I’m Mackenzie Crook, and this is the 16th-century inspiration for my new comedy Small Prophets – and how we brought it to life

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As a film and TV enthusiast, I recently stumbled across something amazing while revisiting old notebooks. I wrote the first series of Detectorists in 2013, but it turns out the core idea had been brewing in my head for years – I actually found an outline from 1998! It was like it was slowly developing in the background until it was finally ready to come out. Interestingly, my new six-part series for BBC Two went through a similar process. It spent a long time being put off, until I suddenly understood the story I wanted to tell and how to tell it.

The Ingredients:

1. An ancient text

I stumbled upon this idea completely by chance – it started with a little footnote in an old book about Paracelsus, this fascinating 16th-century Swiss thinker. Honestly, I can’t even recall why I was reading about him, but I’m so glad I did! Something in that passage really grabbed me, and I tucked it away, thinking I’d find a use for it someday.

The story featured a mystic who created eight magical spirits, called homunculi, capable of foretelling the future. These spirits were grown in glass jars of water, and the text detailed exactly how they were made – even including a step involving burying the jars in a pile of hot horse manure. The description was so specific, it almost sounded believable.

2. A comic master

I first met Pearce Quigley while we were both acting in a play at the Royal Court Theatre in London—it later moved to Broadway. You might know Pearce as Russell, the somewhat unsettling, bearded character from Detectorists. He’s one of the funniest people I know, but I’d never seen him play the main role in a production. It was realizing this that really sparked the idea for this story. In Small Prophets, Pearce plays Michael Sleep, and I think audiences will immediately connect with him.

3. A puppeteer

I’ve known animator Ainslie Henderson for more than 20 years. He’s a specialist in stop-motion animation, and his films are truly beautiful. When I began considering how to depict these strange things growing in the shed, I immediately thought of Ainslie and his frequent partner, Will Anderson – they were the perfect team for the job.

I created some initial designs for the homunculi, and we shared them with Mackinnon & Saunders, a fantastic animation studio in Manchester – they’ve worked on films like Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! and Corpse Bride, and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. The team at M&S refined my sketches and built amazingly detailed stop-motion puppets. Ainslie and Will then spent months meticulously animating these puppets, capturing only about eight seconds of footage each day.

4. A musician

I’m a big music fan, but I’ve always been fascinated by how musicians actually create it. They seem to possess a kind of magic, transforming instruments into something extraordinary. The music for the show Detectorists, especially Johnny Flynn’s theme, was a huge hit – it’s even been used at weddings! For my new project, Small Prophets, I collaborated with another artist I admire, Cinder Well, whose music has captivated me for a long time. I believe the original theme she composed, ‘The Wise Man’s Song’, will become a truly unforgettable and moving piece of music.

All mixed together in… the laboratory

The advice is to write what you know, and in this case, I’ve written about where I write. Since the lockdown started, I’ve been writing scripts in a shed at the end of my garden. It’s equipped with everything I need to work comfortably and stay focused – a desk, workbench, tools, books, plants, and even an aquarium. It’s not a typical ‘man cave’ – you won’t find pin-up calendars or a beer fridge here (though I do have a fridge for my tortoises to hibernate in!). It’s simply a space where I can concentrate, surrounded by inspiring objects and cherished possessions, each potentially holding a story waiting to be told.

My workspace isn’t just for me – it’s where I develop ideas and build things, and I wanted the character Michael Sleep to have a similar creative space in Small Prophets. When I pitched the idea to the BBC, they asked for a short sample – a couple of scenes to test the animation and get a feel for the show. In the summer of 2023, a small film crew came to my home, and we had a great time shooting the scenes in my shed.

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2026-02-02 20:42