Review: 'Detectorists'

I'm not sure there's a description that accurately reflects television shows that aren't quite funny enough to be comedies, but clearly aren't dramas. "Dramedies" doesn't work and the name implies that the show is just a drama with a few funny jokes embedded in the script.

Most of these shows tend to be one-camera shows and the best of them are more character studies than anything else. All of the interesting bits come not from big story arcs or brilliant punchlines but instead from the small things than happen between characters that are very well defined.

The new BBC 4 series "Detectorists" falls into this category and it's one of those shows that I've already become attached to. Although if you put a gun to my head, I couldn't explain just why.

The show stars "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor Mackenzie Crook (he played Ragetti) as Andy and Toby Jones as Lance, two metal detector enthusiasts. They're hot on the trail of the famed final resting place of King Sexred of the East Saxons. They're not looking to become rich. They simply want to grab the honor of being the two men who found it.

The show is dry and sweet and gentle in a way that is almost cloud-like. There are scenes where nothing much happens and the writers aren't afraid to build lots of silence into a conversation. As much as the show is about the treasure hunt, it's also about lost love and loneliness and the feeling that you might be meant for something better.

I've seen the first two episodes of the six-episode first season and the chemistry between Crook and Jones is exceptional. Which is a bit unsettling, since they both play characters who in a real-world context would be best described as "dull and boring." But there's a bond between the men and several exceptional scenes, especially the one in which Lance reluctantly plays a song he's written about his lost love.

"Detectorists" is one of those exceptional little comedies that will really draw you in if it catches you in just the right mood. It's not flashy or even all that funny. It's a slice of life comedy and luckily for the viewers, the lives being examined are well worth getting to know.