Detectorists on the Detectorists – Details, episodes & analysis

The finale of The Detectorists on the Detectorists. All four guests are together for the first time: Emma (@emloveoldstuff), Ellie (@miss_detectorist, Miss Detectorist on YouTube), and Ross (@detectorosst) join host Katie to review the 2022 feature-length special of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, and to reflect on the whole series.

The special opens with Andy and Lance in a field tossing a ceramic cup between them, neither wanting to keep it. By the end of the episode, they think it might be a reliquary connected to the Last Supper. Ross notes that it felt less like a film that tried to be a TV show and more like a long episode, which is exactly what it needed to be. The drone shots give it a quality of being watched from above, in keeping with the eerie presences that have run through all three series. Art and Paul, welcomed into the gang so warmly at the end of series three, double-cross everyone over the gold from the nest. Lance goes full Gollum, hides the coins from Andy, and it takes Tony to suggest the obvious solution. By the final scene, Andy and Lance are a team again, sharing a quiet look that says everything. The special also carries real weight: the house that Becky and Andy worked so hard to win at auction has burned down, and Veronica is gone. Diana Rigg had died in 2020, and Rachel Stirling, who plays Becky and was Rigg's daughter in real life, is understood to have brought the storyline to Mackenzie Crook herself.

The gang then run through their overall thoughts on the series, covering what made the Detectorists feel authentic to real detecting life: the range of actual machines, the correct techniques, the Searcher magazine on the bedside table, the permissions culture, the lunch break conversations. Ellie notes that she first watched it as a non-detectorist for the British countryside and the characters, and that watching it again as someone who swings a coil revealed a whole second layer she had missed entirely.

The episode closes with a twenty-question pub quiz on the whole series, which dear listener can play along with at home. Questions cover the DMDC logo, Art's 1978 Orado, the number of pints of strong European lager Becky pours over Sophie, Lance's lottery winnings, the name written on Andy's hard hat, and what Sheila orders at band night. Ross disputes this result on grounds that have not been fully articulated lol.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram, Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and at Miss Detectorist on YouTube, and Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram. For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms. Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

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Series 3, Episode 6 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook. Host Katie and guest Ellie(@miss_detectorist, Miss Detectorist on YouTube) review the series finale, and it is a moving one.

It opens with Andy convinced he has found a Bronze Age spearhead. He runs to find water to clean it, Lance gets excited alongside him, and they both realise it is a broken fence spike. Lance claims he knew all along. The apartment switcheroo is complete: Kate is moving her things onto Tony's canal boat, announcing it as my very own ship, while Lance stands on the towpath unable to even look at it. At the Scout hall, Terry produces the proof copy of The Common Buttons of Northwest Essex by Terence Seymour. Print run: 45. Russell suggests his copy be left unsigned to make it worth more. Andy announces the club is invited to join the last day on the permission. Terry has a brand new gazebo, three metres by nine.

The scene in the White Horse pub is one of the best in the series. Art and Paul are sitting against the back wall, arms folded, and Art delivers his well well well look who's come crawling back. Paul, increasingly the steadier of the two, clocks immediately that they are not really interested in bats and asks what they have actually found. It emerges that Art and Paul have been barred from NCMD digs since the troubles. Andy makes them honorary DMDC members for the day. Art fights back tears. They just wanted to be part of the gang all along, Ellie observes. Hurt people hurt people.

The rally arrives and it is everything. The whole gang comes over the hill with their detectors in a scene directly referencing the barn-raising sequence from the 1985 film Witness, complete with a version of the score woven through Johnny Flynn's theme. Terry gives his briefing, thanks Andy and Lance for opening up the permission, and welcomes their new friends Paul and Phil. Lance tries to shoo everyone to spread out. Nobody can hear him. They all have their headphones on. Varda finds a bronze finger ring in the soil, tries it on her finger, finds it too large, and walks over to Louise. From across the field, Andy and Becky arriving from the auction see Varda on one knee. Andy returns to tell Lance he is a homeowner. Lance only hears the first part. Becky outbid everyone in the room while Andy's legs stopped working, with Veronica's money behind her. Lance and Art swap machines. The Garrett Orado, it turns out, was built in 1978. Same year as the TR7.

As the shadows lengthen and the gazebo comes down, Lance gives Andy the speech. Archaeologists gather the facts, piece together the jigsaw. But detectorists pick up the scattered memories, fill in the personality. They are the storytellers. Detectorists are time travellers. Andy considers this. Yeah, all right, he says. I'll give you that. They walk back across the field. A drone shot rises. The magpies have a scuffle in the lunch tree and the gold coins begin to rain down, glinting in the late sun, landing at their feet. Johnny Flynn sings a new verse, heard for the first time. Hoard me in the highest bough.

Detectorists Characters: Andy (Mackenzie Crook), Lance (Toby Jones), Becky (Rachel Stirling), Veronica (Diana Rigg), Tony (Orion Ben), Terry (David Sterne), Sheila (Sophie Thompson), Russell (Pearce Quigley).

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and at Miss Detectorist on YouTube. For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms. Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

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Lance and Andy are at a Little Chef watching a man on the news who found 350 Roman coins worth over a million pounds on his second time out. Lance has one word for this. The episode gets more emotional from there.

Your host Katie is joined by Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist), calling in from a cottage on the Isles of Scilly under a cloud of Saharan dust, for Series 2, Episode 4 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 19th of November 2015.

Andy has a job interview in Botswana he has done almost no research for. Lance steps in with what he has: bridge is the national sport, thrash metal is very popular, and there is a band called Crackdust. His actual interview advice is to be more sparky and less morose and under no circumstances be himself. Andy dirtied his hands in a flower pot outside to fit in with the other candidates, was clocked doing it by the professor, and then redeemed himself entirely by identifying two Victorian clay pipes and an older one from the width of the bowl. Becky listened to the whole thing on the phone and was absolutely howling. Whether the letter that arrived afterwards was the job offer or a subscription reminder is a question Andy answers very quickly and does not invite further discussion on.

Russell and Hugh return the mayor's chain in a carrier bag held at arm's length, are received in his dressing gown and pants, are thanked warmly and rudely in equal measure, and then produce the gentle threat of calling the local paper about the necklace until the mayor grants them 500 acres of virgin land and a warning that someone is already one step ahead of them. Back at the club, Varda finally speaks, with a conspiracy theory about a German bomber carrying gold bullion that crashed in 1941 and the instruction from Terry to keep it down.

Then Lance opens the cupboard. He has bought Kate a birthday present and a Christmas present every year since he found out she existed. Over forty presents, all wrapped, all waiting. He gives her the cheque for the maintenance he should have paid. Then he asks her to call him dad. Kate leaves looking bewildered. Lance watches her go.

The episode ends in the field with Andy detecting and baby Stanley in a carrier on his chest, hearing about Robert McClint who fell into a vat of soup, and wanting to know what flavour.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, and Rachel Stirling as Becky.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russell and Hugh are in a car park after dark, looking for a ceremonial chain in the bushes. Then the headlights appear behind them. Hugh is not going to be the same again.

Your host Katie is joined by Emma (Instagram: @emloveoldstuff) for Series 2, Episode 3 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 12th of November 2015.

Lance is caught in the supermarket by Sophie and Peter, flowers and chocolates in the basket, standing by the deodorant section smelling of something Sophie says belongs in the 1990s. He escapes. Minutes later he is sitting on a park bench between a dog poo bin and a regular bin, waiting for Kate, who walks up just as Sophie and Peter are crouching nearby pretending to search for something they've lost. Kate is not fooled. Lance almost certainly knew they were there the whole time.

Back at the club, Lance walks in late smelling noticeably better and Andy immediately tells him so. More importantly, Lance takes one look at the crash site photograph and announces everyone is in the wrong place: the motorbike's number plate is reversed. The photo is flipped. The actual crash site is on the mayor's land, which means Russell and Hugh's traumatic evening in the car park was not wasted after all. They have leverage. Hugh finds the ceremonial chain with his eyes rather than his detector. It is not alone. That one's knotted, says Russell. He goes to find a stick.

Becky and Andy's date night features a poonami update, a double scotch with no ice, and a weak milky coffee with a marshmallow. Becky reveals she has already told school she is leaving at the end of term, has applied for both of them to go to Botswana, and Andy's interview is on Tuesday. The marshmallow becomes a small act of bravery. Back in the field, Lance is swinging an enormous 13-inch coil and dropping hints about not having much time for detecting soon. Andy demands he stop speaking in riddles. Lance stands up. She is my daughter. Andy sits with that for a moment, then asks about the bed that apparently got chopped up lengthways, or possibly sideways, and whether the council came for the bits.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, and Rachel Stirling as Becky.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone has gone into Bob Cromer's coffin looking for his best finds. Lance still hasn't done the gold dance. And a new character called Peter is already making enemies.

Your host Katie is joined by Ross (Instagram: @detectorosst) for Series 2, Episode 2 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 5th of November 2015.

Lance's flat is immaculate, his favourite shirt is on, and he is rehearsing in the mirror the fact that 90% of onions are consumed in the country they are grown in. He is going on a date and he did not tell anyone. Andy finds out by spotting him in the Lemon Tree cafe holding hands with a younger woman, immediately hides behind a tree, and phones to ask how Screwfix is going and whether they have a mariachi band. He also asks for galvanized nails.

Meanwhile Peter grabs Lance's detector without asking and swings it around a field until it reads a 35 on the CTX, causing visible panic, before pulling out a Coke can. Lance's position is clear. Simon and Garfunkel announce they have formed a new club called the Dirt Sharks, a joke which sails completely over their heads. The mayor of Danesbury arrives at the club needing a discreet favour involving a lost ceremonial chain and the long grass near Barnfather Woods, the place where all the cars go after dark.

In a bonus section Ross reveals the mayor is played by real-life mudlarker Talesfromtheforeshore (also known as Kenneth Collard), who got detecting in during lunch breaks on set alongside Mackenzie Crook himself.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Series 2 opens in AD 1066. A priest is running. Norman horsemen are coming. And something very important is about to be buried next to a standing stone that, a thousand years later, will be lying on its side looking like a boulder while two detectorists stand right next to it and decide to try somewhere else.

Your host Katie is joined by Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist) for the opening episode of Series 2 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 29th of October 2015.

A year has passed since series one ended. Andy and Becky are married. Baby Stanley Stone is in a monitor in Andy's shirt pocket while Lance takes a very confident swig from the baby bottle. Diana Rigg arrives as Becky's mum Veronica, kicks Andy's carefully written baby instructions across the floor, and asks whether he is working yet.

The DMDC has a Roman phallus on the finds table, a jewellery recovery service in the local paper, and Sheila's proposal for a naked calendar with finds pouches covering the relevant areas. A new arrival called Peter walks in with extremely big hair, a small hat, and a grandfather who went down in a German plane somewhere nearby. Lance announces he is observing a period of voluntary chastity. Andy chokes on his pint.

The episode also covers the Saxon astel, the Alfred Jewel, the Tufty Club, what makes a Lily Savage Blankety Blank cheque rare, and why the Six Million Dollar Man now does conventions.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie, and Diana Rigg as Veronica.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Shandy Bass ring pull. A Power Rangers detector. A ship burial hiding in plain sight. Series one ends exactly as it should.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Emma (Instagram: @emloveoldstuff) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 6 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 6th of November 2014.

The episode opens with the tale of Jeff Malzol, who detected below Beachy Head collecting thrown wedding rings until the wind caught his waterproof jacket and it acted only as enough of a parachute to make him contemplate his imminent demise. Andy finds a pound coin from this year at an implausible depth and decides he is done. Lance fills in the hole. Andy sells his detector.

From there: Tony spelling out the brutal truth about Maggie and the lottery win to Lance's face in the Crystal Enigma closing down sale. The open day at quarter to four with no visitors, Sheila at the face painting station, and Russell asking whether it is a fundraiser or a recruitment drive. Sophie protesting her innocence and learning she can call Lance a wanker right back. Andy giving Becky the gold coin and suggesting they melt it down for a ring, getting down on one knee, being reminded he will have to drive himself home because he cannot drive. Andy running to a different electrical shop and returning with a children's toy detector covered in Power Rangers stickers. Lance's reaction. The spare detector for Becky. The 1986 Shandy Bass ring pull. Pub, there's always tomorrow.

Then the camera descends underground through soil and coins to the Saxon ship burial and the helmet below, pulling back to reveal the green outline of a ship in the landscape with everyone walking away not knowing it is right there. The Sutton Hoo connection that has been running through the whole series. Series one is over.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A seagull, a lottery win, 150 camo fleeces, and the line that sums up this hobby better than anything ever written. Episode five is one of the best.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ross (Instagram: @detectorosst) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 5 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 30th of October 2014.

Andy detects alone and is comprehensively pooped on by a seagull. Sophie finds him under the lunchtime tree and he confides he wants to sell his detector, take Becky somewhere, and call it done. Lance tries the University Challenge chat with a man called Cliff and gets nowhere, negotiates his way out of work early by offering to finish the pomegranates first, and ends up in Crystal Enigma blagging it with a customer wanting something shamanic, while Maggie still cannot remember how many sugars he takes. Andy pleads through Becky's mum's letterbox with his phone clearly visible in his pocket.

The episode turns when Lance sits in a field, Sophie approaches, and he opens up: detecting is their escape, finding junk and talking bollocks is what it is, and on the 5th of November the night Maggie left, with fireworks going off outside, he walked into a shop with a quid and won £300,000. Then Simon and Garfunkel arrive to close the land. The photograph is taped back together. Sophie says a name. It all comes out. Terry's greatest line of the series. The 150 fleeces. Bishop is arrested. The invisible dogs, looked after, gave them the slip.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terry survived. Andy is in serious trouble. And somewhere on Bishop's land there is now a gold coin that Lance knows absolutely nothing about.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist) for a festive recording of Season 1, Episode 4 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 23rd of October 2014.

The hospital opening scene tricks you into thinking Andy is detecting outdoors. Terry has a Luftwaffe incendiary device worth of shrapnel in his leg, which Andy's detector identifies as a small bronze coin. Russell seizes his moment as the bravest man in the room. Ellie spots Becky's shirt covered in tiny magpies and opens up the magpie folklore conversation. Andy tells Becky she sounds like her mum. Lance drives the TR7 with an enormous Bluetooth headset. Andy goes to Bishop's land without Lance, directly breaking his promise, with Sophie and her detector at completely the wrong angle.

The second half belongs to the pub quiz, where the stakes escalate until the loser must leave the club entirely. Tony dominates the football, Lads Mag, and Balearic Islands rounds. The astronomy versus astrology confusion. Becky correcting Sophie on Tutankhamun with knowledge from a year four class project. Lance wins an empty victory. The drunk voicemail. An anonymous envelope. An A4 photograph. A closing door.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Jim'll Fix It badge, Sheila's fresh lemonade, and the most iconic pub moment in the entire series. Episode three does not hold back.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Emma (Instagram: @emloveoldstuff) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 3 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 16th of October 2014.

The episode opens in the rain with Andy's unfortunate first find lobbed straight into the nearest bush. From there it escalates: the Antiquity Searchers warn about the 14-day Treasure Act window and Lance absolutely refuses to let them have the last word; Psychic Sheila correctly predicts Lance and Andy's arrival with her eyes closed; the fresh lemonade arrives and Mackenzie Crook has to physically pry his own eye open; Lance returns a record to Maggie at Crystal Enigma as yet another excuse to see her; and Andy buys Becky's silence with a bottle of wine and heads to the pub with a cushion under his arm.

The second half belongs entirely to the pub. Johnny Flynn appears in person as Johnny Piper and performs the theme tune live. Lance and Andy take the stage as Lance Stater and Andy Stone, the first time their surnames are heard in full. Becky arrives at exactly the wrong moment. Sophie is holding Andy's hand. Three drinks follow. Sophie's four-word response. Then Terry goes rogue with a walkie talkie and a spade in the forbidden paddock, and the episode ends with an explosion that in 2014 made people wait a full week.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.