AppleTV+’s The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin was canned after star and writer Noel Fielding reportedly failed to turn up on set after the Christmas break. More details on the story have emerged.
We reported yesterday (16th Jan) that AppleTV+’s The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin was axed after Noel Fielding, who starred as the titular highway robber, allegedly didn’t turn up to the shooting of season 2 after the Christmas break.
Deadline has now uncovered more details relating to the cancellation. According to the outlet, Fielding left the UK, potentially for France as reported by The Sun, but failed to return after Christmas, leaving the production in limbo.
AppleTV+ or production company Big Talk haven’t commented on the matter but a rep for PBJ Management said “one of the main cast members who has not been well is not recovered enough to complete the filming” and Deadline’s sources claim the main cast member is Fielding himself.
There were rumours swirling around about Fielding’s availability in season one but season two went ahead after Fielding committed to it, Deadline notes. Fielding was also credited as a writer for season 2 and accommodations were apparently made to make him comfortable on set.
Fielding, we should note, hasn’t commented on any of this. There’s a lot of speculation and filling in the blanks at the moment.
What does seem to be certain is that the shoot for season two was around three quarters done when it had to be shut down.
Despite so much having already been filmed, nothing can be salvaged or worked into a shorter season. Jason Isaacs, Dawn French, Miranda Richardson, and Jamie and Natasia Demetriou were set to feature, alongside the series’ regulars Tamsin Greig, Hugh Bonneville and Asim Chaudry.
The abandonment of the show of course doesn’t just affect the above the line names. The hidden victims of this are the contractors, the post-production firms, those reliant on or expecting the work. As much as Apple is apparently trying to cover costs and compensation where it can, it’s unlikely that every lost point will be covered. Apple and Big Talk are said to be working to ‘minimise the consequences’, but there will still, it seems, be consequences.
It’s unclear if Fielding will be getting his full compensation.