There is perhaps no more annoying phrase to hear from someone recommending a TV series in the streaming age than, “It’s very good, but you do have to wait a few episodes.” Regretfully, this writer nonetheless must employ it in reviewing The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. When the series finds its footing, it is equally adept at the goofy gag and the droll declaration. It’s just that it doesn’t settle into that groove until the third of six episodes provided to critics.
The premise revolves around a decidedly ahistorical take on the British outlaw Dick Turpin (Noel Fielding, late of The Great British Baking Show). For those not steeped in 18th-century English criminal lore, Turpin was a highwayman who became something of a legend after his execution at the age of 33. Fans of new wave pop star Adam Ant may recall the singer briefly made Turpin a sartorial touchpoint with the inclusion of a tri-corner hat in his rotation.
In co-creators Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis, and Stuart Lane’s The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, Fielding’s interpretation of the character hardly reflects the historical or legendary figure. Rather Turpin patrols the lawless outskirts of the Georgian era as a thoroughly modern man. A vegan who’s terrible with a gun and worse with his fists, he seems more drawn to the theatrics of criminality than the violence or even the money. As a result, he frequently confounds the odds through his stubborn insistence on making unusual choices and a healthy dose of good luck.
Joining with him are the three other members of the Essex Gang: gentle giant Moose (Marc Wootton), naïve enthusiast Honesty (Duayne Boachie), and frustrated, competent Nell (Ellie White). Warlock-in-training with an inhaler, Craig (Asim Chaudhry) quickly becomes an auxiliary player and advisor in their adventures. While they encounter all manner of opposition, much of it supernatural, the gang’s main antagonist is Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville), a corrupt lawman who threw in with a criminal syndicate long ago.
The typical risk of these anarchic, anachronistic projects is their tendency to pound such jokes rapidly into the ground. While The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin does love repetition, it rather skillfully avoids such overemphasis. In fact, the problem in the first two episodes is the series is almost too gentle. The humor hits viewers less than alights on them. The delivery rate of jokes feels restrained in a way that the series absolutely needs it not to be.
As a result, one will smile much at the series’ start and perhaps even chuckle once or twice. Alas, hearty guffaws are nowhere to be found. For instance, there is a runner about Turpin knitting Nell a balaclava. He and other characters frequently reference the question of if it should have eye holes or merely a slit. It’s well constructed, and it generates a brief laugh. It’s not exactly riotous, though.
The series’ third episode changes that as well as revealing its two MVPs, White and Bonneville. White is, likely, not surprising to anyone who knows her. While not the most recognizable face stateside, she’s a well-established comedic voice in England. Her sketch show from 2019 with Natasia Demetriou, fittingly called Ellie & Natasia, is great. More surprising is Bonneville, who rarely gets to be this loose. Bristling with ineffectual nastiness and distracted dad vibes, he perfectly delivers every penis double entendre in his sides.
For the rest of the episodes, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin nails the setup-to-punchline ratio, delivering the obvious broad gag alongside a sly rejoinder with equal panache. Unfortunately, working through two episodes to hit your stride when there are only six episodes is hardly ideal. The show is worth sticking with and seems likely to get even better now that it’s cracked the code. And yet, it does force this reviewer to utter that most cursed phrase: “Give it a few episodes.”
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin starts robbing hearts and coaches March 1 on AppleTV+.