This week has been brought to you with the help of paracetamol, ibuprofen, Tiger Balm, Deep Heat and a wide selection of microwaveable heat ups. Not a migraine, just a persistent and nagging headache that took three days and a dizzy spell to subdue. Headaches, if you’ll pardon the pun, are a pain in the neck.
Luckily, the wonderful Mackenzie Crook’s latest offering went a long way to making everything a whole lot better.
Small Prophets, starring Pearce Quigley, Michael Palin and Lauren Patel alonsgide Crook and the always-good-value Paul Kaye, is described as a ‘comedy about a man who creates magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future’ but it’s sooooo much more. As with Detectorists and Worzel Gummidge, Crook’s gentle humour and eye for the magic in the nundane makes a simple six part comedy into something that invests you in these people’s lives.
Quigley plays Michael Sleep, a man working in a DIY superstore, being bullied by the trolley attendant, bossed by ineffectual Crook (with a truly hideous ponytail). His dad (Palin) is in a nursing home and forgets that Michael’s girlfriend Clea disappeared seven years previously. There are nefarious people looking for her, her brother wants the house, the neighbour wants him to do something about the garden and all he wants to fnd out if Clea is alive and coming home. His dad comes up with a plan inspired by a mystic he met in Cairo on National Service – and magic ensues in the form of tiny homunculi grown in the shed.
But – this being Crook – the magical beings are not the only magic in the series. The magic lies in the burgeoning friendship between Michael and Kacey, in the perfect Christmas Michael is creating in case Clea ever comes home, in the tiny moments of mischief Michael brings to his boring job. Crook makes gentle, human comedy – never punching down or being cruel. Even the bully comes across as sad and is given no power. This has been a theme across Crook’s creations. The homunculi are almost secondary to the rebuilding of Michael’s life and re-engaging wiith the world without Clea. I’m known for crying at telly on a regular basis, but the last episode was worth a weep…It’s on BBC iPlayer, binge it now. The reviews are great, and they still don’t do it justice.
Other things making me happy this week
- Taking some personal development time to do one of the V&A Academy’s In Practice courses – this time Illustrating Dresses with Erin Petson. I’m still no good at drawing people, but it was fun to have a go.
- The dance scene with Diego Calva and Tom Hiddleston in series 2 of The Night Manager. Heavens, but that man knows how to wear a suit.
- A long walk with Thing 2 again, She got hangry at 8 miles and we had to stop for a hot chocolate before tackling the home stretch.
- Tea and biscuits with Heather, her Thing 3 and a giant cat last Sunday
- Valentines Lego from my Beloved
- Lots of music recommendations flying back and forth
Today I am off to the ballet with Thing 2 – we’re getting very cultured these days!
Kirsty x
What I’ve been reading:
Amber Gambler/Midnight Auto Parts – Hailey Edwards
House of Sky and Breath/House of Flame and Shadow – Sarah J. Maas (Audible)
A lot of mindless rubbish on Kindle Unlimited.
What Kirsty did next 