Small Prophets' future revealed by Mackenzie Crook after acclaimed first run as he reveals when series will end

Ever since the first season of Small Prophets was released, and notably ended on a title card saying "To be continued", fans have been waiting for concrete news regarding the show's future.

Now, we've heard from the man himself, creator and co-star Mackenzie Crook, and he has not only revealed the show's future in the short-term, but also how long it will last for.

Speaking with Deadline, Crook said: "I want to write a second series. I want it to be eight episodes and then I want to leave it there. I haven’t written it yet. I don’t know exactly what happens, but I think that would be great. First half [ends with] to be continued. Second half; the end. And there’s your story."

Crook also explained that despite it having taken 10 years to develop the first season, that won't be the case for season 2.

"The majority of the ten years was figuring out what it was," he said. "Now I know what it is, I just have to go and finish off the adventure.

"I’m quite excited about that because I want to know what happens next and I’m the one who gets to figure that out. I do feel a real responsibility now. Obviously I hoped it would go down well, but I didn’t realise how people would take it to their hearts so immediately. All these reactions have been so positive and heartfelt that I can’t f*** it up."

Crook also teased that he is still working out whether Michael will go to Canada, as was set up at the end of season 2, or whether he will remain at home. However, he did say fairly definitively that the homunculi do "need to come back" after perishing in season 1, and that Michael will therefore do the experiment again.

Small Prophets hasn't been officially renewed by the BBC for a season 2 yet, but it was recently revealed that it had become the BBC's biggest new scripted launch of the year to date, attracting 7.7 million viewers (28-day figure) for episode 1.

This would suggest that a renewal can only be a matter of time.

Small Prophets is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

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