Television series
Detectorists
Detectorists is a quiet, beautifully observed sitcom about two metal-detecting hobbyists whose real treasure is friendship, patience and the English countryside. Written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, it trades punchlines for gentle melancholy and long, held silences. Nothing much happens, and yet it feels like one of the wisest, warmest things British television has produced. For people who like their comedy soft-spoken.
If you liked this
This Country2017
Another mockumentary about two aimless best friends going nowhere fast in rural England, with the same knack for turning boredom into something achingly funny and sad.
But Its jump-cut editing is far punchier than Detectorists' unhurried pace, and the humour bites harder and quicker.

Rev.2010
Tom Hollander's put-upon vicar shares Detectorists' gift for finding grace in small defeats, with soft-spoken humour and genuine ache underneath the jokes.
But It's set in inner-city London rather than a village green, so you lose that particular landscape-and-longing atmosphere.

The Office2005
Mackenzie Crook's first great show, and the one that proves he always understood how comedy and quiet heartbreak can share the same shot.
But Ricky Gervais's cringe comedy is far more excruciating and cynical than anything in Detectorists' gentler world.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Local Hero1983
Both are about outsiders and locals drawn together by the promise of buried treasure — oil rights instead of Saxon coins — and both end up caring far more about the landscape and the people than the payoff.
A gentle, funny, quietly moving Scottish comedy about an American oil executive sent to buy a village, who finds himself seduced by its eccentrics and its light instead.
But It's a single two-hour film rather than a slow-building series, so the mood arrives without years of accumulated affection.

More like this (8)
Gavin & Stacey2007
Same warmth, same faith that ordinary people and small towns are worth taking seriously, told through a will-they-won't-they instead of a treasure hunt.
But It's broader and more overtly sitcom-y, with punchlines where Detectorists prefers a held silence.

Doc Martin2004
Another show in love with a particular patch of English coastline and the odd, decent people who live there, doled out at an unhurried pace.
But It leans harder into farce and grumpy-doctor jokes than Detectorists' more melancholic register.

Parks and Recreation2009
If you want the American cousin — a mockumentary ensemble that finds real affection in small, unglamorous ambitions and the friendships built around them.
But Its energy is faster, brighter and more joke-dense than Detectorists' patient, low-key style.

Schitt's Creek2015
A different setup — fish-out-of-water rather than treasure hunt — but the same slow accumulation of warmth until you realise you love everyone on screen.
But It's glossier and more overtly comedic, set in North America rather than the English shires.

Somebody Somewhere2022
A quiet, unhurried comedy-drama about grief, friendship and finding meaning in an overlooked corner of the Midwest — kindred in spirit if not setting.
But It's American and more explicitly about grief and loneliness, with less of Detectorists' whimsy.

The Good Life1975
A gentler, older ancestor — a sitcom about a couple choosing a small, self-sufficient life over ambition, with the same fondness for eccentric, decent people.
But It's broader seventies studio-audience sitcom, filmed live rather than with Detectorists' naturalistic, unhurried calm.

Kikujiro1999no page yet
Swap English hedgerows for the Japanese countryside and a metal detector for a lost boy, and you get the same rhythm — two mismatched companions on a meandering, purposeless quest that turns out to be about friendship all along.
Takeshi Kitano, better known for yakuza brutality, plays an unlikely gentle chaperone in this tender, oddball road movie that lingers on small, funny, sad moments rather than plot.
But It's subtitled, slower even than Detectorists in places, and its swerves between slapstick and sorrow can catch you off guard.
Diggers2013no page yet
Same hobby, opposite soul — literally two men swinging metal detectors across America for a reality camera, chasing profit and spectacle instead of Andy and Lance's quiet, half-embarrassed love of the hunt.
If you want to see what metal detecting looks like without the poetry — loud, competitive, cash-driven — this is the gloriously trashy mirror image of everything Detectorists loves about the hobby.
But It has none of the writing, character or restraint that makes Detectorists special — this is pure guilty-pleasure reality TV.
People
Cast
Production
- Alan MarkeExecutive Producer
- Jim ReidExecutive Producer
- Jonno RichardsExecutive Producer
- Kristian SmithExecutive Producer
- Lisa ThomasExecutive Producer
- Mackenzie CrookExecutive Producer
- Tina PawlikLine Producer
- Adam TandyProducer
- Gill IslesProducer
Recommended by
The Illusionist, A Man Called Ove, Sarah & Duck, Ghosts, Sideways, This Country, The Royle Family, The Trip, Rev., Umberto D., The Vicar of Dibley, Our Flag Means Death, The Durrells, Britannia