Second series for Mackenzie Crook comedy

Mackenzie Crook's sitcom Detectorists is to return for a second run.

At the end of the six-part series last night, the BBC Four announcer said that the programme would return 'late next year'. The Corporation today confirmed that another six half-hour episodes would be made.

Crook wrote the bitter-sweet comedy and stars with Toby Jones as a couple of metal-detector enthusiasts. He said: 'I couldn't be happier with how Detectorists has gone down and the response it has got from audiences. The opportunity to meet these characters again and tell some more of their stories is very exciting.'

BBC comedy commissioning controller Shane Allen added: 'We’re proud that Mackenzie’s labour of love has connected so deeply with the BBC Four audience, who have taken these characters to heart. It couldn’t happen to a nicer, more multi-talented and harder working person.'

The show attracted a very respectable 650,000 viewers on its launch, and has received critical praise.

Crook said at its launch: 'I’ve been allowed to make the television show that I would want to watch.'

And explaining the genesis, he said: 'The idea for the show came to me a few years ago after an episode of Time Team which featured two detectorists — as they call themselves. It got me thinking about this strange pastime: a lonely and contemplative one, mostly carried out in autumn and winter, trudging up and down bleak stubble fields, headphones on, staring at the ground.'

Series 1 will be released on DVD on Monday, while all but the first episode are still available on iPlayer.

Published: 7 Nov 2014