Small Prophets is a 2026 British sitcom written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, starring Pearce Quigley, Michael Palin, Lauren Patel and Crook himself. The first episode was broadcast on BBC Two on 9 February 2026, with the whole series being available on BBC iPlayer as of that date.
Michael Sleep (Quigley) is a middle-aged man whose girlfriend disappeared seven years ago — and unlike just about everyone else, he refuses to believe that she's dead. During a visit to his father Brian (Palin), who's in a nursing home and struggling with dementia, Michael learns that he knows how to use alchemy to grow homunculi (small humanoid creatures that can predict the future) in glass jars (his father had told him about these when he was a child but he'd assumed they were just bedtime stories he made up). Going through his father's papers, he finds out the process for making the creatures, and sets about doing that in the hope of finding out what happened to his girlfriend.
This show provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Michael Palin plays a character called Brian note OK, Palin didn't play the title role in Life of Brian, but still who is well-travelled note he refers to having spent some time in Egypt, a country that Palin visited in both Around the World in Eighty Days and Pole to Pole .
- Alchemy Is Magic When he was in Egypt, Brian befriended an alchemist who could make small, future-predicting Artificial Humans in glass jars by way of a process involving rainwater, horse manure and certain specific objects. He tells Michael about this, leading Michael to try and create them himself.
- The Alleged Car: Michael's Ford Capri, which gets taken away on a low-loader after it leaks oil all over the street.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Clea's disappearance seven years ago. She'd been out that day and simply never came home; her car was found by the side of the road, implicitly undamaged, so it isn't certain whether she was abducted or whether she got out and walked away on her own. In the final episode of season one, the homunculi tell Michael that Clea is alive but that she will never come home — and also that she will love him forever, which gives fresh ambiguity about why she disappeared in the first place, and the possible implication that she's prevented from coming home, despite her love for Michael.
- The Bea and Bob sub-plot. It is never explained how they know about a valuable book that was in Clea's possession, and is therefore somewhere in Michael's house. We only have their word with regards to the notion that Clea had stolen it (from persons unknown), but since both of them lie through their teeth whenever they appear, it's hard to take anything they say at face value.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: A customer asks Michael if the shop sells buckets...while standing in front of a massive display of buckets. Michael replies that no, because nobody uses them anymore. Kacey goes along with it.
- Awful Wedded Life: All is not well between Clive and Bev, who are seen arguing; Bev does not like the fact that Clive has become obsessed with Michael, to the point of spying on him at night; she simply finds him amusing (although she also spies on him).
- Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the first season, Michael has to Mercy Kill the homunculi to prevent the police from discovering them, and implicitly loses Clea's house to Roy; but the homunculi do confirm for him that Clea is alive and, while she won't ever come home, she'll love him forever. This gives him a new sense of purpose and he decides that he needs to go to Canada, the origin of some mysterious phone calls he's been receiving, to discover more about what happened to Clea. Kacey was also able to confirm that she'll be in Neighbours and she managed to get some winning lottery numbers, planning to split the money with Michael so that they'll both be able to pursue their goals.
- Beard of Sorrow: Michael's rather unkempt look, which consists of long greasy hair as well as a full beard, is probably the result of Clea having disappeared.
- Blatant Lies: Roy quickly sees through Bea's claim to have known Clea before she disappeared. Later, when she meets Michael, she initially claims to be a surveyor but switches to claiming to be a solicitor in mid-conversation.
- Bratty Half-Pint: The kids who are stealing money out of the abandoned security van by the canal. When Michael threatens to call the police, one of them claims that if he does, they'll say he exposed himself to them. This is enough to make Michael back down and walk away.
- Brick Joke: When Michael claims to have previously worked as an underwater welder, Kacey asks how they get the flame to work under water, but he won't tell her. Later, when he admits that he made it up, Kacey says she spent two hours finding out about underwater welding on the Internet. Michael then asks her how they get the flame to work under water, but she won't tell him.
- British Brevity: The first season is six half hour episodes.
- Chekhov's Gun: Brian is keeping vials of poison in his room and can't explain why he has them. Michael takes them away. Michael kills the homunculi with the poison before the police find them.
- Cranky Neighbour: Michael is this to Clive, who does not like the fact that he has badly neglected his house and garden. Clive (whose house adjoins Michael's) fears that this is impacting on his own house and garden; he has complained to the council but Michael has ignored the letters he received about this. This leads Clive to become a Nosy Neighbour.
- Dead Man Writing: A variant; Brian has been writing to, and has received letters from, his friend Vic who moved to Canada. Thing is, when going through Brian's papers, Michael comes across a copy of the order of service for Vic's funeral, which was over a decade ago. At the end, Michael, who also received a call from an unknown Canadian number, resolves to travel to Canada to find out more about this, as he thinks — given that 'Vic' has been asking about him in the letters — that the mystery correspondent might be able to help him find Clea.
- Driven to Suicide: Given that her car was found abandoned near the Severn Bridge, Roy assumes that Clea killed herself for reasons unknown.
- Grail in the Garbage: Somewhere among the boxes of second-hand books is a first edition of John James Audubon's The Birds of America which is potentially worth several million pounds; Truth in Television as pristine first editions of that book do indeed sell for that kind of money at auction. Alas for Roy, Bea and Bob, it gets wrecked by the small meteorite that crashes through the roof and goes through several of the boxes.
- Grand Romantic Gesture: Inspired by Clea saying that her the best-ever Christmas was in 1979, Michael set out to not just redecorate the lounge to look like it was The '70s, he painstakingly re-created the lounge from an old photo of Clea, her brother and her mum taken on Christmas Day 1979. Right down to the decorations and presents. Sadly Clea disappeared before he could show it to her, and he has kept it the same ever since.
- Honour Before Reason: After Clea disappeared, Michael had to clear out three storage containers which were full of boxes of second-hand books that she used to sell at antique markets, etc. Rather than sort through them, he just piled them up in his house, which gives people the impression that he's a crazy hoarder on the rare occasions when anyone goes into his house. He justifies this by pointing out that they are not actually his boxes of books, he's just looking after them for Clea.
- I Ate WHAT?!: While visiting his dad at the care home, Michael helps himself to some Brazil nuts that are sitting on the table. He asks his dad where he gets them from, and his dad blithely reveals that they're actually a fellow resident's - her granddaughter brings them, but her teeth can't manage them, so she just sucks the chocolate off and then leaves them. Cue Spit Take from Michael.
- Jerkass: Brigham, who subjects Michael to verbal mickey-taking whenever he sees him (which, given that they work at the same place, occurs a lot) just because he thinks he's a bit strange.
- Latin Is Magic: According to the instructions for growing the homunculi, the jars must be buried in manure and an incantation in Latin must be chanted while this is done. Those taking part in the ritual must wear robes, so Michael insists that he and Kacey wear bathrobes (which he insists are not dressing-gowns).
- The Lost Lenore: Clea, to Michael — although she's actually missing, and he believes that she's not dead. When he finally asks them about her, the homunculi tell him that she is in fact still alive, and will always love him — but she will never come back home.
- Mercy Kill: When the police are literally banging on the shed door, Michael administers the poison to the homunculi, reasoning that they should not be taken alive by the authorities.
- Mistaken for Prank Call: Clive's attempt to inform the animal welfare service that Michael is keeping 'monkeys' in his shed is treated as one of these by the operator who takes the call, although he still contacts the police about it, and they go to investigate.
- Mistaken for Murderer: Michael was suspected of having killed Clea after she disappeared. The police even dug up his garden in an attempt to find her body.
- Mistaken Identity: Played for laughs when Michael gets mugged by a young man who, after taking his phone and finding out that the bag he's carrying contains children's toys, thinks he's Santa Claus and tearfully confesses that he's not really a bad kid. Michael plays along with this, claiming that he's getting some of his deliveries done early (adding that he only wears the red costume nearer the big day), and actually gets his phone back after assuring the guy that he is in fact on the nice list and giving him one of the toys.
- Nosy Neighbour: Clive, who's convinced that Michael is up to no good and starts spying on him. Bev later falls into this category as well.
- Not Helping Your Case: At the work social in the pub, Michael hits out at Brigham for singling him out for mickey-taking — only to then tell everyone that he's trying to grow homunculi in his garden shed, which just serves to make Brigham and his other co-workers think that he's even more of a weirdo than they already believed him to be.
- Not So Above It All: Bev doesn't care for Clive (her husband) spying on Michael, but soon starts doing it herself (albeit for a different reason — she's genuinely interested in what he's up to).
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Roy is one of these to Michael, although technically he's not his brother-in-law as Michael and Clea (Roy's sister) were never married. Roy wants to have Clea declared legally dead because he has no money and stands to inherit her house (which Michael still lives in) note this is legally correct, given that: Clea has not been seen or heard of since she disappeared seven years ago (this being the minimum period after which a missing person can be declared legally dead in England and Wales); Clea and Michael were not married, and; she had (presumably) not made a will (meaning that as her closest living relative, Roy would inherit her property if she were to be declared dead) . Convinced that Michael is deliberately letting the house go to ruin, Roy takes to spying on him and later colludes with Bea and Bob in their nefarious scheme.
- Oh, Crap!: Kacey has this reaction when she tells Michael the story she heard about how someone on his street was once suspected of murder to the point where the police dug up his garden... only to realise that that someone was in fact Michael himself.
- Our Homunculi Are Different: Brian grows several homunculi in jars. They can predict the future and have to answer honestly. Using their powers wears them out.
- Pet the Dog: A few moments.
- Michael is as gentle as he can be with the mugger who thinks he's Santa, playing along with his delusion and even giving him one of the remote-controlled car toys from the bag he's carrying.
- When a customer at the hardware store asks for a bird box, rather than just fob her off, Michael takes her to the aisle where the bird feeders are and, on realising that they don't sell what she wants, goes off and uses tools and material from the shelves to make one for her.
- Upon hearing that Gordon has threatened to sack Michael, Brigham comes over to the latter and asks him not to do anything to get fired, as he likes having him around.
- When Michael tearfully asks the seraph homunculus if Clea loves him, she is clearly distressed and reaches out to touch his forehead from inside her jar before giving him the answer: 'FOREVER'.
- Phoney Call: When Roy and a gang of removal men start clearing out his he house, Michael threatens to call the police, only for his fake call ruse to be exposed when Kacey calls him at that moment to say that one of the homunculi has escaped from his jar. Michael attempts to bluff it out, and the cops turn up anyway, to investigate Clive's claim about Michael illegally keeping monkeys in his shed.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: Gordon, who presides over a largely unmotivated workforce at the hardware shop where Michael works. Seemingly unaware of the fact that most of the staff are either doing the bare minimum amount of work or just mucking around, he does little other than make sure that everyone takes their breaks, but fails to realise that Kacey is actually taking a much longer break than she should, in addition to which he has to be reminded that Michael is in the break room because he told him to take a break five minutes ago.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In episode one, a customer asks Michael if the shop sells hand drills. Michael replies "a hannnd drill?" in the same tone of voice as Edith Evans' famous line reading of "a hannndbag?" in the 1952 film adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. The customer simply stares at him blankly.
- Running Gag: The prizes that Brian wins as a result of entering many competitions usually benefit Michael in some way.
- The toy remote-controlled cars help to save him from being mugged, as the would-be mugger jumps to the conclusion that a man with grey hair and a beard carrying a bag of toys must be Santa Claus, and immediately regrets his actions.
- The motorbike enables Michael and Kacey to get back to his house quickly, before the homunculi deteriorate further.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Brian, although he is actually onto something with regards to the homunculi.
- Shout-Out: A couple.
- One of the police officers who interviews Michael about the kids stealing from the security van is called Juliet Bravo (this being the name of a British police procedural TV series that ran from 1980 to 1985).
- When Michael's Capri leaks oil onto the street, the spill looks (from some angles) to be in the shape of a rabbit. At one point when it is shown at such an angle, "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel (the theme from Watership Down) is played.
- Shown Their Work: It may seem like just a slightly gross joke, but old alchemical texts about the creation of homunculi do, indeed, state that they need to be buried in horse manure for a while to mature.
- Troll: Michael is this to customers at the hardware shop where he works. At one point, he tries to convince a customer that they don't sell buckets anymore as no-one uses them... while standing in front of a large display of buckets.
- True Companions: While working together to 'mature' the homunculi, Michael and Kacey grow to deeply care for each other; by the end of the first season they're truly happy that each had their questions answered, Kacey plans to split the money she'll get from the lottery with Michael, and they ride off together on Brian's motorbike.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: Michael is horrified when Kacey tells him that he told everyone in the pub about the homunculi (he was so drunk, he cannot remember doing so). Kacey assures him that everyone else was probably so drunk they can't remember, but it turns out that Brigham at least can remember, although he only uses the information to taunt Michael.