Detectorists Appreciation thread

[shockerrr]

I knew about Detectorists but always assumed it would be a bit too gentle / suited for elderly people for some reason. Since starting it I've fallen in love with it and have binged the whole lot! Just got the recent Xmas special left to view.

What a well written, well cast, lovely warming show. Just what I needed this winter.

Anyone else came across this years later?

I came across it earlier this year on a Folk Horror revival group on Facebook of all things ( I think they were referencing the MR James esque special where Lance finds the gold and experiences ‘the curse’).

Have binged the lot since, it’s wonderful. Gentle without being twee, quirky characters who are also well rounded and real, and beautiful English scenery and cinematography. I think they must have filmed a lot at golden hour.

Ive always really rated Toby Jones, he’s a brilliant actor.

I'm so sorry 💐

Yes that's the scene I was thinking of, Sheila's definitely experienced child loss in one form or another, it's so well done and heartfelt 💔

I enjoyed the Christmas special, when Russell is all rejuvenated from drinking out of the holy grail 😂

I love everything about it. Sophie Thompson (Sheila) and Lucy Benjamin (Maggie) give two of the best supporting performances I've ever seen, in completely different ways. Just wonderful.
I'm in the process of adopting two cats and I'm going to call them Lance and Andy.

Watched thos prior to COVID and binged watched through COVID again. Was a lovely escape from the madness.

I also love the cinematography, very filmic. Reminds me of the film A Field in England.

That scene with Sheila and Lance...absolutely choked me up. I think she and Terry lost a baby. Very understated as well with no schmaltzy bonding with her and Lance; he more or less ignores what she says which makes it even more heartbreaking.

My favourite scene is where Andy and Lance knowingly decline the lemonade at Sheila and Terry's, cut to Sophie being at the door, when she comes in the room the rest of the DMDC are squirming in discomfort after having the lemonade 😂. Their faces!!
I just love Detectorists. Russell cracks me up as well.

I caught the Christmas special last year, I was hooked and went back to watch them all. I too thought it would be dull and unfunny so avoided it but it's sooooo not! It's cosy and clever. The houses, the pubs, the village it's all just perfect.

That scene with Sheila and Lance...absolutely choked me up. I think she and Terry lost a baby. Very understated as well with no schmaltzy bonding with her and Lance; he more or less ignores what she says which makes it even more heartbreaking.
Also the fact that she can only talk about it while Terry is at the bar, getting the drinks in. She wants to help Lance but not drag up distressing memories for her beloved Terry so the subject has to be raised in Terry's absence.

Love this series so much. I tend to watch it before bed so relaxing and funny. The more you watch the more you pick up on little details you may have missed before. Please write another series !

Oh it's a really lovely show. We watched it from start to finish and finished a month or so ago. It's one of those shows that leaves you really sad when it's over

@CharlieSays13

That's sad about Mackenzie Crook's sister in law, I didn't know that she had been found.

There are more Jerusalem connections. Johnny Flynn (theme music) was in the 2010 production as Lee and 'Sophie' Aimee Ffion Edwards was Phaedra Cox in the original production. I managed to speak to 'Terry' at the stage door and he was really excited about the new special.
I was really hoping that they'd find a small walk-on somewhere for Mark Rylance.
Mackenzie Crook was on breakfast TV and he said that when he wanted to do the special Rachel Stirling was the first person he spoke to about it, to see if she was ok about it.
His Worzel Gummidge (sp?) is really special too (and features Lance's TR7).

I watched an episode or two but wasn't blown away. Is this a series you have to stick with a bit? Does it get better in time?

Omg the most wonderful telly ever! I'm absolutely addicted to it, I hear the music and go into a dream like trance. It's unbelievably gorgeous.

Sheila's Lemonade just cracks me up!
Finding out Hugh's age! 'Have you got a syndrome'
The trampoline - 'was there a child in in it?
Larry and his invisible dogs 'come on girls! '

It's an absolute masterpiece, I just adore it!

Do agree though that Becks and Andy wouldn't be paired in RL but am prepared to overlook that minor detail!

It's filmed in Suffolk I think? Framlingham.

Pub? Go on then....

It doesn't get better, you do. Like friendships; the more you put in, the more you get out.

Yes definitely.
Hence the folk horror connection I suppose .

I've just caught up with series 3. I spent most of the last episide with a big soppy smile on my face. And the magical moment, for me, is where Terry is rootling around in the soil while Sheila sits on a branch swinging her legs and reading a book. He calls out to her that he's found a button - she gives him a smile and a thumbs up - and his eyes fill with tears because in that moment, he's the happiest man on earth. Absolutely wonderful.

The folk horror theme is very much present, I agree. I've felt it also when watching the reboots of Worzel Gummidge (which I also adore).

It is filmed in Framlingham, it’s our local town. It really is as lovely as it looks on tele. The pub isn’t in Fram though, not sure where it is. Was funny in the Christmas special, when they were at the train station. They’d accidentally left one of the station signs up in the background, proudly proclaiming that they were in fact in Saxmundham. 😄

Saw Mackenzie Crook in the pub once. He was chatting to a friend of mine! Sadly didn’t get introduced.

I absolutely loved this series. I only started watching this January to beat the winter blues. The countryside looks magical in the summer.

Love the music too and often play it while I’m doing my yoga at home

Apparently real Detectorists go out in the winter if they're investigating farmland, but for dramatic/cinematographic purposes it was much better to show them out and about in the summer.

I was the same, but so glad we gave it another go.

It grew on me really - thought it was a bit slow to start with but loved how the characters developed. Wish there were more to come ...

It made me long for the summer! Although I can see that unless it's been raining a lot digging into the ground in summer would be a nightmare.

I need to watch it again I think to get me through the last of this cold weather!

Oh yes. I'd love more.

It's not a big impact kind of programme. It's very nuanced and you could watch each episode two or three times and find something new and different in it. This kind of production is sometimes labelled 'gentle' which it is, but that doesn't mean it's light.

It's well written and a great ensemble cast who all play their parts so well.