Ivan Radford | On 26, Oct 2025

“Stand and deliver…” The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin will go down in history as a promising TV show that ended too soon. The Apple TV+ comedy takes us back to the days of highway robbers, when the Essex Gang – led by Dick (Noel Fielding) – are attempting to make a living despite, well, not being very good at highway robbery. Season 2, although it started filming, was suspended midway through production due to the illness of a key cast member – but enough footage was filmed to make a single episode that was surprise-dropped this month: a Halloween special.

The Night of the Werebear reintroduces us to Dick and his gang in full swing, only for their attempts at highway robbery to be thwarted by the lack of anyone to rob. Why? Because the carriage drivers are all on strike, due to a monster somewhere in the woods. Inevitably, an attack soon follows, leaving everyone afraid of the bear-shaped creature that definitely isn’t, despite all appearances and evidence to the contrary, a bear.

Despite Noel’s star billing, the show’s strength has always been its ensemble rather than its ostensible leading man, and the enjoyably over-the-top scenario gives every character a chance to react in their own particular ways. Ellie White remains hilarious as Turpin’s sceptical second-in-command, but it’s Marc Wootton who steps to the forefront as the pathetically clueless Moose, who sees the threat as an excuse to reconnect with his old flame, monster Helga hunter.

As you’d expect from a show with pin-sharp casting, Natasia Demetriou is brilliant as the horrible Helga, who torments Moose while having another man already under her thigh – much to the bemusement of Moose’s supportive friend, Honesty (Marc Wootton), and the others. Her new beau? The ever-delightful Asim Chaudhry as Craig the almost-warlock, and seeing Chaudhry and Wootton attempt to out-rival each other for Helga’s affections is a funny and endearing as it is pitiful.

The werebear transformation when it comes is a entertaining mix of B-movie prosthetics and visual effects that straddles the horror-comedy vibe with a suitably quaint charm. But the show doesn’t let its spooky set-up overshadow the human heart of its success, with the tight 30 minutes still finding room to showcase a cameo from Lee Mack as a no-nonsense driver and Tom Davis as a gruff, but adorably vulnerable, outsider from a nearby village called Clive. All that and Mark Heap being laugh-out-loud as local butcher John, Dick’s business-savvy father, plus a chance for Geoff McGivern to enjoy dropping a Covid-19 reference as the scathingly self-interested Lord Alistair Rookwood, and you have an unexpected reminder of how much promise and potential The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin had. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of someone else next?

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