00:00I have this romantic draw to stories of loneliness.
00:03You know, you sort of long to be a bit lonelier than you actually are, maybe.
00:08Yeah, I wish I was more lonely.
00:10In the last ten years since, you know, discovering that I can write and direct,
00:15that's what I want to do, yeah.
00:17I really am, I think, the happiest I've been doing this.
00:22This is Streamline, your weekly guide to what's actually worth watching
00:25across TV, film and everything in between.
00:27I've been completely obsessed with Mackenzie Crook's new comedy, Small Profits.
00:32Now, this is one of those shows where if you pitch it wrong, you completely undersell it.
00:36So, bear with.
00:38It follows Michael Sleep, a lonely man whose girlfriend Clea disappeared seven years ago.
00:43His dad gives him a recipe for growing homunculi, tiny, magical profits
00:47who can predict the future and hopefully help him find answers about what happened to Clea.
00:51And yes, that sounds niche, but I swear it's one of the most beautiful,
00:55funny, magical shows I've seen in absolutely ages.
00:59Just don't overthink the premise.
01:00You just need to watch it.
01:01I met a man who managed to grow a homunculi.
01:05They're like little people in jars.
01:07Excuse me, you sell buckets?
01:09Buckets? No.
01:10With an idea that you've had or sort of been cooking up for nearly ten years,
01:15how do you know when an idea is done?
01:18Yeah.
01:18And I suppose, like, why did now feel like the moment to tell the story?
01:22Yeah, I don't really know.
01:23It's kind of instinctive.
01:24The same thing happened with Detectorists.
01:27Unbeknown to me, I'd had the idea for Detectorists ten years previously
01:30and it was when I came to, like, look for ideas for the second series.
01:34I looked through some old notebooks and I found the idea from Notebook in 1999,
01:39all fully formed.
01:40And I'd had the idea, put it out of my mind.
01:43So, yeah, I don't know.
01:45It's a strange thing that, but, you know, hopefully I've had my next idea already.
01:49I just don't know what it is yet, but that's kind of, it seems that's the way I work.
01:53Yeah.
01:53I think I had in mind that I was going to do a Russell from Detectorists spin-off.
01:57And I think amongst the first things I wrote were Russell working in a DIY shop winding up the customers.
02:05We stopped stocking hand drills in 1953.
02:08And then I decided, no, it's not a Detectorist spin-off at all.
02:11This is a separate thing. I should stop thinking about Russell.
02:14And I'm glad I did, because Russell's a very strange character
02:17and not nearly as likeable and lovable and kind as Michael is.
02:23I mean, why haven't you been getting around in every once in a while?
02:25Have you 30 bloody two?
02:26Now, in anyone else's hands, this might not work, but it's got that very particular Mackenzie crook magic
02:32that any fans of Detectorists will instantly recognise.
02:35It has that same warmth and gentleness running through it, like a very cosy British sitcom
02:40that feels slightly out of time, but in the best possible way.
02:44It's also interested in the same type of gentle masculinity.
02:48Men who are slightly awkward and a bit lost, but never mocked for it.
02:52I am in love with Michael and I think I was in the first 10 seconds of watching the show.
02:57There's something really honest about him because he's not miserable all the time.
03:01How do you show that sort of male loneliness in a way that's really honest without just being sort of
03:09sad or pitiful, which he never falls into?
03:13That's a good question. I don't know really. I suppose it's just tell the story as it's written, really, to
03:19be honest with you.
03:21I think he's an optimistic character and a hopeful character.
03:24You know, he truly believes that Clea is still out there and she will come back and she loved him.
03:30And so, yeah, I think that's what drives him on.
03:33He refuses to let himself be depressed by it because he believes she's coming back and it's all going to
03:39be alright in the end.
03:40There's a real tenderness in the way that you write men and masculinity, especially sort of like men who don't
03:46really fit anywhere.
03:47Is there something that draws you to writing about male loneliness?
03:51And do you think that there's sort of more of an appetite for that at the moment to see that
03:55sort of portrayed on the screen?
03:57I'm writing about a masculinity that I know. I don't have toxic males in my life.
04:04My dad was a very gentle, is a very gentle and kind man.
04:08You know, my friends, my male friends are all the same.
04:11So, I'm writing about a type of masculinity that I know exists.
04:18The loneliness thing, I've never been lonely but I think I have this romantic draw.
04:23I'm drawn romantically to stories of loneliness and I was as a kid, like James and the Giant Peach.
04:30You know, stories about orphans and, you know, you sort of long to be a bit lonelier than you actually
04:35are maybe.
04:37Yeah, I wish I was more lonely.
04:40I'm always wondering what he's up to in that shed of his.
04:43Are you two an item?
04:45No!
04:46I can't not ask about The Office because it's just, it's my favourite comedy of all time.
04:50I know that you have said previously that you find it really hard re-watching yourself in The Office.
04:55Is that still the case and is that the case with watching this?
04:58Because I imagine as a director you need to re-watch your scenes.
05:01Yeah, no, The Office was, it's an awkward, uncomfortable watch, especially the second series, I think, of The Office.
05:09My character is a bit of a monster because if people were rude to me, then I used to give
05:13them their milk last.
05:14So it was warm.
05:15Gareth is a bit of a monster.
05:17But no, my heart doesn't seem like I'm ashamed of it, I want to forget about it.
05:20It's just, it's an awkward, difficult watch sometimes.
05:25But I love The Office.
05:26In the last ten years since, you know, discovering that I can write and direct, that's what I want to
05:32do, yeah.
05:33I really am, I think, the happiest I've been doing this, doing all these jobs, yeah.
05:39And if tiny fortune telling profits grown in jars weren't zany enough, they're brought to life with stop motion animation.
05:46Which gives this whole thing a wonderfully tactile, handmade feel.
05:50It's strange and nostalgic and charming and it feels like it sort of resists the slickness of modern TV on
05:57purpose.
05:57Was that always, like, in your head from the start? And when did you realise stop motion was the right
06:03way to tell the story?
06:04Yeah, quite early on, I think. That was another one of those lightbulb moments when I, yeah, another thread that
06:09came together.
06:10And I think CGI is so ubiquitous these days that you don't even notice it, no matter what, the most
06:19spectacular thing is going on on the screen.
06:21And it just washes over you because you know it's not real.
06:24And, yeah, I was just really excited about going back to old school analog animation.
06:30And there's something magical about the way they move, that sort of slightly jerky movement that is really nostalgic.
06:37You know, when you think, oh, the morph.
06:40I was thinking morph, yeah.
06:42It's going to take you back.
06:44And I think it's obvious that these things are physical, they're not conjured up in a computer, they're real.
06:51But the first time we see the animated homunculi in our show is when he comes back drunk from the
06:59pub.
06:59Yeah.
07:00And he leans his head drunkenly onto the jar, which starts the process of it appearing for the first time.
07:09It's such a beautiful scene. I love that scene.
07:10I love that scene.
07:11Oh, my God. I mean, like, when you're acting it, how much of that is actually happening on set?
07:16And how much of it is added in, like sort of animated in post?
07:20I'm either looking at a jar full of clear water or I'm looking at a jar full of black ink.
07:24Mackenzie and Nick Brown, our DOP, say, in this scene the homunculus is this big and it's floating around about
07:33here.
07:33And our animators, of course, they were there when we shot all that stuff so they could see.
07:37And then they came in after we shot, took references of the jars, did all the technical stuff and the
07:42measurements.
07:43But they would say this is how big it is and this is where you're looking.
07:48Their animation is matched to what I'm doing, obviously.
07:51But it just looks it looks like we're we're communicating.
07:56Small Profits is one of those shows that really stays with you.
07:59It feels so optimistic and hopeful.
08:02And in a world of CGI and digital effects, this really stands out as one on its own.
08:07All six episodes of Small Profits are on BBC iPlayer now.
08:10And at just half an hour each, it's a reminder of how clever and comforting British sitcoms can be.
08:16Perfect for when you want something smart, gentle and just a little bit strange.
08:20Thank you again.
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