As the ‘homunculi’ come to maturity, will Michael find the answers he seeks?

‘Pleeeeeeease!’ I’ll admit it, I was groveling. My editor took a long drag of his cigar, his finger hovering over the button that would tip my chair into an underground pool, boiling with flesh-eating piranhas.

‘I know I gave the first three episodes of Mackenzie Crook’s fantastic new comedy drama, Small Prophets, 10/10 but I’ve watched the rest of it now… and the last three are even better. Surely 11 out of 10 or even 12 would make sense.’

‘You know the rules, Jameson.’ His long-haired white Chinchilla cat blinked inscrutably, purring its agreement.

Well, I tried.

Aside from all the comedic delights – including a painfully funny attempted mugging; Sophie Willan’s Bev wandering around the cul-de-sac in her silk pajamas; eternally frustrated husband Clive (Jon Pointing) trying to report illegal homunculi to the council; Mackenzie Crook’s brilliantly bah-foiled-again superstore manager; random tandems; and bunny-shaped oil slicks – there is not only a touching payoff with troubled cul-de-sac teenager Elliot, but a moment of truly heart-rending connection between Pearce Quigley’s Michael and one of his twitchily prophetic charges.

Because Crook loves – and forgives – his characters in a way unique amongst today’s TV writers, he is able to flip from surreal comedy to profound human emotion in the twitchy blink of an homunculus’s eye – and take us with him, no matter how abrupt the turn. Kudos too, to the VFX team who have eschewed digital slickness in favour of a far more believable monochrome mysticism, oddly and effectively reminiscent of the infamous Cottingley Fairies… but with added gremlin.

Verdict: As season 1 arrives at its deftly plotted conclusion, episode 6 of Small Prophets ends with a ‘To Be Continued’ slate. I, for one, will be counting the days – even if it means avoiding the piranhas. 12/10*

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com

 

*Editor’s Note: One-off, Jameson, one-off.