Here’s one story you can’t make up about Dick Turpin: his show is dead. Despite a successful and acclaimed first season on Apple TV+, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin won’t be returning for a sophomore outing. And according to reports, there’s one man to pin it on: the star of the series, Noel Fielding.
As it stands, Noel Fielding – who plays the titular character and truly broke out as part of The Mighty Boosh troupe – is at the center for why The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin won’t press on. As reports claim, Fielding didn’t return after the holiday break in production and headed for France, with a rep for the actor coyly stating, “One of the main cast members who has not been well is not recovered enough to complete the filming.” As vague as that is, everything has been pointing directly to Fielding, who evidently ditched the production around three quarters of the way in.
That leaves The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin in a tailspin, with the cast and crew seeing what we can imagine will be no future for the show that they have put so much time and effort into. Considering that “millions of pounds” went into the making of season two, there could be legal ramifications as well.
And then there is the matter of Noel Fielding. It’s a bad move to ditch a production at any point, but we do hope he is OK healthwise. If so, there’s also now the question as to where that leaves him with game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks and competition series The Great British Bake Off.
In The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, the character “sets out on a journey of wildly absurd escapades when he’s made the reluctant leader of a band of outlaws — and tasked with outwitting corrupt lawman and self-appointed thief-taker Jonathan Wilde. In this irreverent retelling set in the 18th century, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of highway robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship and great hair. Together with his gang of lovable rogues, Turpin rides the highs and lows of his new endeavors, including a brush with celebrity, all whilst trying to escape the clutches of the thief-taker.”
Apple TV+ has been kind of a secret home to amazing shows. While Ted Lasso took off and Severance has made it known it’s an Emmy presence for the foreseeable future, there are so many others that are killing it: Shrinking, The Morning Show, Silo, Slow Horses, etc. And, really, there was no reason not to put The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin in the conversation. It’s just too bad we’ll likely never see how far it could have gone…
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