Recommendations for vaguely similar shows?

Well there will be no need to seek out substitutes for the next 6 weeks as the second series of Detectorists starts this Thursday at 10pm on BBC4!

However, in answer to your question, it is hard to compare it to anything else but 'The Great Outdoors' (Tidy Productions / BBC, 2010) had similarities in as much as it was a comedy about a group of Brits with an obsessive and rather nerdy outdoor hobby (in this case, rambling) and, as a consequence, much of it was filmed on location in lovely rural settings and coastal footpaths, as I recall.

Mark Heap's character was particularly funny in that. I think he was the rambling group's anally-retentive and flustered leader, Bob, whose authority was being gradually undermined by Ruth Jones' character. Slight comparisons for me here with Gerard Horan's eccentric Terry - the ever-enthusiastic president of the Danbury Metal Detecting Club who gives boring lectures on buttons in Detectorists. However, I think it was more immature than Detectorists and, in my opinion, more a case of laughing at the characters rather than getting to really like them and laugh with them, which I would say is far more the case with Detectorists.

http://www.tidyproductions.com/productions/the-great-outdoors/

I remember being extremely disappointed that only 3 episodes were ever made of 'The Great Outdoors' as it had great potential. Tidy Productions is the company founded by actress Ruth Jones and producer David Peet and it would seem to me that they chose to concentrate on making 'Stella' instead. The writing team of Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley have since been involved in TV movie versions of two of David Walliams' books for the BBC and most recently they have written some episodes of Armando Iannucci's 'Veep'.

Car Share

Him and her.
Early doors.

There is a British film called 'Skeletons' which has the same atmosphere, it's difficult to find but shows up now and again on the iPlayer, it's worth tracking down.

Look out for the series "The Cafe" written by and starring Ralf Little and Michelle Terry. It aired for 2 series over 2011/2013 but although we the viewers were left with a cliff-hanging ending, sadly there was no third series.

I described The Cafe as "almost perfect but not a comedy" and I think that also sums up Detectorists as well, as both series have a similar feel to them. Interestingly, Mackenzie Crooke, the writer of Detectorists, also had a cameo appearance in The Cafe and it is highly likely that is what inspired him to write a "slice of life" series of his own.

Something is calling me, I feel the Gravity, of it all. (Wolf's Rain)

Anyone suggested The Full Monty (1997) yet? (it is a movie)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119164

TV series:
UK: Doc Martin http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408381
US: Northern Exposure http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098878

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