The hobby of metal detecting, for many years, has often been viewed as very particular – for a certain type of person. Most of these types of hobbies are often made of small communities who become very much involved in their hobby, and some protective or defensive of it in general. So when the BBC announced Mackenzie Crook’s ‘Detectorists’ in 2014, many detectorists themselves were quite wary, and believed the show would ridicule and make a mockery of the hobby and its enjoyers. But not only is Detectorists a love letter to the hobby of metal detecting, it is also a great program looking into the lives of a hobbyist, and being one of the most underrated comedies in Britain – and by no doubt one of the funniest. The following will contain minor spoilers for Detectorists.
Detectorists stars Toby Jones as ‘Lance’ and Mackenzie Crook as ‘Andy’ – two detectorists navigating their hobby alongside personal lives and difficulties – with the show being perhaps of two main halves: the detecting itself and the metal detecting club Lance and Andy belong to; (and) the personal relationships of Lance and Andy. The metal detecting club – known as the DMDC – contains notable recurring characters such as Terry (Gerard Horan), Sheila (Sophie Thompson), Russell (Pearce Quigley), Young Hugh (Divian Ladwa), Louise (Laura Checkley) and the seldomly speaking Varde (Orion Ben) – just to name a view. There is also the personal relationships involving Andy’s wife Becky (Rachael Sterling) and Lance’s daughter (Alexa Davies), who can help ground some of the extremity and wackiness of the detectorists, whilst adding some real soul to the characters and their lives in general. Other notable characters include Bishop (David Sterne) – an eccentric farmer who may or may not have killed his wife – Philip (Simon Farnaby) and Paul (Paul Casar) – another detecting duo dubbed ‘Simon and Garfunkel’ – and Veronica (Diana Rigg) – Andy’s Mother-in-law, who he has a somewhat dicey relationship with to begin with. Every character in the show has real heart and is properly crafted in terms of character and actions, with every single character being absolutely hilarious.
The aforementioned Russell (although a minor character) has some just joyous idiosyncrasies that really shine through and make you laugh – from using a metal detecting app akin to Pokémon Go, to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it action of him scratching his privates. The characters that don’t appear in the metal detecting scene outright, whilst perhaps not as funny as a character, still play off the likes of Lance and Andy marvellously, so that there is very rarely a scene that isn’t enjoyable in some way.
The world of the Detectorists, although essentially a normal place and location (being based in the fictional village of Danebury), has a very different soul or essence to the real world. Detectorists is a show that, although containing personal strife, is very optimistic and has a beautiful outlook on life. The language of Lance and Andy is very particular. Often when detecting, the two will come across random finds and odd objects, often being very nostalgic back to the late 20th century – such as ‘Ring Pull… 83’… Tizer.’ In one episode, whilst detecting at the start of the episode Andy comes across another notable find: a metal object, square but rounded in shape, covered in dirt. Upon closer inspection Andy finds that he has just uncovered a ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ badge, and after taking a short look at it with Lance asking what he had found, he simply says ‘nothing’ as he throws it into the undergrowth. The discussions of topics by Lance and Andy are probably that of an older generation, but do not let that put you off the show as – although a lot of the cultural references won’t be as widely known anymore – the characters and delivery of such references are still very funny. One such occasion, whilst camping out in a field, Lance and Andy play the board game ‘Kerplunk’ and spend a minute discussing the game and how some charity shops in the area have signs saying ‘No Kerplunk’s Allowed.’
You may argue that there is a spiritual or supernatural element to the Detectorists as well. Often, flashbacks will be seen to the date at which a find of significance was buried, with Season 2 focusing on an undiscovered peace of gold from some religious reformation, and Lance hearing the horses that soldiers rode on in the area through the ages, just before finding the piece. The first Christmas special as well – which acts as a great in-between episode to end the unresolved plots of season 2 and setup season 3 – features what many of the members of the DMDC take to be a ghost in one of Lance’s images with his find, and Lance discusses how he feels cut off from nature after such a find, having to sacrifice silver roman coins to the earth so that he can properly connect to it again. (And you may argue that he has a spiritual connection to his car, the TR7, which he can sense as it comes closer to home after being borrowed, with Toby Jones highlighting his skill as an actor as he senses its return).
There is also an environmental message of sorts. Andy, who picks up temp work on the sides of road, will often save local wildlife like hedgehogs, or refuse to use chemicals to kill weeds as not to damage the environment nearby. The show is slightly adult in themes and language (nothing sinister), and its usage of swearing is not to such a level that ‘swear=funny’ but every word used masterfully reflects or adds to a scene. In the penultimate episode of series one, Lance goes all out on describing another character. I won’t hint to the word used, but it is the only time it is used in the show and its power when used is brilliantly comedic. The show is very romantic in its presentation of a simpler life based off of the work of the hobbyist, and some may argue that the characters (or the show itself) is against professionals of sorts, with professional archaeologists being dubbed by Lance as ‘the beards,’ and a solar panel company portrayed by men in suits with evil music directly threaten the permission of Lance and Andy in the final season – and Andy becomes disheartened when on an official dig which covers up discoveries as to not slow down the production time of office blocks.
The rural environment of Danebury is highlighted further by the rustic music of Johnny Flynn who provides the theme song and other incidental tracks. The summertime environment of Detectorists is also romanticised, and the visuals are all very positive and wonderfully pleasant. You could argue that Detectorists is very much against modern times and the end of a peaceful life, as both Lance and Andy focus on the world of their youths and Andy finally buys an old cottage to live in and raise his son. But I don’t think this is Detectorists main aim, as all the characters do acknowledge the real world and real events with each other and personal relationships.
And that is at the heart of Detectorists. Personal relationships between characters. The comedy comes from the characters relationships with each other and how they then relate to metal detecting. The original fears of actual detectorists when the show was announced is unnecessary, as the show focuses as much on the personal side of its wonderful cast as it does on metal detecting. At one point Lance discusses his daughter with Sheila (who his Terry’s wife and cares for the DMDC by offering her famous lemonade), and she makes a comment discussing children growing up – with Sophie Thompson’s performance implying that the character had had a miscarriage. This is just one way that Detectorists adds to character, and each character that appears and has more than a single line is developed to such a level as they are just intrinsically funny. Detectorists has always aired on BBC Two, and it isn’t as widely known as other British comedies, but it is by far the best one out there.
Detectorists will be available for the rest of the year on BBC iPlayer, but the DVD box set can be picked up on Amazon for relatively cheap, and I highly recommend that you give it a watch over the summer.