Mackenzie Crook: 'I'm just having the time of my life at the moment'

"The thing that's pointed out to me all the time is the gentle tone of it, the kindness," muses 51-year-old Mackenzie, who writes, directs, and stars in the BBC One show.

"That was deliberate, to set out to write something uncynical. So I think its (popularity) is down to it just being a bit of a breath of fresh air in amongst brilliant comedies, but comedies that have cruelty in them.

"But I've made my peace with it now - it is a gentle comedy," he admits, smiling. "But that doesn't mean it's not funny."

Fans would certainly agree with his sentiment, for in three short seasons (the last having aired in 2017) and one Christmas special, Crook has dug up a formula that audiences cannot seem to get enough of.

READ MORE: Mackenzie Crook on Detectorists, his man cave and alternatives to toxic masculinity

It was little surprise, then, that his announcement of a new 75-minute special, to air this festive season, was met with elation. But just where will we find the characters some five years later?

The Danebury Metal Detecting Club (DMDC) is in trouble. With developers sniffing around, and having lost out on a big finder's fee, its members are in need of a miracle to save their beloved scout hall, the official synopsis reads.

But when Lance (played by the brilliant Toby Jones) secures permission to search 10 acres of undetected land, it looks like things could be on the up. That is until a mysterious relic is unearthed, and Lance breaks protocol, threatening his friendship with Andy (Crook) and the future of the DMDC.

The story, Crook says, just occurred to him. "But against the treasure hunting, I was also able to see where our friends are and what they've been doing. For while lots has changed, lots has stayed the same too."

He adds: "There were various things that I had to deal with, like the cottage that Andy and Becky [played by Rachel Stirling] bought at the end of the last series, their dream cottage, well that actually burned down, in real life, a couple of years ago. So I had to get that into the story.

"And then Diana Rigg, who plays Becky's mum in the series, and is Rachel's mum in real life, died in 2020, so I had to think how to address that, as well."

The Detectorists (Image: free)

Is there an extra pressure heaped on by adoring fans? "There's quite a responsibility now, to not muck it up," he says candidly. "People were so pleased with the way it finished before, it was like, should it be coming back? But I think we found a way to bring it back one last time in a very special way."

The cast and crew returned to the Suffolk town of Framlingham to shoot the series, where Mackenzie modestly recalls "a smattering - not a crowd" of people who went to watch.

"It's weird, it's been five years since a new episode was broadcast, but in that time the fan base has continued to grow. It's slowly been building," enthuses the Britannia star, who reveals he has had to decline invitations to metal detecting rallies, joking: "I don't really want to be the patron saint for detectorists."

For Mackenzie, a new episode was, at the least, a great excuse to meet up with old friends, especially Jones whom he met over lunch to float his ideas ("He wouldn't just blindly agree to do another one.")

"Andy and Lance are proper firm friends; they're never more comfortable than when they're in each other's company," he says of the on-screen duo. "And our (friendship) has now sort of become like that. I mean, Toby is my only sort of famous friend, really.

READ MORE: Rachael Stirling talks Detectorists, her mum Diana Rigg and being a "muso muse" to Elbow's Guy Garvey

"He's turned into a friend, rather than just a work colleague. We have a right old laugh when we're together."

As for Andy, he still "needs a kick up the arse all the time", he quips. "He's a ditherer, a procrastinator and it takes things to get to a head, and then he is very willing to do the right thing and work hard."

Did he not once compare himself with his protagonist?

"As I was saying that aloud, I was thinking, 'Am I just describing myself?'" he confesses, chuckling quietly. "He's an exaggerated version of me. I could quite easily just do my hobbies all day and not actually get anything done."

Kent-born Crook is speaking from his home shed, the site of several aquariums and a number of his hobbyist collections he reveals - "I could spend a lot of time in here, not doing my proper work."

By "proper work" he means acting, writing and directing - or the various guises in which we've come to know him, be it self-important Gareth in The Office, The Pirates Of The Carribean's Ragetti with his ill-fitting eye, or scarecrow Worzel Gummidge. To name a few.

His shed fuels his creative energy, he says, explaining: "When I write, I've always got a secondary project going on at the same time - a making/practical project - and I swap between the writing and that. That's how it works for me."

That is where he sees his future - behind the camera, confides the father-of-two. "I can see me leaning more towards the writing and directing and doing less acting. I mean, there's times when I love acting, but it can be frustrating, just the time sitting around.

"I spent all of this summer in the West End, in the play Jerusalem with Mark Rylance, a play we did 12 years ago, which was just amazing. So I can't say I'd ever give up acting because if opportunities like that come along, then I'm going to take them."

"But I'm just having the time of my life at the moment," he adds earnestly. "Over the last few years, creating my own TV shows has just been brilliant.

Can he see a fourth series of The Detectorists?

"To be honest, I don't have any plans to do more, but that's what I said at the end of the third series," he finishes, teasing that he does have plans to write a brand-new TV series next year instead.

"If another story occurs to me, then yes. We'll see. Maybe I've already got it, I just don't know it."

The Detectorists returns to BBC One, Boxing Day, 9pm