In Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets, an ordinary garden shed becomes the setting for an extraordinary act of hope. Michael Sleep, played by Pearce Quigley, follows an alchemical recipe to grow tiny prophetic creatures. His partner Clea disappeared seven years earlier, and the possibility of an answer gives these strange beings an emotional purpose beyond their unsettling appearance. [1]
From a drawing to an animatable creature
The six-part series brings together physical puppets by Mackinnon & Saunders, stop-motion work by Ainslie Henderson, and compositing and digital animation by Will Anderson. Crook’s drawings provided a starting point for concept designer Glen Southern’s development work. The King, Queen, and Seraph needed distinct identities, as well as different stages of growth. [2][3]
Fabrication involved 3D-printed maquettes, molded silicone skins, and internal armatures. The makers balanced pigment and surface painting to retain a sense of translucency. Ball-and-socket mechanisms supplied controlled movement, with wire used in smaller extremities. Tiny facial mechanisms gave the animators another means of finding performance inside the creatures’ peculiar anatomy. A separate, more loosely jointed King puppet served live-action stunt work. [2]
The illusion inside the jar
The creatures’ watery environment required a carefully coordinated combination of photography and compositing. Anderson and Henderson describe filming reference jars on the live-action set and matching those camera relationships when shooting the puppets. Floating digital elements and photographed organic textures helped connect the animation to the liquid surrounding it. The aim was a unified creature, with the physical puppet remaining central to its presence. [3]
That collaboration matters because stillness can be as revealing as movement. The figures must seem suspended, watchful, and faintly uncomfortable while retaining readable differences in temperament. Henderson describes a forceful, jerky King, a graceful Seraph, and a Queen with a more restrained regality. Their movement gives personality to shapes that might otherwise function only as grotesque specimens. [3]
The production images allow a close look at concept drawings, replacement hands, and the progression of a character’s form. Seen alongside the series trailer and the animators’ production talk below, they show how a small creature’s credibility depends on decisions spread across design, fabrication, lighting, animation, and compositing. The result supports the story’s central tension: a very human need for certainty, entrusted to something impossible.
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes: Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson on Small Prophets
Images from the production
Series imagery: BBC / Treasure Trove / Blue House Productions. Puppet fabrication images: Mackinnon & Saunders. Original concept drawings: Mackenzie Crook.
