The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin

[Mobbd]

Our Flag Means Dick

[madhair60]

i have decided not to watch this series

[dissolute ocelot]

This is what happens to people who were small kids when Adam Ant was in his prime.

Maybe he'll do a Kajagoogoo sitcom next.

[phantom_power]

As long as at the end of the series he gets caught because the person who taught him to write recognised his hand-writing then I am fine with it

[Rankersbo]

As long as at the end of the series he gets caught because the person who taught him to write recognised his hand-writing then I am fine with it

I thought that's what actually happened.

[phantom_power]

I thought that's what actually happened.

It is, unless Horrible Histories has lied to me

[Ignatius_S]

This is what happens to people who were small kids when Adam Ant was in his prime.

Maybe he'll do a Kajagoogoo sitcom next.

The project didn't originate with Fielding - it's been created by Claire Downes, Stuart Lane and Ian Jarvis, who have worked on a fair bit of stuff and most recently, The Windsors Coronation Special. They were behind The Job Lot, which I think I only watched some of the first series and IIRC, I thought it was fairly solid but was told it shaped up very nicely by the end.

The series is being done by Big Talk, which has a pretty good pedigree and recently, was involved in Steve Merchant/Elgin James' The Outlaws (which Downes was one of the writers on.)

Although they are often a mixed bag, I'm fond of comedies in historical settings and this one really does have a fantastic cast.

However, perhaps fitting for a sitcom set in ye olde times, the jokes in the trailer tended to be ones that have been served up in the past. The far from manly drink being served in a tough bar is a very old joke and there have been better variations of that (Bob Hope's ordering a lemonade in The Road to Utopia, for example). The customer survey one has been pretty much been done to death and it's rarely been a great gag, so that wasn't inspiring confidence.

The 'You don't know Dick' tagline was a blatant lift from another historical comedy (albeit a action comedy), Jack of All Trades that starred Bruce Campbell and used 'You don't know Jack' in its marketing.

[PaoloTramezzani]

I like how all of the perceived flaws of this are being pinned on Noel Fielding.

He was on Off Menu this week if you all want a hate listen. I enjoyed it.

[Catalogue Trousers]

oh hi noel

[DrGreggles]

I wonder if it starts with him being bitten by a radioactive highway.

[lauraxsynthesis]

Great to see a reference to the Road to films.

[phantom_power]

I like how all of the perceived flaws of this are being pinned on Noel Fielding.

Are they? Or are some people just saying they don't like him as a comedy performer and so him being the lead in this would be a problem?

[PaoloTramezzani]

Are they? Or are some people just saying they don't like him as a comedy performer and so him being the lead in this would be a problem?

Yeah, fair point.

[lauraxsynthesis]

The cast really is amazing and it's wonderful to look at - terrific costumes. I enjoyed watching Ellie White and Mark Heap who was also the cause of the one time I laughed. I'm happy to see new scripted comedy, it takes me awhile to get into most new comedy so I'm not going to slag it off after the first 2 eps.

[neveragain]

I might. As good as it is to see scripted comedy, I wish it wasn't this. Marc Wootton is the only one keeping my interest.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

I admit I had a few laughs during the third episode. The show relies too much on production values, but there are some fine moments, usually related to Hugh Bonneville, who was for instance terrific during his "escape".

[hamfist]

I'm enjoying this with my 11 year old son. It's like an extension of Horrid Histories to him, and he's never (yet) seen Blackadder. It's amusing and easy to watch, feels like a play or something, almost like it could work on a stage too.

[Matthew Dawkins Jub Jub]

Bet it doesn't hold a candle to Sid James's tour de force in Carry On Dick Up Your Arse.

[Crunk]

The 'You don't know Dick' tagline was a blatant lift from another historical comedy (albeit a action comedy), Jack of All Trades that starred Bruce Campbell and used 'You don't know Jack' in its marketing.

Well, it was also lifted in its exact form from something Jon Stewart did years ago about Dick Cheney. And I would imagine it existed well before that in something somewhere.

[badaids]

I'd like to watch this with my daughter because it's up our street and it has Mark Heap and Marc Wootton in it.  But I just can't face having to watch him, so out of spite I won't watch it.

[Noodle Lizard]

This is alright, but it really is just Vince Noir again. If Fielding didn't actually write his own lines, I suppose it shows up how easily imitated that sort of thing is.

Still, it's not shit.

[Campbell Soupe]

Another for the "not shit" vote.  It's not going to cause split sides, but as undemanding family sitcoms go: yeah, it's alright.  It's zippily directed, looks great and the a-z of comedy cast throw themselves at it with great gusto.  I don't even want to punch Noel Fielding that hard.

[ERADICATOR!]

I love it. Very early-Booshy in parts, particularly the runaway stagecoach wheel in episode one.

[lauraxsynthesis]

Ok, episode 4 Curse of the Reddlehag is properly funny. "Chick Turpin" vs "Dick Chirpin", Jessica Hynes' performance, Geoffrey McGivern doing his mad sparkling eyes thing, the sausages on sticks in the jury box...just lots of fun stuff going on in quick succession. So many good parts for women in every episode with Diane Morgan turning up as well. Little Karen is ace too. This might be the point at which I end up actually liking this show. It's been a nice surprise that Mark Heap and Michael Fielding are recurring after I'd assumed they'd only be in ep 1. Since we've also seen Fulcher, I'm now wondering when Dave Brown will turn up.

[mrspangles]

I'm getting through this imagining Marc Wootton despises Noel Fielding.

All feels about 15 years too late. With respect to Hugh Bonneville and the Paddington lore - you put Julian Barratt in that role and this series is soaring. You know, just like when they put Mitchell and Webb 'Back' together!

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

'We're safe unless we say 27 times "Reddlehag".'

Right from the start, you know exactly where this is going, but the thing that makes it work is the absurdly high number and the increasingly convoluted ways in which the characters repeat the name, except for the cousin.

[mrspangles]

The cast list doesn't seem to include 'Tom King' - another highwayman who Turpin accidentally shot dead. King's my mum's maiden name and family lore is that I'm a descendent.

His omission leads me to believe this series isn't entirely accurate, so in protest I will be acquiring it through less legal routes. It's what he would have wanted.

Either very sorry or delighted to tell you Tom King is in it (and shot early doors, episode one) played by the esteemed David Threlfall

[frajer]

Wish I was liking this as much as everyone else. It's definitely not shit, which is a step up from what the trailer seemed to suggest.

It just all feels very lukewarm. There's a nice rate of gags but none of them are that funny. It's beautifully shot and with a cracking main and guest cast, but so gentle it all feels like filler material.

I do like the concept of Dick being a force for good through compassion and gentle persuasion but Fielding has no dramatic chops, so none of that stuff lands for me either. In the similar but superior Our Flag Means Death, Rhys Darby gives Stede Bonnet enough pathos that his new breed of "gentleman pirate" feels like someone to engage with and root for.

I'm sticking with it though as there's a load of decent performances from every British comedy actor under the sun, and it does look terrific. Maybe it will find its feet.

[lauraxsynthesis]

Subconsciously, this may be why I keep finding in recent days I've been reminiscing about some of the lovely little comic things Rhys Darby did in OFMD. He certainly did have more/get opportunities for more depth than we're seeing from Fielding.

[Thosworth]

Either very sorry or delighted to tell you Tom King is in it (and shot early doors, episode one) played by the esteemed David Threlfall

They portrayed King, The Gentleman Highwayman as a vagabond. And in reality the coward Turpin managed to accidentally shoot him and when he realised, ride off, so at least him being written as a fool is accurate. None of which I'm allowing to colour my view of the show, which I'm actually finding spectacularly unfunny.