UKC

It's been a while since we've had a Detectorists thread.  I don't think I've seen it mentioned on here yet, so here's a public service announcement..

There's a new feature length (erm.. 75mins) episode which will be on the telly on Boxing Day at 9pm:  https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/the-detectorists-special-return-interv...

Lovely.

Excellent! I don't have a metal detector but every time I walk through my local fields I'm always scanning the ground for coins, jewelry, golden swords etc. You never know.

I look forward to this, I loved the series.

Ditto

Pub?

Yes, sadly I've heard on very good authority there won't be a gazebo featured ! for any detectorist nerds there has been a  load of new behind the scenes stuff recently put on you tube which is worth a watch, amazingly that really is how Sheila talks 

Good theme song too. The artist who performs it features in an episode.

Ring pull.... '78 .....Tizer?

Go on then.

People buy this stuff

Sad gits...

No doubt you guys like the theme music? Check out Johnny Flynn.

No spoilers please!

Toby Jones is in the new Indiana Jones film and has some scenes with Harrison Ford - I wonder if he's seen the gazebo raising scene.

I love this show and have a work colleague who is a detectorist, he finds some really cool stuff. Many roman coins and he does the odd gold dance!

And, improbably, the first episode of the English too!

What a find!

I'd heard there was an Xmas special so tried to find it for an Xmas wrapping session with the other half last week.  Joy of joys I found there was a whole series I had somehow missed : )

One day I'll get one meself like.  Got my eye on a field near here.

Well, just don't go digging up the bottom paddock.

Boom!

I like what you did there!

"Any of you chaps see a trampoline?"

"It went that way."

"Was there a child in it?"

"Don't think so."

"Right..."

Just going to leave this here..
https://twitter.com/theAliceRoberts/status/1602656928525684736

Exciting news! I wonder if she gets to be herself, in which case I can't wait to see the reactions of the club members, or if she has a part, in which case I can scarcely imagine the likely consequences.

Definitely not the pub; this is proper culture

I’d never got round to watching it, but this thread reminded me to give it a go. I’ve just watched the first episode. Now binge watching….

I worked with her many years ago. She is a lot more "lively" than her pleasant-but-serious TV persona. Also more lovely, if you can believe that.

Lets get the coil to the soil.............

i'd like to see her see red when someone mentions Graham Hancock

https://twitter.com/theAliceRoberts/status/1596299599333199872

Somehow this doesn't surprise me Lucky you.

Lance: "I thought you were a vegetarian?"

Andy: "I am."

Lance: "What you doin eatin pork scratchings then?"

Andy: "They're just crisps. They're just pork flavoured."

Lance: "No they're not. They're pig skin."

Andy: "Shut up!"

Lance: "Pork scratchings are fried pig skin, mate. Look at the ingredients."

Andy (reading the back of the pack): "You can't sell packets of fried pig ski.. shit! How long's this been goin on?"

Lance: "It's always been so."

My excitement levels are building. In the meantime I'll have to make do with the Motherland Christmas Special.

There's definitely a pre special binge watch off of all previous episodes coming this way in my household.

I have also started on this project, as I watched them all and completely missed that Mum is Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling is her actual daughter.

DOH!

They don't seem to have a lot of lines together though - it's all about Andy on the dog's last chance but they love him anyway Brilliant.

Nor me, but if Martha Kearney is a fan and Alice Roberts is in it, I suppose I really should…

Oooh.  Detectorists AND Dr Alice Roberts.  Think I'm going to have to go for a lie down afterwards Can't wait. 

Actually, if you throw in some new episodes of Inside No.9, Motherland, Ghosts, 2 Doors Down and Mark Gatiss' Christmas ghost story, it's looking like a good TV festive holiday for once.  Mayflies on Wed/Thu also looking interesting. 

Ian

Russell and Hugh always amuse me- an autistic vibe goimg on..

'Do you have some kind if syndrome?'

'No'

'No' was to the 'looking young' syndrome i reckon most of them are on the spectrum..

Gold, pure gold.

Feeling everso slightly short-changed on Prof Alice Roberts's cameo tbh, but yes - absolutely wonderful. :⁠-⁠)

I watched and was glad I did. Probably the only programme I've made a point of watching over Christmas. However, I thought the longer, one-off format didn't work as well as the shorter, series format. There was too much being crammed in, perhaps to try and include too many characters (eg the Simon and Garfunkel Dirt Sharks). I did laugh out loud in a few places so definitely worth staying up past my bedtime.

We finished the binge watch catching up on all the previous episodes an hour before last night’s special, so feeling a little bereft this morning. Also following a little casual background research I’m now being bombarded by Amazon adverts for metal detectors.

Well..  I hear you have more leisure time than you know what to do with these days so why not?

If you never watched it you can get a bit more of the same warm & gentle humour (but with sillier jokes and a more overt 'eco' message) from Worzel Gummidge. 

I didn't spot it but apparently Andy and Lance make a very brief appearance in one scene.  (Just as two little figures metal detecting in a field with a yellow TR7 parked in it, way off in the background.)  I heard Mackenzie Crook say in an interview that he intended to put Worzel in the background of a shot in this episode of the Detectorists too, but then he just forgot.

And a real find in the news today!

BBC News - Burston detectorist finds Roman gold earring in field

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-63989057

It's a nice little story, including a little gold* dance in his kitchen with his dog, Badger!

*I've added the gold bit 😁

from the link “Guided by experienced detectorist Joe Edwards-Gill, he soon exceeded his mentor's experience” could have come straight from the script 

Weirdly I think I actually quite liked the Jon Pertwee one, though I barely remember it.  FWIW, Mackenzie Crook's take on the character is very different.  (He only has the one head for starters.)

yeah, not much point- unless series 4 is on the way- a few strands developing..

still hope for alice visiting their finds table and accidently crushing 'the find' when she overhears a discussion about ancient civilisations

disappointed with Lance and the terra team turnaround after series 3 ended in such bliss;(

Yup, could have done without Simon and Garfunkel and benefitted from more Dr Alice but that aside for me it was probably the best thing on telly over Xmas.

I feel bad now that I mentioned Dr Alice's appearance (in this thread), it made her teeny tiny cameo a bit of a disappointment when it should have been a nice surprise.  Kind of a spoiler.

I agree, I enjoyed it, but the pacing is better in series format.

If people want full on (Prof) Alice the Indie SAGE back catalogue is still available.

For example...

https://www.independentsage.org/2022/01/

I loved the Xmas special. Thanks for the reminder.

Don’t be too hard on yourself - it made me look out for her, although luckily I didn’t blink! I’m also wondering in an uneducated way if archeology isn’t nearly as bad as metal detecting, on the levels of professionalism etc. Time Team seemed to have a good few characters. And then there’s Indiana Jones

There are some very good and responsible detectorists out there who ensure they have the right permissions, and report their finds as appropriate to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Sometimes these sorts of finds lead to the discovery of an important site and proper investigation (eg: survey, excavation) can take place. Unfortunately not all detectorists fit into this category. The past isn't just about the artefacts - it's where those artefacts were (their context) and digging destroys the context. That's mostly the case in archaeology too, but then everything's been carefully dug and the full contexts recorded, so we have far more useful information about artefacts than just the metal ones discovered randomly and extracted from their broader context. Don't get me wrong, there are good and bad archaeologists too!

Indiana Jones should have retired decades ago   Otoh, when I started my archaeology degree in the mid 80s it was right at the time the original movies came out, and quite a few of my female fellow students seem to have been expecting the male archaeologists to look like Harrison Ford. Have you ever watched Time Team? :-D

Archaeology and metal detecting have little in common beyond digging in fields, though they do overlap and work together: it isn't uncommon for archaeologists to employ local metal detectors for important sites such as battlefields etc, as their skills and kit are typically superior. They will do it within the parameters of a research design by the archaeologist though.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean in your first sentence but if it helps, professional archaeologists are almost all at least degree qualified and then in theory are trained on the job. At best this will be akin to an apprenticeship with employer supported outside courses and conference attendance. Note "in theory" and "At best." Most professional archaeologists will have quality assurance provided by being members of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. The profession does not have the long history with guilds and associations that engineering, architecture etc do so has some 'catching up' still to do, but the professional framework is there.

I can't speak for metal detecting and have no idea about if and how it is regulated, but government heritage agencies and planning authorities would insist on getting archaeologists in to manage something with the importance of a major battlefield site especially if it had potential to add significantly to the existing body of knowledge.

The writers of Detectorists have done their homework and have definitely spoken to people I know. There are too many familiar motifs to be coincidental (the old Triumph, the idiots on the scooter and some less benign others).  

The Time Team did indeed have some characters but behind the Joe Grundy accents and funny jumpers was a wealth of expertise and insight. I think everyone who appeared regularly on that show was the real deal. I worked on an episode many years ago, mostly with Alice Roberts and Phil Harding both of whom were brilliant company. I was impressed by the way the filming worked with the excavation and by and large a great bunch of people.

Detectorists!!!

Ha ha, well spotted!

I was looking forward to watching this when I heard about it before Christmas, then seem to have forgotten about it.  Garrrr.  There's the plan for this evening then!

Really enjoyed the gentleness of the first one.  It was a bit jarring at first to see Mackenzie Crook playing a regular / nice / decent character after getting used to him as Gareth in The Office

Apologies all for earlier spoiler - have had it removed by mods now.

Nice one, good on you.

FWIW I had a big belly laugh at the sheer silliness of the plot twist you mentioned, but if they'd made more of it instead of just neatly throwing it away I probably would have agreed with you about the shark-jumping thing.

not far off?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_de_la_B%C3%A9doy%C3%A8re

Him on the right?  And that's his dad played by Sean Connery in the middle innit?  (Lets just not talk about Baldrick.)

yes, i seem to remember someone had the hots for Guy in a previous TT related thread

I quite liked the soundtrack do you know where its available?

Some behind-the-scenes clips for Detectorists fans on YouTube here:

youtube.com/watch?v=byp75DTrUbI&

There are more from the same channel if you enjoy this one.

I was wondering what Mackenzie Crook was thanked for in that

After resisting for ages I've finally given in and have seen the first series.  Predictably, I've fallen under the same spell as everyone else, although I do worry about how easily I might have become Lance.  

The signs were all there - the flypaper memory for tedious pub quiz trivia, the tropical fish, the inability to play standing up... I even had a TR7 (although, as Lance would undoubtedly have pointed out, it was entirely dissimilar in being Inca Orange, as opposed to Mimosa Yellow).

Fortunately, my wife didn't run off with the local Pizza Hut manager and I had climbing to save me from becoming an obsessive.  

I hate to break this to you Dave but your massive volunteer efforts are not great evidence of escaping obsession .... I'm incredibly greatful for the output of many obsessives, especially yours

Avoided this due to dark memories of following an aunt around the beaches of Cornwall digging up ring pulls and cans.

Ended up binge watching and laughing at the ring pull dating jokes. Mum used to have TR7 as well. Thoroughly enjoyable.

re - Time team, I can never take them seriously, all the boffins come across as very clever, but after watching their efforts at excavating the Grace Dieu on the Hamble it became apparent they are better staying on dry land. Which they could have done if they'd waited for a spring low tide, rather than tying to dive on the thing mid tide. 

You're too kind.  I haven't done much volunteering recently but it's possible I'll become a lot less busy at some point this year.  Assuming I don't buy a second hand detector, of course. 

Thanks for sharing this! Grist to the mill, having exhausted all other Detectorist avenues - short of getting a metal detector that is

Including Worzel Gummidge?  (I realise how ridiculous this suggestion will sound if you're still traumatised by the Jon Pertwee version.)

It must have been the late 70s. My uncle was an electronic engineer on Concorde,  he had made an electronic device hidden in a wooden contraption in his spare time.

During a brief visit to his house in Ashford, he picked it up from the garage and took me out to the garden. We started digging up bits of aluminium foil and the odd pre decimal penny. I was immediately hooked. I was amazed that we could go back in time with 20 pounds worth of electronics.

The UK has the best detecting laws in Europe and thanks to metal detecting and the portable antiquity scheme there is a continuous source of archeological information which  otherwise would not exist. On arable land, artefacts and coins left in the ground are  susceptible to plough damage and have no archeological context as the plough destroys stratification. On pasture, the first 30 cm have usually no stratification and hence removed as you see in time team with a bulldozer. Detectors usually do not go beyond 25 cm.

In other countries in Europe, the law is very unclear and most likely you will get prosecuted for using a metal detector. So most finds go unreported. Some finding their way to the black market. A Taliban approach to preserving heritage which yields a completely different outcome to that which is intended. In Andalusia Spain, there is a complete metal detector ban, authorities claim triumphantly that there are fewer prosecutions, and there is truth in their claims, but what they don't say is that they have driven the hobby "underground" and detectorists are just keeping a lower profile and keeping finds to themselves but metal detecting remains as active as before if not more, but in a more damaging way.

Cheers 

I was reading a while ago that Mackenzie Crook is actually a keen detectorist and Andy is loosely based on “a sadder version of myself”. Apparently some of the locations used in the series are places he had previously detected in

I built one of those contraptions in the mid 1970s.  From memory there was a free-running 470 kHz oscillator tuned by a an IF transformer plus a similar search oscillator on the same bit of board in the box.  The tuning element for the second oscillator was a large coil wound on a wooden X at the bottom of an old wooden broom handle.  The 2 oscillators were tuned to zero beat with each other as heard via a detector and headphone amplifier.  When the search oscillator coil at the bottom was near metal the frequency of the oscillator changed and the beat note made a squeaky noise in the phones.

I think it was a 1960s or 70s practical wireless circuit.  I found lots of rusty hinges and bolts but nothing very interesting, sadly.  Then I dismantled it for the parts

Ah - I'm glad this thread hasn't been archived yet.  Here's a link that obviously belongs here. (I mean, just look at that photo!)

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jan/31/metal-detectorist-tudor-gol...

Did he do the dance?

In the current series of Digging for Britain they seem to be using the same folk singer as sang the opening song for Detectorists. Obviously, Prof Roberts is a fan.

Jonny Flynn. He also appeared as an actor in the fairly recent adaption of Jane Austen's Emma which is currently up on the iplayer. 

I like his music too. Very folksy.

Lance: You're as thick as two short plonks

Art: Planks

Lance: You're welcome

Probably my favourite piece of dialogue from any TV show, ever! I laughed for about 5 minutes straight when I first saw it, and even now it's one of those things which I start giggling at if I'm ever reminded of it. Brilliant!

Is it a cultural thing? I don't get it. It's boring and not funny.

Yes, the culture of searching for stuff that we will probably never find. Everybody's into that, surely?

My Mum thinks Mrs Brown's Boys is hilarious. I think it's about as funny as bubonic plague.

I don't like that either. Or Benidorm. 

There isn't a comedy in the world that everyone likes, there'll be comedies you like that other people don't get but that doesn't mean your humour's wrong, don't worry about it. 

I fondly remember that in the first series that Andy’s job working for the council in the facilities team involved him using tools/machines in exactly the same movement as his metal detectoring.

So they would show him strimming a grass verge or polishing a school corridor with same back and forth motion.

Not falling off the sofa funny but always made me smile hugely.

I think the whole show is a masterclass in understated jokes. I love all the nicknames Lance has for Terry - but they're delivered so offhandedly you don't even notice he's doing it at first. Terry cloth, Terry dactyl, Terry yaki etc. I need to rewatch both series because I'm sure there are lots I missed.

It isn't just humour that resonates with some people. The landscapes and the way they're depicted are also very appealing. The locations are very 'English'. I could picture myself quite enjoying a wander round those parts. Scotland is also a very varied place - I'll often watch something I'm not particularly bothered about just for the landscapes.