The Rings of Power has nothing on Detectorists

After enduring The Rings of Power recently and being unsurprisingly disappointed, I’ve discovered the BBC show Detectorists. This programme has been around since 2014 but I only discovered it recently via a BBC iPlayer advert having never heard of it before. Sadly it’s only 3 short seasons, with the last coming out in 2017, but considering Mary and I are currently watching The Sopranos, I don’t mind something not been too hot off the press.

Staring Toby James and Mackenzie Crook (both damn fine actors), the show follows their metal detecting hobby. I’ll admit that this premise doesn’t sound very exciting but the stories woven between the characters and their experiences is really lovely. It’s a programme that meanders along with even pacing but is surprisingly well crafted with some lovely camera work and even a little historic fiction.

Detectorists is so unlike most of the mainstream fluff coming out at the moment. It appears as if it isn’t trying too hard but actually is delicately crafted with excellent writing and acting. This is perhaps the complete opposite to The Rings of Power, a show costing half a billion dollars with the result being a loveless husk only containing characters devoid of any redeeming qualities clearly stood in front of a bluescreen regretting their life-choices.

Watching Detectorists on these dark evenings has been surprisingly enjoyable. It’s a little oasis in an otherwise pretty disappointing television landscape filled with expensive CGI fuelled messes with characters no one gives a shit about.