The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin review: Our Flag Means Death's long-lost twin

If you’re anything like us, you’re still flying the Jolly Roger at half-mast for the untimely cancellation of Our Flag Means Death, David Jenkins’ singular period comedy about the not-so-real-lives of real-life pirates. But take heart: Apple TV+ is here to salve your wounds with The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, which premieres March 1, a show that shares so much DNA with Our Flag that it may as well be its long-lost twin.

Like the HBO series, Made-Up Adventures centers on an 18th century brigand ripped straight from the history books. And like Our Flag’s Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), Dick Turpin is a bumbling, foppish sweetie who dreams of becoming a renowned freebooter; and he, too, is played by a cult-favorite comedian—in this case, Noel Fielding. Both shows play fast and loose with history, embrace their limited budgets, and waft along on a breeze of wacky hijinks and witty dialogue. And though Made-Up Adventures lacks Our Flag’s raw emotionality, it’s still a very good time.

Though Dick Turpin was a real person, over time, he’s become less of a man than a myth. The legendary English highwayman has been immortalized in fiction since at least 1834, when author William Harrison Ainsworth featured Turpin in his gothic novel Rookwood. Since then, he’s been the subject of song (English folk ballad “O Rare Turpin Hero,” Adam And The Ants’ “Stand and Deliver”), film (John G. Blystone’s 1925 silent feature Dick Turpin, Gerald Thomas’ hilariously titled Carry On Dick), and even a 2011 musical.

But it’s safe to say none of these interpretations are quite like this series from Stuart Lane (The Job Lot, Timewasters), which does for the legendary thief what Monty Python And The Holy Grail did for King Arthur. Fielding’s Dick is the vegan son of a small-town butcher (Mark Heap) with a proclivity for glam-rock fashion and herbal tea who can’t shoot a musket to save his life. He only lands a posse after he accidentally kills a legit highwayman and wins the loyalty of the dead man’s gang: Moose (Marc Wootton), a gentle giant who prefers frocks to breeches; naive himbo Honesty (Duayne Boachie); and Nell (Ellie White), the only competent criminal of the lot.

Made-Up Adventures is a largely episodic series that follows Dick and the Essex Gang’s increasingly far-fetched exploits. The format is fitting, considering each installment features an appearance by a self-styled true-crime writer (Dolly Wells) whose sensationalist pamphlets earn Dick fans and haters alike.

In the first six episodes made available to the press, he’s hounded by Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville), an underworld kingpin who’s also the Crown’s “Thief-Taker General”; Lady Helen Gwinear (Tamsin Greig), the head honcho of the all-powerful Syndicate; and rival highwayman Tommy Silversides (Connor Swindells), who’s determined to outfox—and out-fop—Dick at every turn. Our hero finds allies in the hilariously named Craig the Warlock (Asim Chaudhry) and Little Karen (Kiri Flaherty), the 13-year-old proprietor of the gang’s favorite pub.

And in case you needed confirmation that these adventures are, in fact, completely made-up, consider that the Essex Gang frequently faces down magical threats like a highwaymen-hating ghost and a witch who turns people into chickens. (The latter is played by British comedy fave Jessica Hynes, in a fit of unabashed scenery-chewing.)

The verbal and visual gags arrive at the speed of a galloping horse: Loose carriage wheels roll through the background like tumbleweeds, a bar brawler nicknamed “Iron Fist” has fists made of literal iron, and there’s a five-drink minimum if you’re “sheltering from supernatural threats” at the local tavern. And, of course, prepare for a load of penis jokes, e.g., “I want this Dick in my hands as soon as possible!”

Palmer must have written Made-Up Adventures with Fielding in mind; from his goth-glam style to his soft yet biting delivery to his general aura of pleasantness, this iteration of Turpin could be played by no one else. (Great British Bake Off fans, in particular, may find this series oddly soothing.) Bonneville gets the chance to show off comedic chops we never would have guessed he had in the Downton Abbey days, particularly when he’s dressing down his bored tween son (Samuel Leakey). And Wootton, Boachie, and White share an easy rapport as they work to help their incompetent leader be less crappy at his job.

It’s not a stretch to call Made-Up Adventures downright derivative; it wears its influences, from Our Flag to Python to Blackadder, on its anachronistic pleather sleeve. But if you love the thing a derivative show is derived from, is that really such a bad thing? We’d happily hand over our jewels to spend a little more time with this pack of ne’er-do-wells.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin premieres March 1 on Apple TV+