Detectorists

[Homsa]

Anyone else been watching this? It's on at 10pm on Thursdays, on BBC Four. No idea why they've hidden this in such a graveyard slot. It's gorgeous. Beautifully shot, beautifully acted.
It's billed as a sitcom, but it's not a-laugh-per-line stuff. Reminds me a bit of Gavin and Stacey, in that it's really warm and gentle and creates a completely believable little universe. I've just re-watched Episode 1 before it disappears off iplayer.
(erm...maybe I'm developing a bit of a crush on Andy, played by Mackenzie Crook, who also wrote and directed the whole thing. I mean, please! It's Gareth off the Office!!!)

[Fuckerysmuckeryboilsnspornery]

It's great-we love it. Appeals to anyone whose oh is massively involved in their hobby.

[SavoyCabbage]

Yes, I am loving it.

I am still laughing at the policeman asking him what class his girlfriend was in and then saying "all the children from the chaffinch class have gone home now sir"

[Selks]

Yes watching it. It has some fantastic subtle humour in it. Great stuff.

The one jarring note is Andy's wife, I don't find her believable at all.

[SavoyCabbage]

I like her. She's nice to him and they laugh together. She's not a cow or a doormat.

[Davros]

I like it too. DH is not convinced but I will keep going.

[Homsa]

I can't believe there are only six episodes. I really hope they commission a second series.
What I really like is that not everything is spelled out for you. Andy seems really naive ("She must have been drunk" - "She didn't seem drunk" - "Well she threw up this morning, that's a sign") but he's also quite capable of lying to get himself out of a tight spot.
I find the hope in these men really poignant - of finding treasure, finding love. Like when Sophie turns up at the talk about buttons and the bearded guy removes his rucksack from the chair next to him - only to put it down again when she chooses the chair next to Andy.

[DonkeysDoRideBroomsticks]

So pleased to find this thread, I don't know anyone in rl who admits to watching it.

Loved that bit in the previous week where Sophie sits there drenched in beer and says timidly, "She (Becky) seems nice".

Toby Jones is playing Captain Mainwaring in that Dad's Army film, isn't he?

[2rebecca]

I like it, but find it unbelievable that Andy's wife would be with him, she seems more like his mum in her behaviour but doesn't seem like the sort of woman who'd go for a man child. She's too career minded. I see Andy with a fatter, more mumsy and housewifey woman.

[BreconBeBuggered]

Anyone married to a committed hobbyist would identify with Becky's exasperated 'Fuck off!' response to Andy's invitation to attend some detectorists' event.

[Fuckerysmuckeryboilsnspornery]

Wry chuckle at Brecon. (Birding widow) it was my response to:
(Howling gale, freezing cold January day.)"Fancy a run to South Gare? (Twinned with Siberia)"

[Homsa]

Actually I find the Becky/Andy relationship quite true to life. The things that you first fall in love with sometimes end up being the things that drive you potty in the long run. Like a disregard for material things and not caring very much what other people think - very attractive in your twenties, but starts to look more like a chronic lack of ambition in your forties.
Donkeys, I liked it even more when in the following episode Becky "apologised" for pouring three pints of European lager on Sophie's head - "It was an accident". A few minutes later Andy asks Sophie what's she's drinking - "Pint?" To which she replies, completely deadpan: "Three, please." Love it.

[DonkeysDoRideBroomsticks]

Oh that was excellent .

I should have said earlier, the feelings Lance very clearly has for his ex Maggie ring true, though you do wonder how they got together in the first place...

[snumpy]

I'm loving this programme. I like the interaction between Lance/Andy and the other detectorists they nickname Simon and Garfunkel. They just rip the piss out of them.

Does anyone else think that Sophie is a spy for the other group? Antiquisearches - is that right?

[CheeseEqualsHappiness]

Absolutely love it. Hooked!

[Homsa]

Yes I think Sophie may have a hidden agenda... She seemed to say hi to the Antiquisearchers in the pub? Guess we won't find out until the final episode.
I've finally realised where I've seen the actress before who plays the loopy wife of the club president (the one with the lemonade) - she was Lydia in Four Weddings! She's still wearing the same expression!!!

[2rebecca]

agree that in the last episode something about Sophie will be revealed that clarifies to Andy's wife that she was never a serious love interest.

[NotALondoner]

Homsa she was Phil's wife in Eastenders I think.

[Homsa]

I've never watched Eastenders, but I'm sure it's Lydia from Four Weddings (the bridesmaid who got off with Bernard the groom)!
So... Sophie was a mole for the Antiquisearchers. Well that didn't come as a surprise. But if the kiss in the field wasn't a set-up, did she have any real feelings for Andy? (yes he's probably twice her age, but he's strangely charismatic... or am I the only one?? )
I loved how Lance emerged as this thoughtful and observant character with a rare gift of knowing when to keep his mouth shut.
Will Andy turn the gold coin he found into an engagement ring for Becky in the final episode, do you think? Or is that too Richard Curtis???

[ThrowAChickenInTheAir]

Absolutely love love love it! Really enjoying it. Just the sort of gem BBC4 would have.

Andy on the phone to Becky made me cry He's such a sweet bloke.

(I also can't switch on the TV without Dh )

[2rebecca]

Is it really gold? They seemed surprisingly ready to believe anything gold coloured was gold. Gllogling how to tell if something is gold it suggests working out its density and putting nitric acid on it amongst other things. They just seemed to look at it.

[amy83firsttimer]

Yes, loving this, just caught up on the most recent episode. I seem to fall asleep during it often due to the 10pm timeslot and the baby using all my energy (38+6) but luckily we've been recording it too.
It's very gentle and yes, mackenzie crook is lovely in it.

[BreconBeBuggered]

It's not so much that gold itself is so readily identifiable, more that the type of coin would be recognisable, especially if they were looking for something specific. No guarantee it's the real thing, of course...I thought it was very shiny, considering.

[Thecroissantthief]

I love this. I love the way the characters have developed, wonderful gentle humour, with some perfect poignant moments. Andy's phone message also bought a lump to the throat.

[MollyBdenum]

I love this, too, but have a couple of episodes to catch up. I want to know more about everyone's back story. And I have started listening to Johnny Flynn.

[IndridCold]

Glad to find some other fans here, I absolutely love this little gem of a programme. Poignant but very funny.

It's Maggie, Lance's ex, who was Phil's wife in EE.