New Detectorists special

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Did you notice that "she" was in the background out of focus when they were on the steps of the museum panicking?

Noticed that 'she' was credited as 'herself' in the credits at the end, and thought I must've missed something, but that explains it. Good spot.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The person in question recently tweeted a pic of herself with Crook and Jones, so I knew she was going to be in it, but that was great: a fuzzy background cameo.

Loved the whole thing, Detectorists never fails to lift my spirits.

[paddy72]

The child was from the 'a naked American man stole by balloons' school of acting.

Loved it overall, though.

[Better Midlands]

The child was from the 'a naked American man stole by balloons' school of acting.

Loved it overall, though.

Yeah, it lived up to my expectations dispite the child actor.

The Simon and Garfunkel Celia pun made me snigger.

Russell getting a haircut after drinking from the cup was an intentional nod to the Holy Grail's eternal youth giving properties, right?

[non capisco]

Yep, and suddenly getting into exercising with squash. A great slow burn reveal when they theorised it on the train. And the last shot of all was a lovely payoff, great writing from Crook.

[holyzombiejesus]

Was there any explanation for what had happened to the cottage? There were some background voices whilst Andy was exploring but I was coughing too much to hear what was said. It had burnt down, hadn't it?

Slightly disappointed that Simon & Garfunkel showed themselves to be scoundrels as the 2 groups working together was a highlight from the previous episode.

[Tony Tony Tony]

Was there any explanation for what had happened to the cottage? There were some background voices whilst Andy was exploring but I was coughing too much to hear what was said. It had burnt down, hadn't it?

It gets mentioned very briefly in the Radio Times piece upthread that the actual cottage used in the show did burn down in reality so I guess it was simply written in that way, though apart from Andy's visit and Becky's meltdown it didn't feature overmuch.

Loved the pastiche Simon and Garfunkel musical sting as the 'Absolut Hunters' climbed out of the Range Rover which was then topped off by the Shelia/Cecilia reference.

The fall out between Andy and Lance caused me some anxiety but great to see them make up on the train over University Challenge... yet another nice call back to the early episodes. Feel a little better about the reasons for Lance's initial subterfuge after reading this bit from the Chortle review

Lance now harbours suspicions about his supposed best mate, so when he makes a promising find, keeps it secret for fear Andy will call in an army of archaeologists to trample over their territory. But it also seems keeping the secret might drive him a little mad.

As an Xmas treat it was like a cup of hot chocolate, warm and lovely.

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I'm in a strange position where I'm not going to get to watch this - a new episode of what's probably my favourite TV show ever - for a couple of weeks, but I'm so relieved to see that this has had overwhelmingly positive reviews and that they haven't tarnished its legacy.

I did see the minor spoiler (which was mentioned in all the previews anyway) that they didn't get the finder's fee for the gold, and saw someone complain on Twitter that this was an Only Fools and Horses-style reset. But that's absolute nonsense isn't it? They've always been in it for the history, not the money.

Anyway I should probably stay away from this thread until I get to watch it.

[mobias]

Slightly disappointed that Simon & Garfunkel showed themselves to be scoundrels as the 2 groups working together was a highlight from the previous episode.

Yeah that was the only real disappointment for me. The story arc of that little sub plot over the first three series has a really satisfying and heart warming ending. I kind of thought they'd be brought in and made part of the core gang. They are very funny pantomime villains though and them arriving in their own chauffeur driven car with their own detectorist butler did make me laugh.

I think one of the secret ingredients of the success of the Detectorists is that its a comedy drama with some real moments of pathos and drama but it also has these little moments of pantomime in it. It could be very easy to get that wrong and for it to via into OTT pantomime territory but it never quite does. It always gets those moments just right.

I loved the scene when the big Scottish guy drank all the lemonade without reacting. That was another great moment. Although its been five years since the last episode Mackenzie Crook is clearly aware that pretty much everyone has either re-watched it or discovered in the last year or two during lockdown.

Look forward to watching it again.

[Bartholomew J Krishna]

I'm surprised by a lot of responses I've seen to this.
I'm a huge fan of the series, but honestly wish they hadn't made this.
I felt it lacked the usual warmth and humour. Jarring shifts in tone (from the usual naturalistic feel of the show to the excessive caricature of the bits with Terra Firma). The terrifying childbeast. The somewhat improbable 'eyes-only' find. Very little interaction between the members of the DMDC.
I enjoyed some of the callbacks and chuckled at a few lines, but overall I was really disappointed.

[mjwilson]

Slightly disappointed that Simon & Garfunkel showed themselves to be scoundrels as the 2 groups working together was a highlight from the previous episode.

Yeah, for all I enjoyed this one, it does feel like the previous episode had the perfect ending, and this one does disrupt that a bit.

[neveragain]

I'm surprised by a lot of responses I've seen to this.
I'm a huge fan of the series, but honestly wish they hadn't made this.
I felt it lacked the usual warmth and humour. Jarring shifts in tone (from the usual naturalistic feel of the show to the excessive caricature of the bits with Terra Firma). The terrifying childbeast. The somewhat improbable 'eyes-only' find. Very little interaction between the members of the DMDC.
I enjoyed some of the callbacks and chuckled at a few lines, but overall I was really disappointed.

I agree. As much as I enjoyed the final plot twists, if this hadn't have been made we wouldn't be missing out. The original ending was perfect and this didn't add anything worthwhile or in touch with the tone of the show.

From a critical perspective, there was a lot of shoddy exposition as well. Terry's "Well, as you all know..." about the permission for the gold coins from last series and again after the 'One Year Later' when Andy was talking to his son.

Also, the relationship between Andy and Lance for most of the episode was really off. Annoyingly so. That's the heart of the show. Why were they being so secretive? Why had Lance gone full shit?

[Pseudopath]

I'm surprised by a lot of responses I've seen to this.
I'm a huge fan of the series, but honestly wish they hadn't made this.
I felt it lacked the usual warmth and humour. Jarring shifts in tone (from the usual naturalistic feel of the show to the excessive caricature of the bits with Terra Firma). The terrifying childbeast. The somewhat improbable 'eyes-only' find. Very little interaction between the members of the DMDC.
I enjoyed some of the callbacks and chuckled at a few lines, but overall I was really disappointed.

Sadly, I agree with this. Although I admired the way the story slotted together, it did seem to require far too many out-of-character contrivances to get there.

Sheila didn't get enough lines either (although her exaggerated enthusiasm for Terry's lecture did make me laugh).

[Captain Z]

The terrifying childbeast.

Haha, blunt but fair. Really enjoyed the special overall but that was a bizarre bit of casting. Acting aside, he didn't feel remotely like a child of Andy and Becky.

[Brundle-Fly]

I enjoyed it because it's simply lovely to be in their company (and surroundings) again, but as others have said here, the ending of the last series was so perfect. I don't want

Spoiler alert

to hear they didn't get any reward from the gold, Simon & Garfunkal becoming arseholes again and see Lance being so underhand with Andy.

[close]

My highlights were

Spoiler alert

Lance's attitude towards children's paintings and his non-committal rendition of 'It's Raining Men' while cooking up a Jalfrezi

[close]

. Also, I thought Rachel Stirling's performance throughout was well...sterling.

[Twilkes]

The child playing Stanley in the Christmas special was the same one who played Stanley in S3 back in 2017, which at least goes some way to explaining some of the acting choices.

Am I right in thinking they never went back to the hoard that was shown underground at the end of S1? The holy grail plotline was a bit silly, although they could have done a lot more with Russell's newfound vibrancy, and it doesn't really give them anywhere to go afterwards - if Lance discovers it on his shelf, what's he going to do with it? Who's going to believe them? It'll just be 'best forgotten about' and they'll carry on as normal.

[mjwilson]

Am I right in thinking they never went back to the hoard that was shown underground at the end of S1?

You are. I think uncovering that and changing the face of British history would be breaking believability just as much as the holy trail stuff.

[Twilkes]

You are. I think uncovering that and changing the face of British history would be breaking believability just as much as the holy trail stuff.

To be fair, it was a lot deeper than one of those little metal spades. :)

[dannyfc]

Russell getting a haircut after drinking from the cup was an intentional nod to the Holy Grail's eternal youth giving properties, right?

I interpreted it as getting prepared for a potential nude calendar after suggesting it in the earlier meeting for fundraising.

[neveragain]

I interpreted it as getting prepared for a potential nude calendar after suggesting it in the earlier meeting for fundraising.

Which was a bit of a continuity error as Russell was disgusted by the idea a few series back. Or maybe emotional growth.

[The Mollusk]

This definitely felt like a special in that things were allowed to be a bit more outlandish or out of character, but yeah, that doesn't really work for Detectorists at all. I agree with others' criticisms of this stuff and I also think the focus on a big episode-contained plot got in the way of any of the understated loveliness of what makes the show so great. It all just felt a bit clunky and disjointed, whereas if it were slowly dragged out across a regular series you'd have room for all the nuances to find their place and it would work better.

Also the "right under their noses" aspect of the story had definitely run its course by the end of series 3 so another big helping of that was quite underwhelming. The last scene was meant to be a big reveal but it just got an "ah right" from me.

That said, it was still pleasant enough and I think comedically it was as strong as it's ever been. I didn't strongly dislike it but I don't think I'd ever be arsed about watching it again when the next rewatch comes around.

[mobias]

I agree with others' criticisms of this stuff and I also think the focus on a big episode-contained plot got in the way of any of the understated loveliness of what makes the show so great. It all just felt a bit clunky and disjointed, whereas if it were slowly dragged out across a regular series you'd have room for all the nuances to find their place and it would work better.

I read an interview with Mackenzie Crook a while back and he was asked if he would ever do another series of Detectorists and he said he did have a 'big idea' for another series but it would only happen if he could fit in the production with everyone's busy work schedules. My guess is this extended Christmas special is that big idea but it was condensed down simply as a compromise to get it made at all.

 

[The Mollusk]

That makes sense to me yeah

[DelurkedToHelp]

Was there any explanation for what had happened to the cottage? There were some background voices whilst Andy was exploring but I was coughing too much to hear what was said. It had burnt down, hadn't it?

Slightly disappointed that Simon & Garfunkel showed themselves to be scoundrels as the 2 groups working together was a highlight from the previous episode.

The background voices were singing Happy Birthday to Andy, followed by Becky saying to Andy "There's soup in the kitchen when you've finished what you're doing" So I presume a fire broke out in the kitchen while Andy was distracted by whatever it was he was doing, which might be an additional reason why Becky was a bit ratty with Andy in this episode beyond her frustrations with her job and her grieving her mother.

[WhoMe]

Just wanted to note that the music during the

Spoiler alert

Holy Grail 'flashback' scene

[close]

was absolutely gorgeous. I rewound the scene to listen to it again. Hope that becomes available at some point.

[The Mollusk]

Conversely I think the twee pastoral/witchy folk of Detectorists/Worzel Gummidge, almost certainly hand picked by Crook, is largely shite. The Detectorists theme tune is particularly rubbish and it galls me to some degree that it gets played at both the start and end of every episode and incidentally throughout every episode and also played "live" in the pub by the bloke himself during one particular episode.

Sorry I just needed to get that off my chest.

[mobias]

The music pretty much embodies the show doesn't it? Quite flowery pastoral folk music. Maybe pleasantly twee, but some would say so is the show.

I re-watched the Christmas special last night. I don't know why Mackenzie Crook thought it necessary to write is so Lance and Andy didn't get any of the reward from the gold coins at the end of series three. It wouldn't have made much difference to the main plot of the Christmas special because as it now stands it does completely undo the wonderful happy ending of series 3. Even if they had just shared the reward with Simon and Garfunkel it still would have kept the series 3 ending intact. The Simon and Garfunkel scene is a slight jump the shark moment I think.

Anyway, there's still plenty to enjoy in the special but I'm really surprised he didn't put more care into preserving how the third series ended.

[Otisberg]

Nice generally, that special, but I can't help but feel it's a show about two man-babies wandering around in a field, while the women in their lives tell them to be grown up. It's basically Men Behaving Nicely.

Feel sorry for Rachel Sterling. She's so good, but she's reduced to just telling Andy to be an adult all the time.

[holdover]

I'm also not a fan of how Simon and Garfunkel's story turned out. But the lack of reward from the gold at the end of series 3 does make perfect sense. I'd just rewatched the lot before the special and I was half expecting something like that because it's mentioned that the field has been sold and that only S&G have the contract to be there now. Still felt like a bucket of cold water in the face though.

By he end of this special though I was grinning like a fool. Lovely stuff.

I had my heart in my mouth for a split-second when Andy comes back home after visiting burnt ruin. The way he sadly picked up the photo of Becky and Stan had me thinking that Crook had gone full Alien3 and killed everyone off. But immediately Becky calls him from the other room. Phew

[neveragain]

Nice generally, that special, but I can't help but feel it's a show about two man-babies wandering around in a field, while the women in their lives tell them to be grown up. It's basically Men Behaving Nicely.

That was much less of an issue (to my eyes anyway) in the series proper. It's there with Becky but she's a much fuller character than Dorothy from MBB.
Also, I've found Toni a very annoying character from the off. Basically I've never got over her pissing about, pretending to have a dead dad and so on. Yes, Lance doesn't have the best track record for partners but it doesn't seem like it was intended to be as annoying as I found it.