A hit television show filmed in Suffolk has won a prestigious international award

Detectorists, which includes scenes shot in Framlingham, took the Rose d’Or Award 2018 for sitcom – beating competition from nearly 500 programmes from across the world.

The show, which also won a BAFTA award in 2015, has been described as a “gentle comedy” and showcases the lives, loves and detecting ambitions of Andy and Lane, members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club.

Mackenzie Crook, who created the show and plays the role of Andy, spoke to this newspaper in January about his three happy summers making the BBC Four series in Framlingham,

Speaking after the show’s end prompted thousands of people to sign a petition calling further episodes to be made, Crook said he had “mixed emotions” over the fans’ reaction

“I have been overwhelmed at the response to Detectorists and especially to this last series,” he said.

“It’s been an emotional and rewarding journey for me, and that people appreciate the results means more than I can say.

“The three summers I spent filming in beautiful Framlingham will be remembered as happy times and I will be back to visit often.”

Crook said he felt it was time to finish and “leave our friends at the DMC alone – believing they’ve discovered happiness”.

“Having said all of that, if, in a few years, I come up with a brilliant storyline for Andy and Lance, I won’t keep it to myself,” he added.

Detectorists has also won plaudits from Elbow front-man Guy Garvey, who recorded his BBC Radio Six show in Framlingham while his wife, Rachel Stirling, was filming the third series. He said the show was a “beautiful” comedy, which showed off Suffolk’s countryside in a “really gentle way”.

Last year, the EADT reported on a couple whose love for the show saw them move to Framlingham, having spent several years in America.

Guy Downes, who watched the show with his wife Victoria, said: “We loved the show and kept saying what an incredible place to be to the point where we thought, ‘why don’t we just move there’?”