Filming has started on a new BBC Four sitcom written, directed and starring The Office and Pirates Of The Caribbean actor Mackenzie Crook.
Detectorists follows the relationship between two friends who share a passion for metal detecting.
When Andy (Mackenzie Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones) are together, they’re like an old married couple.
They gripe at each other, but there is a true bond underneath. Each has their own slightly dysfunctional lives but together they dream of finding a priceless Saxon hoard that will cement their place in detecting history.
Helping them along the way is a delightfully quirky crowd of characters who are drawn to this all-absorbing hobby.
Across the six episodes, greed, betrayal, rejection and finally redemption are all played out as the boys and their eccentric friends at the Danbury Metal Detecting Club search for that one big find.
Alongside Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones, the stellar cast includes Rachel Stirling (Tipping The Velvet, The Bletchley Circle), Aimee-Ffion Edwards (Being Human, Luther) and Lucy Benjamin (EastEnders, Casualty).
Crook, an occasional detectorist, says: “This is my first time directing but, though it’s sometimes nerve wracking, I’m confident that I have an incredible team to rely on.
“I have managed to gather my ideal cast. Toby, Rachel, Aimee-Ffion and Lucy are all actors I’ve worked with before and I know I’m in safe hands. For years British television has been screaming out for an archaeology based sit-com… hasn’t it?”
Kristian Smith, executive producer for the BBC, says: “Mackenzie’s scripts takes us into a charming world that many of us haven’t seen before. They are smart, funny and beautifully observed.”