Three cheers for a sitcom that’s a love letter to a bygone England
Sitcom used to be a byword for mania — Frank Spencer rollerskating under an 18wheel lorry (‘Betty! i’ve been articulated!’) and Basil Fawlty goose-stepping through his hotel restaurant, screaming, ‘You started it!’ at German guests.
Detectorists (BBc4) runs at a different speed. As this bucolic comedy set in East Anglia returned, about two middle- aged male friends who share an enthusiasm for metal- detecting, the camera zoomed downwards to observe a grasshopper inching its way along the greenery. it’s not what you’d call slapstick.
At the end of the episode, in a gorgeous vignette that timeslipped back 2,000 years to the celtic era, we watched a pair of magpies foraging in the fields. Folk singers the Unthanks performed a version of the children’s rhyme, one for sorrow, two for joy.
this is rustic sitcom, not so much comedic as idyllic. But it’s a fair bet that those magpies will have a crucial part in the plot. Each series of Detectorists follows one broad storyline, and this time it’s about plans to bury the English landscape under rows of ugly solar panels.
the only hope detectorists Lance and Andy ( toby Jones and mackenzie crook) have to save their fields is to prove the land is a site of historical significance. their DiY archaeology kit won’t do it . . . but the gold-digging birds might.
much of the joy in this unique show lies in the quiet friendship between the men. it isn’t the backslapping, ego-boosting act enjoyed by alpha males: they are just two shy, vulnerable souls who trust each other not to make hurtful jibes . . . at least not on purpose.
Andy and his family live with his bullying mother- in- law ( Diana Rigg). ‘i’ve taken up vaping of an evening,’ he laments, producing an e- cigarette, ‘just so i can go and stand alone in the garden for ten minutes.’
Lance, the kind of man who times his toast under the grill with a stopwatch, is sharing his bachelor pad with his free-spirited daughter. Her thoughtlessness is driving him spare.
it’s all set with great affection in a gossipy country village called Danebury, the type of place with a church hall and pub lock-ins.
A place where people don’t simply know their neighbours, they monitor them constantly from behind the curtains. more than merely sweet and funny, Detectorists is a love letter to a vanishing England. ‘We’re so lucky to live here,’ murmured Lance, and he wasn’t just talking about Danebury.
Acquitted (c4) is besotted with its homeland, too. this Norwegian thriller, another subtitled European discovery under the Walter Presents banner, began with a sweeping vista of a little red-roofed town nestling in a fjord valley. You won’t see a more beautiful opening shot.
You won’t hear a lovelier language, either. Norwegian is a more musical sound than Danish, as fans of the recent c4 thriller Valkyrien might agree.
this show has many of the right elements: an eerie theme tune and a highly improbable plot, about a businessman who returns to his hometown where he is suspected of murder.
But it’s painfully stilted. the characters seem to pause and read each line off prompt cards. they are all perfectly coiffed and designer-suited, and they move with the artificial grace of models. this is more like Dynasty than the Killing.
to fans of Nordic tV, none of that matters. Give us some overwrought Vikings and we’re happy. the rest of the series is available online at the All4 website. Acquitted is third-rate Scandi-drama, but i still won’t be able to resist.
SUPERSTAR OF THE NIGHT: Hollywood A-lister Sigourney Weaver visited Cornwall again in Doc Martin (ITV). This time she and old friend Selina Cadell, who plays the local chemist, came to blows. Looked like they were having a great hoot.