One of TV’s most prolific writers and performers spoke with us about his new project, The Outlaws.
There are few with a career as esteemed as Stephen Merchant’s. The writer/director/producer helped create the British version of The Office, which of course spawned a U.S. version that helped catapult several of today’s most popular actors and popularized the now-ubiquitous mockumentary genre in TV. He went on to create and write the brilliant series Extras (watch immediately if you haven’t) and a personal favorite of mine, HBO’s Hello Ladies.
Merchant is back with a brand-new show, The Outlaws, which was greenlit just before the pandemic, originally premiered last year on the BBC, and just landed state-side this month on Prime Video. The show follows a group of seven small-time offenders sentenced to community service (“community payback” in UK terms) in Merchant’s hometown of Bristol. The group includes Merchant as a charmingly awkward lawyer and Christopher Walken as a wily American transplant.
Author: Jo Light
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
