'The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin': Noel Fielding reveals the costume that made people nervous
"If I'm playing someone from the future or a psychedelic nun, they're always a little bit worried about these things," Fielding said
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Actor and comedian Noel Fielding, star of the new Apple TV+ series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, brings wit, sarcasm and a phenomenal series of costumes to the screen as the infamous British highwayman, working alongside Hugh Bonneville as his on-screen foe.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin release date: March 1
Where to watch The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin: Apple TV+
Cast: Noel Fielding, Ellie White, Marc Wootton, Duayne Boachie, Hugh Bonneville, Tamsin Greig, Asim Chaudhry, Dolly Wells, Joe Wilkinson, Mark Heap
Creators: Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis, Stuart Lane
Number of episodes: 6
Watch The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin on Apple TV+ with a 7 day free trial, then $12.99/month
What is 'The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin' about?
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, similarly to the famed series Our Flag Means Death, takes a real person and fictionalizes a story around them.
In this case, the series is based on the infamous 18th century English highwayman and thief, and in this fictionalized story about him Dick Turpin becomes a reluctant leader of a group of outlaws, the Essex Gang, but is particularly striving to be famous.
"It was quite exciting to just to play Dick Turpin in any way, even a drama would have been exciting, but I guess they wouldn't have asked me if it was a drama," Fielding told Yahoo Canada. "So when I knew it was a comedy, it was more, what can we do with this character?"
"We thought, let's modernize this character and make him a vegan and a pacifist, and make him quite kind an inclusive, creative. That was the main thing really, was trying to make him get involved in robberies that were theatrical and slightly different. It was quite interesting, the idea that he's chasing fame a little bit and wants to be the most famous highwayman is very modern concept, and wanting to go about things very differently."
Noel Fielding 'blown away' that Hugh Bonneville wanted to be the Thief Taker
There's a new adventure in each episodes, but ultimately the Essex Gang is trying to outwit Thief Taker Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville).
"When we we wanted Hugh to be the Thief Taker, and he said yes, we were slightly blown away by that," Fielding said.
"It just sort of jumped off the page, the fun idea of Dick Turpin, this sort of notorious figure from British legend really, being actually this soft hearted, kind dreamer, and the Thief Taker being completely undermined, both by his nemesis but also by his young son, who has to come with him everywhere, because he's got childcare issues," Bonneville added about his character.
A highlight in The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin is watching Bonneville's scenes with Samuel Leakey, who plays his son Christopher Wilde, adding a uniquely funny element to a show filled with laughs and sarcasm.
"His comic timing is great," Bonneville said about Leakey. "Some of those little exchanges have to sort of go out a certain rhythm, and he was wonderful at that, and had it instinctively. He's got what you might call funny bones."
"It's a nice way to undercut a character, to show his vulnerable side as a father," Fielding added.
On collaborating with Bonneville, whose worked on famed projects including Notting Hill and Downton Abbey, Fielding said he "learned a lot" from his costar.
"When I'm working with other comedians, there's a sort of sense of, you're both from the similar background, there might be some improv, there's a sort of sense that there's a language that comedians speak when they're acting with each other," Fielding explained.
"And when you're working with someone who does proper straight acting as well, you've sort of got to be on your toes, you've got to be on it. It's a slightly different game."
'I think people, maybe Apple were a little bit nervous'
While The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin has a lot to love, with a tone that's fresh but also feels akin to Monty Python at times, the series absolutely does not miss a beat with the wardrobe. Fielding, in particular, sports some impeccably specific disguises for Dick's adventures.
"His love of clothes comes into play quite a lot," Bonneville said about his costar. "And so when I saw in the script that he gets disguised as a bullfighting nun I thought, 'What's this going to look like?' I wasn't disappointed when he emerged on set."
Watch The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin on Apple TV+ with a 7 day free trial, then $12.99/month
While Fielding said that these sort of bonkers disguises do work in this world that was built (a sentiment we agree with), he did reveal that there was one disguise used in the first episode of the series that raised some concerns.
"I think people, maybe Apple were a little bit nervous about, I play a character called Future Man in the pilot, and they were worried about subverting the costume, trying to establish the Dick Turpin stuff and the period stuff, and then obviously if I'm playing someone from the future or a psychedelic nun, they're always a little bit worried about these things," he said.
"But at the screening, when I dressed as a nun, it was a round of applause. So I think my audience, pretty much, just want to see me as a nun."
Bonneville added that he believes Fielding's fans would have been disappointed if he didn't turn up looking like a matador nun.
