Series 1 opens in a freshly ploughed field in Framlingham, Suffolk, the real filming location for the fictional village of Danesbury. Lance is detecting. His swing technique leaves something to be desired. His first find is a ring pull.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 1 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 2nd of October 2014.

This is the episode that introduces Lance Stater and Andy Stone, the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, Terry and Sheila, Simon and Garfunkel, eccentric landowner Lawrence Bishop and his invisible dogs, and the dream of a Saxon ship burial somewhere out there in the fields. It is also the episode where we first hear the CTX 3030, learn what a Blakey is, encounter Crystal Enigma and the tragic figure of Tony, discover that Mackenzie Crook found actual gold while filming and it is now in the British Museum, and find out that Lance's 1997 Triumph TR7 would eventually sell at auction for over thirty thousand pounds with the full cast's signatures inside the boot lid.

Johnny Flynn's theme plays for the first time. Lance and Andy sit under their lunchtime tree. There is a talk on buttons. Sophie arrives and calls them metal detectors. And the episode ends exactly as it began, with a piece of rubbish.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The matchbox cars keep coming. The Antiquity Searchers make their proper entrance. And Lawrence Bishop produces a small box from the paddock that stops everyone in their tracks.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ross (Instagram: @detectorosst) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 2 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 9th of October 2014.

This episode introduces the Fanny Magnets, Lance's new song New Age Girl, and the Twin Peaks reference that only one of them gets. Bob Kromer is struck by lightning while detecting in a storm. Simon and Garfunkel arrive with ancient equipment and immediately start throwing their weight around. Andy waits outside Becky's school and gets a visit from a police community support officer. The finds table features a Little Chef spoon. Terry invokes the three Rs. And Lance's Easter egg continues: strimming a verge with his headphones in, swinging in exactly the right way.

The episode ends with Bishop producing a box of what he believes is a bit of brass, and what Sophie instantly recognises it as. The first signal on the new permission fires, hope rises, and a Ford Mustang is found.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Jim'll Fix It badge, Sheila's fresh lemonade, and the most iconic pub moment in the entire series. Episode three does not hold back.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Emma (Instagram: @emloveoldstuff) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 3 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 16th of October 2014.

The episode opens in the rain with Andy's unfortunate first find lobbed straight into the nearest bush. From there it escalates: the Antiquity Searchers warn about the 14-day Treasure Act window and Lance absolutely refuses to let them have the last word; Psychic Sheila correctly predicts Lance and Andy's arrival with her eyes closed; the fresh lemonade arrives and Mackenzie Crook has to physically pry his own eye open; Lance returns a record to Maggie at Crystal Enigma as yet another excuse to see her; and Andy buys Becky's silence with a bottle of wine and heads to the pub with a cushion under his arm.

The second half belongs entirely to the pub. Johnny Flynn appears in person as Johnny Piper and performs the theme tune live. Lance and Andy take the stage as Lance Stater and Andy Stone, the first time their surnames are heard in full. Becky arrives at exactly the wrong moment. Sophie is holding Andy's hand. Three drinks follow. Sophie's four-word response. Then Terry goes rogue with a walkie talkie and a spade in the forbidden paddock, and the episode ends with an explosion that in 2014 made people wait a full week.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terry survived. Andy is in serious trouble. And somewhere on Bishop's land there is now a gold coin that Lance knows absolutely nothing about.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist) for a festive recording of Season 1, Episode 4 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 23rd of October 2014.

The hospital opening scene tricks you into thinking Andy is detecting outdoors. Terry has a Luftwaffe incendiary device worth of shrapnel in his leg, which Andy's detector identifies as a small bronze coin. Russell seizes his moment as the bravest man in the room. Ellie spots Becky's shirt covered in tiny magpies and opens up the magpie folklore conversation. Andy tells Becky she sounds like her mum. Lance drives the TR7 with an enormous Bluetooth headset. Andy goes to Bishop's land without Lance, directly breaking his promise, with Sophie and her detector at completely the wrong angle.

The second half belongs to the pub quiz, where the stakes escalate until the loser must leave the club entirely. Tony dominates the football, Lads Mag, and Balearic Islands rounds. The astronomy versus astrology confusion. Becky correcting Sophie on Tutankhamun with knowledge from a year four class project. Lance wins an empty victory. The drunk voicemail. An anonymous envelope. An A4 photograph. A closing door.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A seagull, a lottery win, 150 camo fleeces, and the line that sums up this hobby better than anything ever written. Episode five is one of the best.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Ross (Instagram: @detectorosst) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 5 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 30th of October 2014.

Andy detects alone and is comprehensively pooped on by a seagull. Sophie finds him under the lunchtime tree and he confides he wants to sell his detector, take Becky somewhere, and call it done. Lance tries the University Challenge chat with a man called Cliff and gets nowhere, negotiates his way out of work early by offering to finish the pomegranates first, and ends up in Crystal Enigma blagging it with a customer wanting something shamanic, while Maggie still cannot remember how many sugars he takes. Andy pleads through Becky's mum's letterbox with his phone clearly visible in his pocket.

The episode turns when Lance sits in a field, Sophie approaches, and he opens up: detecting is their escape, finding junk and talking bollocks is what it is, and on the 5th of November the night Maggie left, with fireworks going off outside, he walked into a shop with a quid and won £300,000. Then Simon and Garfunkel arrive to close the land. The photograph is taped back together. Sophie says a name. It all comes out. Terry's greatest line of the series. The 150 fleeces. Bishop is arrested. The invisible dogs, looked after, gave them the slip.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Shandy Bass ring pull. A Power Rangers detector. A ship burial hiding in plain sight. Series one ends exactly as it should.

Your host Katie is joined by Karl (Instagram: @thementaldetector) and Emma (Instagram: @emloveoldstuff) to rewatch Season 1, Episode 6 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, first aired on BBC4 on the 6th of November 2014.

The episode opens with the tale of Jeff Malzol, who detected below Beachy Head collecting thrown wedding rings until the wind caught his waterproof jacket and it acted only as enough of a parachute to make him contemplate his imminent demise. Andy finds a pound coin from this year at an implausible depth and decides he is done. Lance fills in the hole. Andy sells his detector.

From there: Tony spelling out the brutal truth about Maggie and the lottery win to Lance's face in the Crystal Enigma closing down sale. The open day at quarter to four with no visitors, Sheila at the face painting station, and Russell asking whether it is a fundraiser or a recruitment drive. Sophie protesting her innocence and learning she can call Lance a wanker right back. Andy giving Becky the gold coin and suggesting they melt it down for a ring, getting down on one knee, being reminded he will have to drive himself home because he cannot drive. Andy running to a different electrical shop and returning with a children's toy detector covered in Power Rangers stickers. Lance's reaction. The spare detector for Becky. The 1986 Shandy Bass ring pull. Pub, there's always tomorrow.

Then the camera descends underground through soil and coins to the Saxon ship burial and the helmet below, pulling back to reveal the green outline of a ship in the landscape with everyone walking away not knowing it is right there. The Sutton Hoo connection that has been running through the whole series. Series one is over.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Emma at @emloveoldstuff on Instagram. Find Karl at @thementaldetector on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Series 2 opens in AD 1066. A priest is running. Norman horsemen are coming. And something very important is about to be buried next to a standing stone that, a thousand years later, will be lying on its side looking like a boulder while two detectorists stand right next to it and decide to try somewhere else.

Your host Katie is joined by Ellie (Instagram: @miss_detectorist, YouTube: Miss Detectorist) for the opening episode of Series 2 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 29th of October 2015.

A year has passed since series one ended. Andy and Becky are married. Baby Stanley Stone is in a monitor in Andy's shirt pocket while Lance takes a very confident swig from the baby bottle. Diana Rigg arrives as Becky's mum Veronica, kicks Andy's carefully written baby instructions across the floor, and asks whether he is working yet.

The DMDC has a Roman phallus on the finds table, a jewellery recovery service in the local paper, and Sheila's proposal for a naked calendar with finds pouches covering the relevant areas. A new arrival called Peter walks in with extremely big hair, a small hat, and a grandfather who went down in a German plane somewhere nearby. Lance announces he is observing a period of voluntary chastity. Andy chokes on his pint.

The episode also covers the Saxon astel, the Alfred Jewel, the Tufty Club, what makes a Lily Savage Blankety Blank cheque rare, and why the Six Million Dollar Man now does conventions.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie, and Diana Rigg as Veronica.

Find Ellie at @miss_detectorist on Instagram and YouTube.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Someone has gone into Bob Cromer's coffin looking for his best finds. Lance still hasn't done the gold dance. And a new character called Peter is already making enemies.

Your host Katie is joined by Ross (Instagram: @detectorosst) for Series 2, Episode 2 of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy drama Detectorists, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, which first aired on BBC4 on the 5th of November 2015.

Lance's flat is immaculate, his favourite shirt is on, and he is rehearsing in the mirror the fact that 90% of onions are consumed in the country they are grown in. He is going on a date and he did not tell anyone. Andy finds out by spotting him in the Lemon Tree cafe holding hands with a younger woman, immediately hides behind a tree, and phones to ask how Screwfix is going and whether they have a mariachi band. He also asks for galvanized nails.

Meanwhile Peter grabs Lance's detector without asking and swings it around a field until it reads a 35 on the CTX, causing visible panic, before pulling out a Coke can. Lance's position is clear. Simon and Garfunkel announce they have formed a new club called the Dirt Sharks, a joke which sails completely over their heads. The mayor of Danesbury arrives at the club needing a discreet favour involving a lost ceremonial chain and the long grass near Barnfather Woods, the place where all the cars go after dark.

In a bonus section Ross reveals the mayor is played by real-life mudlarker Talesfromtheforeshore (also known as Kenneth Collard), who got detecting in during lunch breaks on set alongside Mackenzie Crook himself.

Featuring Toby Jones as Lance, Mackenzie Crook as Andy, Rachel Stirling as Becky, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Sophie.

Find Ross at @detectorosst on Instagram.

For more metal detecting chat, interviews, and the history behind the finds, follow Katie and the Detecting History Podcast on Instagram and YouTube at @detectinghistorychannel, and listen on all major podcast platforms.

Shop at Regton and use promo code DHPODCAST for 10% off selected items at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.