Stephen Merchant has revealed he has no plans for further episodes of The Outlaws after the incoming series three: more details here.
Stephen Merchant took the British comedy scene by storm in 2001 when he wrote and directed The Office with Ricky Gervais. Since then, they have collaborated on Extras, Life’s Too Short, An Idiot Abroad and feature film Cemetery Junction. He went on to forge a successful solo career, from stand up tour Hello Ladies and the American sitcom of the same name to his successful pivot into hour long crime comedy with The Outlaws, which returns for its third series next week.
Created by Merchant and Elgin James, the show follows a disparate group of people assigned to community service for various reasons which gradually reveal themselves.
Merchant himself plays the socially awkward lawyer Greg, Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning plays hardnosed supervisor Diane, Rhianne Barreto plays Oxford hopeful Rani, Gamba Cole plays security guard Ben, Darren Boyd plays businessman John, Clare Perkins plays activist Myrna, Eleanor Tomlinson plays influencer Lady Gabriella and Christopher Walken plays former conman Frank.
In an interview with Deadline, Merchant revealed that he has no plans to make further episodes for the time being, as he is currently working on a new stand-up comedy tour show.
He said that “I think this series concludes in a very nice way and hopefully might bring a tear to the eye, so if it does then that would be great. I am so pleased it’s run this long. I’ve enjoyed the cast, filming in my hometown of Bristol and dropping into this genre. It ticks a lot of boxes for me in terms of what I wanted to do with it”.
He did not rule out ever returning to it, but that the intense workload – series two and three were shot back to back – meant that he wanted to work on other projects.
Merchant will also executive produce Greg Daniels’ upcoming sequel to the American Office.
The third series of The Outlaws will begin on BBC One on 30th May.
