Most Americans will know Noel Fielding, if they know him at all, from “The Great British Baking Show,” which he has co-hosted since 2017. He is the glamorous, tall, middle-aged, pale-faced goth in flashy clothes. and a habit of bothering the bakers at crucial moments.
You may have looked at this strange, cheerful person and wondered where he came from and what kind of career could have sustained him to this point.
Those versed in modern Britcom will know him as a member of the comedy team Mighty Boosh (and his series, “The Mighty Boosh”), “Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy”, various roles in some of Britcom's best and strangest comedies. this century, including “Nathan Barley” and “Garth Marenghi's Darkplace,” and many panel appearances, with five years as team captain on the theme song “Never Mind the Buzzcocks.” None of which makes it seem any less strange. Or, let's say, original.
Now he's the star of “The Completely Invented Adventures of Dick Turpin” (premiering Friday on Apple TV+), which immerses him in the story of the legendary 18th-century highwayman. Created by Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis and Stuart Lane, it practically adapts the character to Fielding, mascara and all, and not the other way around; is fun and funny, and Fielding is much more entertaining chatting with the series' various villains than a poor, harassed contestant trying to make a Swiss roll without breaking the sponge. Dick (the name gives rise to a number of crude jokes) is a bit of an idiot and a bit of a genius, incompetent, intelligent and cheerfully self-assured; He's technically a thief, but he's certainly a hero.
The comedy of period stories performed in a modern vernacular with contemporary allusions is something the British are especially good at (the accents might have something to do with that, I admit). “Holy Grail” by Monty Python and “The Life of Brian”; “The Black Viper” by Rowan Atkinson; “Upstart Crow,” with David Mitchell as an irascible William Shakespeare; Matt Berry's Victorian police parody “The Year of the Rabbit.” I'm a fan of these things. And before them all there were the “Carry On” burlesque films, including “Carry On Cleo,” set in the Roman Empire, “Carry On Henry,” as in VIII, and, indeed, “Carry On Dick,” with Sid James as Turpin, the plot of a birthmark in a private place.
Hugh Bonneville, left, plays Jonathan Wild, a corrupt administrator who is an enemy of Dick Turpin (Noel Fielding).
(Apple TV+)
The vegan son of a butcher, this Dick Turpin, like the “Holy Grail” prince who just wants to sing, is more interested in doing something big and creative than skinning rabbits. Leaving home with only a sewing machine and a pair of “powerful” purple shoes, he is forced to help organize a robbery. When he accidentally kills the gang leader, much to the gang's delight, he inherits the position and fails to take care of the sensitive Moose (Marc Wootton), the enthusiastic Honesty (Duayne Boachie) and the skeptical Nell (Ellie White). They are later joined by Craig the Warlock (Asim Chaudhry), as good at his job as they are at theirs.
Like the pirate captain played by Rhys Darby in “Our Flag Means Death,” another comedy loosely based on a historical figure, Dick seeks to elevate his profession: “I'm new school; There will be less violence under my command, more charm, maybe even some panache,” and he will improve the lives of his community and his team, starting with making them new outfits.
“Is this leather?” Nell asks about hers.
“No, surprisingly it's synthetic leather,” Dick replies. “Parsnip Leather: Catches light, is durable, and wipes clean.”
The Earl of Grantham Hugh Bonneville plays Jonathan Wild, a self-styled thief-catching general, a corrupt administrator, also based on a historical figure, who nearly succeeds in hanging Dick in the opening episode and remains an enemy for most of the episode. series. Tamsin Greig, of “Black Books” and “Belgravia,” is the aristocratic boss of a crime syndicate; Diane Morgan, Philomena Cunk of “Cunk on Earth,” plays Maureen, the examiner who tests serial flop Craig for his witch license. Fielding's “Mighty Boosh” co-star Rich Fulcher is briefly seen, and winner Kiri Flaherty appears as Little Karen, an 8-year-old girl who runs the pub where our heroes hang out.
While “Completely made up” is the operative term here (there's a cursed coach and a witch suspiciously eager to be burned among the stories), some facts survive in this fanciful series: Turpin's father was in fact a butcher, he came from Hampstead , his gang was called the Essex Gang, and convicted criminals actually hired mourners for their execution. But he was romanticized even (barely) in his time and long after. In the “made-up” narrative, Dolly Wells plays Eliza Bean, a “true crime story” writer who wants to publish Dick's story.
“I used to write these beautiful plays and poems, but no one cared,” he tells her. “You write about the most horrible murder and people can't get enough of reading it.”
Like Noel Fielding, Dick Turpin is happy to talk.
