Dir. Mackenzie Crook · 2026 · 6 × ~30 min · Apple TV
Michael Sleep (Pearce Quigley) works in a DIY store and has spent seven years waiting for his partner Clea, who vanished. His father Brian (Michael Palin), now in care with early-stage dementia, passes on an old alchemist's recipe for growing "homunculi", small prophets in jars that are said to foretell the future. Michael, with a sarcastic young colleague (Lauren Patel), decides to try. That is the whole first-act engine, and the show is careful to keep it small.
Crook, who created, wrote and directs the series and plays the shop's manager, is best known for Detectorists, and critics keep reaching for that comparison: patient, funny, kind to its people. The fantasy is real but never the point. Reviewers describe the series as being about grief, friendship and waiting, with the magic raising the stakes of ordinary routine rather than replacing it.
Small Prophets is funny, fantastical and, above all, heartbreakingly tender.
Ed Power, The Irish Times
Cristina Escobar at RogerEbert.com singles out Michael himself: a decent man in a way that "should be ordinary" but feels extraordinary for a TV protagonist now. Power says Palin steals the show as Brian, and the sad, funny scenes between father and son are where the reviews linger. At six half-hours it also refuses to stretch: Diego Lerer calls it a show that runs against the grain of many current trends in the medium.
There is little blood in the water. The complaints are mild: Escobar notes some familiar British-comedy habits, such as neighbours who mug for the camera, a wig, and an antagonist who is still silly, though better handled. Ed Power warns the magical realism may be a deal-breaker for some, and that the pace is slow and deliberate. If you want plot momentum, this is not it.
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Small Prophets reached Apple TV on 7 October 2026 in most territories outside the UK, where it already aired on BBC Two and iPlayer earlier this year. Availability varies by country, so check your local listings.