'Funny, warm, and no car chases' - Michael Palin on his return to TV acting

Small Prophets marks Sir Michael's first TV acting role since 2019's Worzel Gummidge

Sir Michael Palin has said he was attracted to the "humour and magic" of Small Prophets - the new BBC drama that marks his first TV acting role in seven years.

Critics have heaped praise on the new comedy series from Detectorists creator Mackenzie Crook, which follows a man who creates tiny creatures capable of foretelling the future and answering any question.

Sir Michael said he was attracted to the series because it "deals with people in a very empathetic, human way".

"This is not a story where you'll have car chases and people wanting to kill each other," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "There's a warmth in the way [Crook] writes about people.

"Every single character in this series, gets their moment, however small it might be, it might be two lines or one line, and that line is thought out, careful, and is given to the actor as something special," he continued.

"So what Mackenzie does is a very personal kind of writing, where if you like it, it's just the best of all to do, because it's so sympathetic to people."

Lauren Patel (left) and Pearce Quigley also star in Small Prophets

Small Prophets centres on Michael Sleep (played by Pearce Quigley), whose partner Clea vanished seven years ago.

After a tip-off from his elderly father, played by Sir Michael, he begins cooking up an ancient recipe involving rain water, horse manure, and a little alchemy, to create folkloric creatures who can predict the future.

"They are called homunculi," explained Sir Michael, "which I don't think anybody knows anything about, apart from Mackenzie.

"[He] found them in a book somewhere that there was proof that many many years ago, a man had found a recipe to create little people in jars - a magical alchemist."

Sleep hopes he can help him find his wife. "So what seems a very strange thing, becomes magical and quite helpful and improving, and helps him in his quest for his lost partner," Sir Michael explained.

The series follows Michael (played by Quigley) as he attempts to create small creatures in jars

Small Prophets marks the actor and presenter's first TV acting role since playing the green man in Worzel Gummidge, which was also written and directed by Crook.

The former Monty Python star described Crook as a "marvellous writer, one of the most original".

He said Crook's latest series is "quite incisive, it's not dreamy, he writes very funny lines, very tart and quite sardonic in their way".

"It's all about life in the suburbs of south Manchester, and he can find in that world an amazing amount of humour and magic, and good people doing very funny things."

Five-star reviews

In a five-star review, the Guardian's Jack Seale said Small Prophets was "a pure, pure pleasure"

"If there is a message or a moral, it is that there are still wonderful things at hand in a world that might seem like it is running out of them," he said.

"The existence of Small Prophets proves the point: that British telly can still create impossible marvels like this is a reason to keep believing in magic."

"Even if this didn't have a supernatural storyline, Crook is already a magician, someone whose joyous storytelling can make you feel strangely and intensely alive," he said.

The blending of the mundane and the magical "may not suit every palate", said the Telegraph's Anita Singh in her four-star review, "but this is clearly a labour of love for Crook."

"Admittedly, some components jar – a cackling colleague at the DIY store feels misplaced, and the final instalment of the six-part series takes an unwanted detour into horror.

"However, Quigley is wonderful; a character in whose company one would happily while away the hours.

Also awarding four stars, the Independent's Patrick Smith advised readers: "If the show's magical realism gives you pause, don't be put off: you'll be rewarded with something funny, strange, and surprisingly accessible.

"Like Detectorists before it, this is a series that wrings emotion from the commonplace and everyday – only this time, the treasure Crook has buried is altogether more peculiar. Small Prophets brings large returns."

Small Prophets is available now on iPlayer.