The Big Picture

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin
is a light, airy comedy series on Apple TV+ with vibrant aesthetics.
The show features comedian Noel Fielding as a friendly highwayman who lacks a proper gang.
The series has cameos from Fielding’s comic contemporaries, but the main cast is underwhelming and the show struggles to find its comedic tone.

While Apple TV+ has been cornering the market on dramas lately, it’s also a great place to head for light, airy comedies. It’s one of the few streamers willing to commit to the half-hour format while also making shortform comedy worth watching. Of course, there’s the Emmy-winning Ted Lasso and shows like Dickinson and Shrinking, but the streamer hasn’t slowed down since Jason Sudeikis moved back to Kansas for good, and their newest offering, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, is proof.

The upcoming six-episode comedy series, which debuts on the platform on March 1, follows comedian Noel Fielding’s Dick Turpin as he leaves behind the life of a butcher’s apprentice and sets out to become the greatest highwayman history’s ever known. Unfortunately, he’s got a couple of setbacks ahead of him — mainly the fact that he’s far too nice to be a proper highwayman and that he lacks a proper, terrifying gang. But when he stumbles across a group in need of a new leader, he’s off to the races, facing witches, other highwaymen, and even a thief-taker general (Hugh Bonneville) determined to take him down for good.

Aesthetics Are Everything for ‘The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin’

It’s hard, looking at the series, not to think of Horrible Histories’ “Dick Turpin” song, which is in itself a parody of a music video whose title borrows a famous highwayman phrase. That fact is even more true when Horrible Histories veteran Simon Farnaby shows up in the series’ first scene. It’s doubly difficult not to think it’s borrowing from said music video directly, given that Fielding doesn’t dress all that differently from Adam Ant on a normal day. The aesthetics are all there, as are the clear anachronisms, and the devil-may-care attitude that makes Fielding so popular as a comedian.

Said aesthetics are, in fact, probably the best part of the whole series, which is unsurprising for an artist like Fielding, whose entire aura is that of bright colors and wild patterns. The show’s pseudo-historical costumes and settings are cranked up to eleven, splashed with color and zing, embracing style over strict accuracy or cohesion to give the show the look of an artist’s easel. Ideas are mashed together to make something so bright and playful it’s almost headache-inducing — seemingly taking inspiration from everything from Pirates of the Caribbean to ‘80s new wave — and it feels like it matches well with the bizarre jigsaw puzzle that is Fielding’s career.

The same can be said for that of Hugh Bonneville, who features as thief-taker general Jonathan Wilde. While he proved his mettle in zany comedy as Mr. Brown in the Paddington films, it’s still wonderful to watch him pop up in something so different from his recognizable but rather serious role in Downton Abbey. Going toe to toe with Fielding in nearly every one of his scenes, he matches up well with the Great British Bake Off host, and has perhaps the best comedic wit of anyone in the series, making me wish it had spent more time watching Wilde chase Turpin’s tail, if only for the hilarious amount of Dick jokes.

‘Dick Turpin’s Cameos Are Better Than the Main Cast Itself

Naturally, the series is also full of cameos from Fielding’s comic contemporaries, including Taskmaster host Greg Davies and Diane Morgan doing a fantasy take on her character Philomena Cunk. Asim Chaudry also features as an inept warlock, though the series almost fares better without the friendly faces, whose talents only serve to highlight the flaws in the script’s attempt at comedy. There’s a lot to be said for an eyelinered Davies prancing around, yelling about mittens, but when his scene partners fail to match his trademark raucous energy, all the fun seems to go out of it.

It’s much the same in Connor Swindells’ two-episode arc as rival highwayman Tommy Silversides. While he shines with proof that he can be charming, funny, and worthy of a leading role post-Sex Education, his flair easily outdoes the Essex Gang’s (ironically mirroring the plot of the show), and it undercuts Fielding’s role as frontman, even for someone who loves him as much as I do. In fact, I think he’s better off sticking with his hosting gig on Bake Off, where his irreverent sense of humor has a chance to shine, as opposed to being caged in by the constraints of a plot. While I loved his scripted work on The Mighty Boosh, it seems like lightning in a bottle compared to Dick Turpin, which feels like it’s forcing Fielding to mine for laughs rather than float through scenes in the strange and silly way he usually does. The “too nice to be a highwayman” schtick is funny for about half the series, after which I started to wish Fielding would lean into being as bizarre as I know he’s capable of and ditch the cute and cuddly act.

‘The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin’ Can’t Decide What It Wants to Be
Image via Apple TV+

It’s tough to tell whether the show is setting itself up as a more adult Horrible Histories, or simply constructing an appealing fantasy show for families that happens to have just enough jokes in it for the adults. It toes the line so well that I find myself bored when it fails to commit in either direction. Though it sets up a second season, it’s hard to see where the show would go from here given that this one felt a bit too close to scraping the bottom of the barrel. Without a solid comedic foundation, it almost feels as if they’d been better off turning to the actual life story of Dick Turpin, even despite the title of the show. A vicious highwayman caught in the act simply because someone recognized his handwriting seems far more engaging and hilarious than the halfhearted “friendly thief” angle — maybe Them There had the right idea after all.

There’s nothing strictly wrong with The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin — just that it’s underwhelming, especially considering the talents lining its cast list. There’s plenty to laugh about if you know where to look, but ultimately, you’re probably better off listening to “Stand and Deliver” than watching this non-committal gang shout it at coaches.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin REVIEWThe Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin is occasionally funny but already feels like it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel in this first season. ProsThe aesthetics of the series are all cranked up to eleven, giving the experience a distinct look.Cameo appearances by those like Greg Davies and Diane Morgan are where the series can be most funny. ConsThe series can’t quite decide what it wants to be and remains stuck between competing tones, ultimately capitalizing on neither of them.Despite the talented cast, the series is underwhelming, leaving you wishing for a project that better utilized them.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin premieres on Apple TV+ on March 1 in the U.S.

WATCH ON APPLE TV+