“I’m Waiting for You”:  Detectorists  and the Comedy of Landscape

BRETT MILLS

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The opening scene of Detectorists (BBC4 2014–2017) introduces the audience to Lance and Andy, as they engage in their hobby that gives the programme its name; metal detecting in the English countryside. Scanning their detectors across a ploughed field, the beeps of their equipment can be heard. They sigh as they recount to one another the paltry nature of that day’s findings. Suddenly Lance’s detector gives a signal, and he kneels to the ground to unearth his findings. He examines the ring pull from a drink can and puts it in a plastic bag for protection. “What do you do with them?” asks Andy. “Stick ‘em on eBay”, Lance replies, “People buy this shit”. “Sad tits”, remarks Andy, and the pair pick up their equipment again and continue to search. In its depiction of the mundanity of their hobby, and the laconic nature of their friendship, this opening scene encapsulates the programme and its pleasures. Here we’re in a world where little happens, but the quotidian is worth attending to.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUK and Irish Regional Television Comedy
EditorsJill Marshall, Mary Irwin
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages139-151
Number of pages13
ISBN (Electronic)9783031236297
ISBN (Print)9783031236280, 9783031236310
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2023

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Comedy
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
ISSN (Electronic)2731-4332

Keywords

  • Television
  • Comedy
  • Humour
  • Class
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Race
  • United Kingdom
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland
  • Ireland
  • England
  • Nation
  • Region
  • Intersectionality
  • Marginality
  • Identity

Research Groups

  • Television Studies Research Group

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