted much recently, but when he read the scripts, he said, ‘It’s mad, it’s moving — I’ll do it.’ He brings this warmth and melancholy that anchors the story.”
For Palin, returning to scripted television after years of travel documentaries was a challenge he embraced.
“I’ve missed the chaos of acting,” Palin said in a statement from the BBC. “And Mackenzie’s writing — it’s deceptively gentle. Beneath the humor, there’s an ache that feels very real. I couldn’t resist it.”
Meanwhile, Lauren Patel, best known for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, brings youthful energy to Kacey — the emotionally bruised yet quietly defiant co-worker who becomes Michael’s partner in his strange pursuit.
“There’s a scene where Kacey asks Michael if he really believes the spirits can talk to him,” Patel shares. “He says, ‘I don’t, but I want to believe.’ That line wrecked me. It’s everything the show is about.”
A “Sad Comedy” For Troubled Times
At a time when British comedy is awash with irony, Crook’s brand of “gentle realism” feels almost radical.
“It’s a scary time to be sincere,” he admits. “We live in a cynical world, and I think people are hungry for stories that don’t sneer at hope.”
That philosophy extends to Small Prophets’ tone — equal parts melancholy and whimsy.
“People might laugh at Michael trying to grow a little clay man in a shed,” says Isles, “but they’ll also see themselves in him. Who hasn’t tried something ridiculous just to feel less alone?”
BBC Comedy Controller Jon Petrie calls Small Prophets “a perfect example of the BBC’s mission — to nurture risk-taking storytelling with a big heart.”
“It’s exactly the kind of show that only the BBC would commission,” Petrie says. “No guns, no sex, no cynicism — just magic in the mundane.”
From Detectorists To Divination
Though Crook is reluctant to compare his new work to Detectorists, he acknowledges a spiritual connection.
“Both shows are about people searching — whether for treasure or for meaning,” he reflects. “They’re both quiet stories about obsession and connection.”
Detectorists, which won a BAFTA and later a cult following in the U.S. through streaming, continues to surprise him with its endurance.
“It’s wild,” he laughs. “People still come up to me and say that show got them through lockdown, or grief, or loneliness. That means more to me than any award.”
As for rumors of a Detectorists revival, Crook gently shakes his head.
“I think we’ve said goodbye. I’d rather leave it in peace. There’s a fine line between ‘gentle’ and ‘dull,’” he says with a grin. “We stopped at the right time.”
The Business of Belief
On the business side, Small Prophets arrives at an intriguing moment for British television.
With global streamers tightening budgets and audience attention spans shrinking, BBC Studios and its indie partners are doubling down on distinctive, creator-led comedies — the kind that travel by word of mouth rather than marketing blitzes.
Sphere Abacus, the Canadian distribution arm of Bell Media, snapped up global rights early, sensing international potential in Crook’s brand of bittersweet storytelling.
“Gentle British comedies are having a moment,” says Kate Regan, Sphere Abacus’s Head of Global Sales. “From Fleabag to Detectorists, audiences want emotion over noise. Small Prophets hits that sweet spot.”
Crook, ever modest, seems bemused by the industry buzz.
“I never think in terms of markets,” he shrugs. “I just write what I’d like to watch. If other people like it too, that’s a happy accident.”
Cannes, Croissants, and Chaos
For Crook, attending MIPCOM marks a first — and possibly a last.
“I’ve never been to Cannes before,” he admits, laughing. “I keep hearing people say, ‘You’ll love it!’ and I’m thinking, I just want to talk about clay men and grief.”
Isles recalls the first day of promotion in France: “Mackenzie showed up with a box of the puppets in his suitcase — actual, fragile little clay creatures. He carried them through airport security like they were his children.”
By the second day, Small Prophets had already drawn interest from several European and North American buyers.
“I had execs from Japan, Italy, and Canada asking if the spirits could be dubbed,” Isles laughs. “I told them, ‘They don’t speak — they whisper.’”
A Modest Vision With Monumental Heart
As production wrapped in Manchester earlier this summer, cast and crew gathered for what Isles calls “the gentlest wrap party in television history.”
“There were no fireworks,” she says. “Just tea, cake, and Mackenzie playing guitar in a pub garden. Everyone cried.”
Quigley, reflecting on his first major leading role, says the experience changed him.
“It’s easy to be cynical as a comic actor,” he says. “You spend your career doing punchlines and playing fools. But Mackenzie writes from the soul. Small Prophets reminded me why I started doing this — to make people feel something.”
The Future of Mackenzie Crook
Crook’s filmography is already eclectic — from Pirates of the Caribbean to Game of Thrones, from The Office to Worzel Gummidge — but he insists he’s happiest behind the camera.
“Film acting was great fun,” he says, “but I love TV because it’s intimate. You can make something small and sincere that still finds millions of people. That’s magic.”
Would he ever return to blockbuster filmmaking?
He pauses. “Only if they let me direct a Pirates prequel about a shipwrecked philosopher,” he jokes. “Or maybe a period drama about mushrooms.”
For now, his focus is on Small Prophets — and, if the stars align, a second season.
“I’ve already mapped it out,” he confides. “Season one ends with a ‘to be continued.’ Michael doesn’t find all the answers — and neither do we. There’s more mystery to uncover.”
Isles nods knowingly. “If the BBC says yes, we’re ready to go.”
Epilogue: The Man Who Found Stillness
As the Cannes sunlight fades, Crook glances out toward the harbor, where yachts gleam like tiny prophecies of their own.
“Everything I write comes from the same place,” he says softly. “People trying to listen — to the earth, to the past, to each other. That’s all storytelling really is.”
He smiles, humble as ever. “In a noisy world, sometimes the quietest stories echo the loudest.”
Small Prophets premieres on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in early 2026.
International sales handled by Sphere Abacus.
Directed and written by Mackenzie Crook, produced by Gill Isles, starring Pearce Quigley, Michael Palin, Lauren Patel, Sophie Willan, Jon Pointing, and Mackenzie Crook.