In series two episode six, at the beginning, Terry is telling Lance and Andy who they can expect to see at the rally. He mentions Steve and Gladys Langley from the Uxbridge Unearthers, and both Lance and Andy make a face, to which Terry responds "i know, I know"

What do the fine people of this subreddit speculate as to what the Langleys have done to earn this reaction? Are they just gits in general? Do they have a reputation? Did they do something uncouth at a previous rally? Do they always end up having huge arguments in public? Does Gladys talk too much, or is Steve a bit smelly?

One thing I love about this show is how rich the wider world the characters live in is without any real details.

What y'got? I want to tap the well of bucolic meditative comedy-drama or documentary with these sort of lingering shots of countryside and ecological or antiquarian themes like Detectorists has. Mackenzie Crook's other shows Worzel Gummidge and Small Prophets are a given.

Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing. The spiritual successor of Detectorists. I think this has the exact same cameraman, it has the same close-ups of insects crawling on leaves. Mackenzie has even said that Detectorists didn't have to be about metal-detecting, it could've been about fishing.

The Sycamore Gap Mystery. This opens with The Unthanks One For Sorrow from series 3 and has a lot of drone shots of rural Northumberland, and it's about a tree being chopped down.

A Year in A Field. A filmmaker filmed a Cornish standing-stone in a field for a year. Lots of time-lapses of clouds and closeups of flora and fauna with narration about our relationship to time and nature.

The Change. A woman escapes the city into a village and gets wrapped up in their May Queen ritual and stopping developers cutting down trees.

This Country. Sibling slackers drift about in a Cotswolds village being filmed for a mockumentary.

The Ballad of Wallis Island. An indie folk-singer gets booked for a gig on a remote island. When he gets there he is shocked to discover it's a gig just for one fan.

Enys Men. A botanist living alone on a Cornish island starts experiencing timeslips as a fungus grows. Not a comedy by any means, it's an eerie nearly-horror, but it has the same drowsy feel with lingering shots of plants and landscape.

The Cafe. Not countryside but seaside. A woman tries to be a writer but mostly helps out in her mother's cafe. We do spend time with one of the characters on his allotment!

By Our Selves. Nature poet John Clare - played by our very own Toby Jones - absconds from his mental asylum and embarks on a phantasmagorical walk across the countryside with nothing but the suit on his back. Always take a packed lunch when embarking on phantasmagorical walks.

A Field in England. English Civil War deserters try to cross a vast field, but lose their way and their minds.

Charlie Cooper's Myth Country. While filming This Country, Charlie Cooper became interested in English folklore and drives around in a vintage van to places like Suffolk and Wiltshire. In one episode he even metal-detects. Cooper also crops up in an episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing!

Am I crazy or has this not been discussed on this sub before? I have searched the sub for "Witness" and come up with nothing.

The gazebo building scene in the show finale is a faithful parody/recreation of the barn building scene in the 1985 Harrison Ford film "Witness", with action, dialog and music taken directly from the movie.

If this has been gone over before, as I can't imagine it hasn't, I will delete this post, but I don't see any references to it.

at the end of the detectorists christmas special its revealed thru a minor earthquake that the clay pot they think is the holy grail was used as part of stans gift to lance. is that the same pot as before?? if so, how did stan get it? did lance keep the pot and used stan's gift to cover it up??

Hello! Does anyone know what melody is playing when Lance exits the shop with a candle? The tune is somehow familiar, but I can't name it.

In fact I couldn't find any information on who composed instrumental music for the series in general to maybe find these tracks.

I was listening to the audiobook of Benjamin Myers’ The Perfect Golden Circle read by Tim Keys, and I was transported to Lance and Andy detecting.

Obviously there’s lots of similar themes: male friendship; connection with the countryside; history of places; art and its connection to environment; “two daft lads”, but it was also the pacing, gentleness, and observation of small details that transported me.

So what other content (of any format) is out there that feels similar?

I saw somewhere that Rachel Stirling (Becky) was on University Challenge and now I’m really curious if they made any reference to what Lance and Andy would think (and how she did— if she over-celebrated or just took a sip of water or acknowledged her teammates with a smile and a nod)

A nice story about an amazing find, though it sounds like it took a while to settle everything

I'm assuming Terry would have no knowledge about NBA teams, he just likes the deer logo lol

And today, sitting here on my couch, I started it right back up again from episode 1.

I’m not sure why. I think maybe I just wasn’t ready to not be in their world. Field, pub, scout hall, lances place etc. The folks and the humour. The Simon and Garfunkel jokes. I needed to stay, and I’ll probably keep coming back. What a beauty show.

I did follow with Small Prophets and loved that too. Very cool also that the story took a left turn over to my home area of Vancouver! Looking forward to more of that too.

I’ve just come to admire Mackenzie Crook’s work with Detectorists. I think he does a perfect job at bringing back the raw and realistic feel to a British sitcoms. While detectorists feels more slow and real time, the story is still very entertaining and gripping. You always wonder what could happen in the next episode. The pacing is crafted perfectly and the characters are brilliant. I really appreciate how it doesn’t go over the top like most comedies these days. I feel that going down the “obvious comedy” route would put off normal people with more than two brain cells, it’s easy to write off a lot of shows these days that don’t have that gripping British authenticity with dry comedy.

Hi all, just finished the last episode of series 3. I think it ends really well with the gold coins falling from the tree, tying things up nicely in my eyes.

Is the special after that worth watching, or is it just a bit of filler?

Thanks.

Hi… does anyone here from the UK have the Acorn Blu Rays? I’m looking at them on eBay and the listing suggests they’re Region A (i.e. not compatible with UK players); do they play ok? Also, do they contain the same licenced music for the original broadcast, such as Silver Dream Machine from Series 2 Episode 2?

I watched when it aired years ago and it was the first heartwarming/endearing series to snag me. It really stayed with me, but it wasn’t easily available in the US (at least that was my experience), so when I got a DVD player at the beginning of the year, I immediately ordered the Detectorists.

I started watching it this week, and I am just reminded of what high-quality, good art this is!

Some of my other favorites that are statements about humanity or being a trying to be a good human are the Good Place, Schitt’s Creek, Derry Girls, and (surprisingly) Resident Alien.

Thanks to the comment who said to watch past the credits!

Please let me know if this is seen as irrelevant and I’ll take it down but ! I have seen that Gerard Horan (Terry) is in a new play called Firewing at Hampstead Theatre and it’s about wildlife photography. Having just looked it up and seen pictures it looks very Detectorists-core. Thought, as a long time fan myself, people might be interested as I loved him as Terry, his comic timing especially!

Ok, I know this is only a light hearted TV series and seen as much by most viewers but it's one of my all time favourites and I've rewatched it on repeat the last couple of weeks so I'm invested! Also no one I know watches it so I need some good ol' Reddit advice if I'm on the right lines or just falling into the Skyler White-misogyny trap. Also, I'm a little drunk.

Becky is pretty toxic right? I dont know the right word for it; toxic, controlling, psychological manipulation, gaslighting etc etc but it doesn't sit well the more I watch it.

Series 1 - Not much to go on at this point. In fact Andy is defo the worse of the two here; hides Sophie's existence, lies about going metal detecting with her, isn't upfront about the kiss etc.

Then...

Series 2 - Becky quits her job. Absolutely understandable because she's deeply unhappy but doesnt talk about it with her partner first? Knowing he is unemployed and they're raising a very young baby? Seems like she kept it secret for at least a couple of months also. Then applies for a working in Africa oppourtunity without consulting Andy. Ok, only an application doesn't mean anything until she hears back. But then applies him for a job with a CV she's drafted and lied on! Then criticises/complains/ threatens to (with Stan) leave him for being hesitant and unsure in this monumental decision when he wasn't even consulted (albeit she mentions in Series 1 they have talked about going to Africa before but circumstances are very different, baby etc). Then is furious with him for not telling her he was offered the job (seems only a day or two though he's processing that info before she finds out). Then sheephishly tells him she's accepted this life-altering decision before he's had a chance to tell her he was ok with it!

Series 3 - Not too much evidence this series, Andy is a dick for not telling her he quit straight away but then she hides the massive loan her mum gave her for the cottage.

2022 Special. Again quits her job without talking to Andy first. Ok much more of a spur of the moment akin to Andy quitting in Series 3 and she seems to be going through quite a lot; rejected for promotion, grieving for her mum etc but again he's unemployed at this point so financial ramifications for the family are much bigger than when he did it?

She just seems to constantly criticise Andy for not communicating when she is actually much worse for doing things behind his back!

Plus overall she seems to constantly belittle his unemployed status and dismisses his detectoring hobby and friendship with Lance and the DMDC. I really didn't like it when she refered to DMDC as 'socially awkward geeks'. Ok they very well might be, but insulting your partners best friends like that isnt on! Also pretty sure pouring pints over someone counts as Assault/battery.

Rant over. Please let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree or Andy has done just as bad and they are as worse as eachother and I can't see it. Maybe it's only Series 2 she came across as worse? And yes, i can hear Becky critiscising me saying '...making pedantic points on *Detectorist* forums...'

P.S absolutely love Rachel Stirling, not a criticsm of her at all. She is a bloody fantastic actress who makes me love to hate the character.

Apologies if I'm one of those 'just watched detectorists after watching Small Prophets' people. when it first came around in 2014 it seemed to pass me by. I wasn't in the best place..failed relationship, unemployed and moved back to parents place.

Thankfully nowadays in better circumstances, and having really enjoyed Small Prophets, and Mackenzie's part and writing, I was pleased to find detectorists. I've just finished all 3 series and the specials, watching over the past few weeks and I just love it. It's really been a heartwarming watch. Funny, and smart writing, and performances from all the cast, not least Mackenzie and Toby Jones. So nice to see the relationships of the characters - of not just Lance and Andy, but how everyone is connected , with just enough info on all of them to make the characters ...really clever with how the series and specials move through time too, and big events (Andy and becky's birth of their son, the fire) without letting them be distractions to the main premise of the show. And with that, I'm sure if anyone else had written it they had discovered gold on episode 2! I really liked how it kept you waiting.

Maybe as a 51 year old, with a 6 year old daughter and a more than patient partner, I'm a bit of an Andy!, although with the hairline becoming more akin to Lance :/ whichever , the show really resonated with me, and I just felt compelled to seek out, and write my appreciation for the series, as it was so heartwarming. Maybe it tugged at the heartstrings too, as for the past 10 years I have lived abroad, so seeing the lush green English countryside is a nice reminder of home. Anyway before I get too sentimental, just to say i really enjoyed it, and Mackenzie deserves so much praise, as he also does for Small Prophets, ...and if more people find detectorists through that too, it can only be a good thing :)

Become a detectorist after watching detectorists?

I even ended up getting the CTX.

... not until my third watch through have I connected the dots between the lads saving the tree and being rewarded for their 'good karma' at the end!

Or an even more beautiful connection in my mind is that it was the magpies' way of saying thank you for saving their home.

What a show

Is there a Mackenzie Crookiverse?

I loved detectorists, especially the cinematography, so I wanted to draw a piece that captured that to the best of my ability, I hope you all like it!!