Small Prophets: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Small Prophets is a comic tale of eccentric Michael Sleep who, since his darling Clea disappeared seven years ago, has lived a very ordinary life. He eats Shreddies, works in a DIY store, visits dad Brian and hopes for Clea to return.

That is just the way it is, until one day dad Brian shares an old recipe involving rainwater, horse manure and more than a little alchemy. With recipe in hand, Michael sets out (albeit with some scepticism) to create Homunculi - magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future - in the hope they have the answer to his burning question, ‘will I ever see Clea again?'.

Michael gets help from young work mate Kacey, an unlikely friendship that blossoms partly (but not wholly) through their mutual dislike of store manager Gordon. Their friendship adds to the frustration and intrigue of his nosy neighbours who are obsessed with trying to find out what the hell is going on in the garden shed.

Series details

• Title: Small Prophets
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy, Fantasy
• Premiere date: 2026-02-09
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: BBC iPlayer
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 29 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.7/10
• TVMaze ID: 87306
• IMDb ID: tt38504111
• TVDB ID: 464815

Cast and credited roles

• Pearce Quigley — Michael Sleep
• Michael Palin — Brian
• Lauren Patel — Kacey
• Mackenzie Crook — Gordon
• Jon Pointing — Clive
• Sophie Willan — Bev

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-02-09; final listed air date 2026-02-09; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Small Prophets on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.