Producers 'looking to make a special' from footage already shot

Producers of Noel Fielding’s abandoned Dick Turpin comedy are hoping to salvage enough footage to be able to make an hour-long special, it has been suggested.

Work on Apple TV+’s big-budget escapade was halted last week when the star left the set because of ill-health.

But with about three-quarters of the series in the can, programme-makers Big Talk hope they have enough to be able to rescue something from the shoot, The Sun reports today.

The newspaper was the first to report that production on The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin had been wound up when 51-year-old Fielding failed to return to work after the Christmas holidays.

And today it quotes an unnamed TV insider saying: ‘It’s now considered to be something of a salvage operation, although it’s not clear whether they have enough [material] to do anything with.

‘The creators sank millions into making the show and it was around 70 to 80 per cent filmed by the time the axe fell. So it would now be pretty galling to see what they have go entirely to waste.’

It’s not clear whether any of the sections they’d filmed between October and December included the guest stars, who were said to have included Jason Isaacs, Dawn French and Miranda Richardson.

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.  It was broadly welcomed by critics with  aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 87 per cent  approval rating. 

Cast and crew working on the second series are said to be considering legal action after finding themselves unexpectedly out of a job.

Fielding also wrote the show, alongside Richard Naylor and Jon Brittain. 

Read Chortle’s review of season one here.

Published: 23 Jan 2025