{"id":355274,"date":"2026-01-06T14:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/355274\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:19:09","slug":"the-office-stars-brand-new-bbc-sitcom-confirms-release-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/355274\/","title":{"rendered":"The Office star’s brand-new BBC sitcom confirms release window"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small Prophets, the brand-new BBC sitcom written and directed by The Office star Mackenzie Crook, has confirmed its release window. Announced last year<\/a> and set to air on BBC Two and iPlayer, the new show follows Pearce Quigley as a man named Michael Sleep. <\/p>\n

Following the disappearance of his partner Clea seven years previously, Michael sets out to create magical spirits from a recipe given to him by his father Brian (Michael Palin). <\/p>\n

The synopsis reads: “With recipe in hand, Sleep sets out (albeit with some scepticism) to create Homunculi – magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future.”<\/p>\n

Per the press release, the series will incorporate “visually stunning animation elements throughout as we tell a story of friendships and hope, the magical and the mundane, and where secrets and lies lurk in a suburban cul-de-sac”. <\/p>\n

Filmed and set in and around Manchester, the six-part series is expected to launch on iPlayer and BBC Two in February. <\/p>\n

\"mackenzie<\/p>\n

VISHAL SHARMA<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

Crook will play a role in the series alongside Palin and Quigley, and they are joined on the cast by Lauren Patel, Sophie Willan, Jon Pointing and Paul Kaye.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the show, which marks his first as a creator since the end of Detectorists, Crook said: “Like all my best ideas, this one has been percolating for nearly a decade and is finally ready to see the light of day.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s wonderful to be working again with my friends Gill Isles and Pearce Quigley and to realise a long-term ambition of collaborating with animators Ainslie Henderson and Will Anderson.”<\/p>\n

\"lauren<\/p>\n

VISHAL SHARMA<\/p>\n

Related: “Exceptional” British sitcom with Toby Jones finds new UK streaming home<\/a><\/p>\n

Producer Gill Isles said: “I\u2019m absolutely thrilled to be working with Mackenzie again on such a funny, beautiful and unique show.”<\/p>\n

BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie added: “BBC Two viewers are in for a treat with BAFTA winner Mackenzie Crook\u2019s Small Prophets. <\/p>\n

“This magical comedy series brims with wit and wonder – from Mackenzie himself and Sir Michael Palin to Sophie Willan, Pearce Quigley, Lauren Patel and Jon Pointing – and is backed by a top-tier creative team and stunning animation. It\u2019s British comedy at its finest.”<\/p>\n

Small Prophets will air on iPlayer and BBC Two in February.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating music icon Dolly Parton, is here! Buy Dolly at 80 in newsagents or online<\/a>, priced at just \u00a38.99.
<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy<\/p>\n

Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV<\/a> and movies<\/a> at Digital Spy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Small Prophets, the brand-new BBC sitcom written and directed by The Office star Mackenzie Crook, has confirmed its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[379,136718,381,96,1156,136717,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-355274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-becaa880-a13b-4c0c-b754-79e43027e81d","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-locale-gb","13":"tag-shorttitle-the-office-stars-bbc-sitcom-gets-release-window","14":"tag-tv","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}