{"id":607300,"date":"2026-08-28T14:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/607300\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:08:11","slug":"apple-tv-buys-mackenzie-crooks-comedy-drama-small-prophets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/607300\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple TV Buys Mackenzie Crook&#8217;s Comedy-Drama &#8216;Small Prophets&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Here\u2019s one for your weekend. <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/apple-tv\/\" id=\"auto-tag_apple-tv\" data-tag=\"apple-tv\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple TV<\/a> has acquired worldwide rights to <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/mackenzie-crook\/\" id=\"auto-tag_mackenzie-crook\" data-tag=\"mackenzie-crook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mackenzie Crook<\/a>\u2018s <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/small-prophets\/\" id=\"auto-tag_small-prophets\" data-tag=\"small-prophets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Small Prophets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tFollowing a deal with <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/sphere-abacus\/\" id=\"auto-tag_sphere-abacus\" data-tag=\"sphere-abacus\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sphere Abacus<\/a>, the global streamer will launch the series on October 7, excluding UK, where it will be made available next year. The show debuted on the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/bbc\/\" id=\"auto-tag_bbc\" data-tag=\"bbc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BBC<\/a> iPlayer and BBC television earlier this year to acclaim and the best 28-day launch ratings for a comedy on BBC Two since 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tCrook (The Detectorists) wrote, created and directed the show, also appearing in a small role opposite lead <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/pearce-quigley\/\" id=\"auto-tag_pearce-quigley\" data-tag=\"pearce-quigley\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pearce Quigley<\/a> (The Detectorists), Lauren Patel (Alma\u2019s Not Normal), Michael Palin (Monty Python), Jon Pointing (Big Boys), Paul Kay (Game of Thrones).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tSmall Prophets follows Quigley as the eccentric Michael Sleep (Quigley), an ordinary man who, since his darling Clea disappeared seven years ago, has worked in a DIY store, while visiting his elderly dad Brian (Palin) and hoping for Clea to return. One day, Brian shares an old recipe for a potion so a skeptical Michael can create homunculi \u2013 magical spirits that can predict the future \u2013 to learn if he will see Clea again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tMichael gets help from his young DIY store co-worker Kacey (Patel) and their unlikely friendship blossoms through a dislike of store manager Gordon (Crook), while his nosy neighbors (Willan, Pointing) obssess about what Michael is doing in the garden shed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe show, set in and around suburban Manchester and is seeped in Crook\u2019s trademark gentleness, is one of the few on Rotten Tomatoes to have a 100% rating and was the winner of the International Panorama at Series Mania earlier this year. It includes animated elements to show the more magical elements of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tCrook\u2019s Treasure Trove made the show alongside Manchester-based Blue House\u00a0Productions. Crook and Lisa Thomas are exec producers for Treasure Trove Productions, with Christine Gernon and Emma Strain EPing for Blue House Productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tTonally, Small Prophets will sit comfortably alongside the likes of Ted Lasso at Apple TV, sharing a similar gentle British sensibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Here\u2019s one for your weekend. Apple TV has acquired worldwide rights to Mackenzie Crook\u2018s Small Prophets. Following&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3288,1578,61,60,257322,257323,165903,191144,80],"class_list":["post-607300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-apple-tv","tag-bbc","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mackenzie-crook","tag-pearce-quigley","tag-small-prophets","tag-sphere-abacus","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}