"In Small Prophets, BBC Two's new six-parter, Mackenzie Crook plays Gordon, the manager of a massive DIY store. Sometimes it feels as if we're falling through time, because it's like watching Gareth, Crook's breakthrough part in The Office, a quarter of a century on. Pedantic and jobsworthy, he could be Gareth grown up, just with more disappointment, without the West Country accent, says Crook. I wrote Gordon as a monster, but by the end, I was actually quite fond of him."
"Gordon isn't the hero of Small Prophets; he's not even the antihero. This is the story of Michael, played by Pearce Quigley, in a performance so comically, subtly heartbreaking you can rarely figure out what you're melancholy about. Fiftyish, bearded, a twitcher and a hoarder, he works in the DIY store and visits his dad, Brian (a lovely performance from Michael Palin), every afternoon."
"I'm a little bit obsessed by being middle-aged. It crept up on me. Everything seems to have been 20 years ago. It's a surprise to find myself with grownup children. He pauses, then says gravely: Grownup children' is a horrible expression. Have you got children?' Oh yes, they're grownup now.' This is a classic Crook tangent you'll know it if you loved Detectorists a thought delivered with bottomless sorrow, which is true but so amped up and exaggerated that it becomes funny."
Small Prophets is a BBC Two six-part series featuring Mackenzie Crook as Gordon, manager of a massive DIY store. Gordon’s pedantry and jobsworth nature recall Crook’s earlier Gareth role from The Office, updated with more disappointment and without the West Country accent. The central narrative follows Michael (Pearce Quigley), a fiftyish bearded twitcher and hoarder who works in the store and visits his father Brian (Michael Palin) each afternoon. Michael carries a recent tragedy: his girlfriend Clea disappeared without trace seven years earlier, a loss he endures quietly. Crook wrote Gordon as a monster but became fond of him; Crook reflects on middle age and grownup children while bringing a jumpy, modest energy to the role.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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