What’s more human than yearning? Not much, as the prescient British series “Small Prophets” illustrates across its tight six-episode first season.
The premise goes like this: Michael Sleep (a sardonic and kind Pearce Quigley) is waiting for his partner Clea to return. She disappeared Christmas Eve seven years ago, and his life (and house) have been in stasis ever since. His elderly father (Michael Palin) offers him a path out of this heartbreak via an alchemy recipe that conjures “homunculi”–in this case, humanoid prophets born and nurtured in jars. With the help of his new work-friend Kasey (a delightful Lauren Patel) and despite the interference of several disparate groups of people, he gets the magic going, but what will he find out about Clea?
The magic here is wondrous–with the homunculi an other-worldly stop-motion animation. Their strangeness inspires wonder and a bit of fear, as clearly their power and presence is not of this world. While Michael’s day-to-day is realistic and recognizable. He works at the “DIY shop,” what we in the States would recognize as a Home Depot or Lowe’s. There, he misdirects customers who ask inane questions and runs circles around his meddling, try-hard boss (Mackenzie Crook, who also created the show).
That wry juxtaposition allows the show to critique our modern age while still focusing on timeless aspects of the human condition: love, loss, and yearning.
Part of what makes “Small Prophets” so affirming is that it accepts Michael for who he is. We never find out about any professional ambitions of his–he’s not a struggling artist stuck working in retail, for example. He’s just a smart, funny, good man who misses his partner. In fact, his love–for her, for his aging father who he cares for–is his defining characteristic. So while he may crack jokes at the DIY customer’s expense (there’s a hilarious bit where he explains to one that the store doesn’t carry buckets anymore because they’re outdated), he is not animated by meanness or cruelty. He’s just passing the time and making a living so he can get on to the more important stuff.
Michael is decent in what should be an ordinary way, but feels extraordinary in a TV protagonist these days, stuck as we are in the post-anti-hero age. And his decency powers the show, giving it a believable warmth. Michael is old enough to be Kasey’s father, as he explains in one interjection, but that doesn’t stop a lot of side characters from assuming she is his girlfriend. It’s a misperception the two dispel more than once, and their rejection of it is completely believable because of how these two show up across “Small Prophets”: as people uninterested in hierarchy and real friends. But their need to say so is reflection of the corrupted society we live in.
The two friends create a cocoon of sorts in Michael’s shed. They make it a place where magic happens, where these two coworkers can find answers and acceptance, where they can face their fears together. It’s quite a contrast to the world outside, which is filled with judgmental obstacles like a scene where Michael comes across a group of kids robbing an armored vehicle (really), and the kids threaten to accuse Michael of exposing himself if he calls the police.
It’s worth noticing that Michael’s tried to build this cocoon before. Clea had once told him about a perfect memory and he’s painstakingly recreated it from a Polaroid of hers, complete with antique toys and furniture from the time. But Clea never got to see it, disappearing before Michael could show it to her. He tried to cast an enchantment in the form of a time capsule, but it didn’t work. The divine is not so easily conjured.
The look and sound of “Small Prophets” likewise mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary. Michael’s overgrown garden and red-doored home is both common today and something out of a fairytale. The music is timeless, calling not to our present moment or putting out-of-time references into a given scene (as has become fashionable over at Netflix).
Now, there are some British TV trappings here. Michael’s neighbors (Jon Pointing and Sophie Willan) antagonize him with their meddling and judgment, mugging for the camera as they go about their spying. Clea’s brother Roy (Paul Kaye) is positively bizarre in a terrible wig that telegraphs his role as the show’s erstwhile villain. Michael’s coworker antagonist (a delightful Ed Kear) is better done but still silly as he both teases and admires the other man.
Still, on balance, this is a deeply human show revealing what it means to care for each other in the face of our biggest doubts. It brings warmth, wry humor, and a dose of magic to the job, creating a delightful set of characters in an equally fascinating world. With these elements, “Small Prophets” works as both a reflection and an antidote to our current society, arguing that a little decency goes a long way.
Whole season screened for review. Premieres on Apple TV+ on October 7, 2026.
