Detectorists

Old-school humour benefits from some modern polish
Ben-Felsenberg-176Whither Ealing? That distinctly English, small-scale school of self-deprecating humour didn’t entirely vanish with the demise of the studio that made The Lavender Hill Mob and Passport To Pimlico. Every now and then a recognisably Ealing spirit of comedy bubbles up again, albeit on the small screen, and the latest incarnation digs into the past with the aid of a couple of metal detectors, wielded by the titular characters of BBC Four’s new six-part series, Detectorists (Thursday, BBC Four, 10pm).

Toby Jones (a compact, versatile actor’s actor who stole the show in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and in The Girl, as Alfred Hitchcock) is the laconic Lance, whose sole pal on the planet is Andy (Mackenzie Crook, also the writer of the show). They know their membership of the Danbury Metal Detecting Club doesn’t quite put them up there with Howard Carter at the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb. Yet while their trawling through the fields yields little more than tin ring pulls and biscuit wrappers, still they dreamily hanker after the one big find that will give them wealth, fame and – who knows? – perhaps even willing female company. Actually, the gawkily unprepossessing Andy already has somehow managed to secure himself a girlfriend, but that doesn’t stop him being smitten by the arrival of a pretty young student at the club. Trouble and treasure are, you feel, both on their way: Crook and Jones both discharge themselves with the masterful comic understatement that was once the currency of Alec Guinness and Alastair Sim.

NOT TO BE MISSED

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Gogglebox, C4, Friday, 9pm
Try to keep up with Steph and Dom’s drinking if you dare: the show in which we watch viewers a-viewing, and drolly commentating, returns.

24 Hours In Police Cust ody, C4 Monday, 9pm
From the makers of 24 Hours In A&E, another full-blooded snapshot of Britain today, now seen from the perspective of Bedfordshire Police.

Our Zoo, BBC2, Weds, 9pm
It’s the final episode, and the zoo remains in peril: viewers enjoying the heart-warming drama will hope for a stay of execution – and a second series.