Noel Fielding’s Dick Turpin comedy axed

Star-studded show pulled midway through production

The second series of Noel Fielding’s star-studded comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin has been pulled midway through production.

Filming has reportedly stopped after its star did not return to the set after the Christmas break. The Sun reports that the cast and crew were told the Apple TV+ show was being axed because of the ‘illness of a key cast member’.

Trade magazine Broadcast also reported that cameras had stopped rolling at Sky Studios in Elstree, saying that the issue was ‘cast availability’ – specifically 51-year-old Fielding, who plays the highwayman as a foppish dandy.

The second series was commissioned from programme-makers Big Talk Studios last summer, with Richard Naylor and Jon Brittain writing the scripts with Fielding.

The first season of six episodes also starred Duayne Boachie, Ellie White and Marc Wootton as members of Turpin’s Essex gang and Dolly Wells as Eliza Bean, the writer chronicling his adventures.

Guest stars included Asim Chaudhry, Joe Wilkinson, Greg Davies, Tamsin Grieg, Mark Heap, Jessica Hynes, Paul Kaye and Guz Khan - promised that season 2 would similarly feature ‘a host of great British comedy talent’.

An unnamed source told The Sun: ‘Naturally, the rumour mill is in overtime as to what has happened with Noel, but it must have been very serious to axe the whole show. In most circumstances execs will at least consider pausing filming, but for some reason they decided to throw in the towel before the situation got any worse.’

Chortle has approached Big Talk and Fielding's agents for comment.

Series one of The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin was broadly welcomed by critics with aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 87 per cent approval rating. Read Chortle’s review here.