Clare Perkins
- Actor
Press clippings
The Outlaws returning to BBC One for Series 3
The Outlaws is returning for a third series on BBC One, the corporation has confirmed. Creator Stephen Merchant says "we found there was so much meat still on the bone and still so much to do with the characters".
British Comedy Guide, 31st March 2023It's not every day you get to see Christopher Walken ambling about a community project in Bristol. What next: Joe Pesci chugging in Birmingham's Bullring? New BBC One six-part dramedy The Outlaws, starring, co-written and directed by Bristolian Stephen Merchant (The Office; Extras; Hello Ladies), certainly hasn't stinted on casting: Dolly Wells, Clare Perkins, Eleanor Tomlinson, Darren Boyd, Gamba Cole, with Claes Bang and Richard E Grant to come. The premise is that seven small-fry lawbreakers are thrown together to renovate a building as community service in Bristol. So far, so aged-up, earthbound Misfits. Rani, "studious Asian good girl" turned shoplifter, played by Rhianne Barreto, observes: "Everyone's a type: rightwing blowhard, leftwing militant, celebutante, shifty old timer." There's also Merchant as a dweeb solicitor, and Jessica Gunning as an officious overseer, who is inevitably reminiscent of Gareth from The Office, with an added soupçon of civic authority.
I'd wondered if Walken's Hollywood star power would swamp things, but in the overstuffed opener his rogue barely gets a look-in. While some jokes worked, others didn't: one about "working harder than a prostitute with two mattresses" was Jeremy Clarkson-worthy (and no, making it come out of Walken's mouth doesn't make it any funnier). When another (unconnected) sex worker theme pops up in the second episode (both are available), it starts feeling borderline creepy.
Merchant has forged his own path since working with Ricky Gervais, but in The Outlaws opener, too many genres are crudely bolted together: comedy, crime, heartwarming drama, a bizarre segue into gangland Top Boy territory. The second episode, though, is a significant (funnier, tighter) improvement. I'll be sticking around, not least for Walken's Transylvanian mini-break of a face incongruously bobbing around the Bristol environs.
Barbara Ellen, The Observer, 31st October 2021TV review: The Outlaws, BBC One
There are a few cliches - the central casting council estate gang for example - but this is a very watchable, very surprising addition to Stephen Merchant's post-Office CV.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 25th October 2021The Outlaws review
Christopher Walken does community service in slightly naff misfit comedy.
Ed Cumming, The Independent, 25th October 2021The Outlaws, BBC1, review
Stephen Merchant's sitcom tries too hard not to be The Office.
Ed Power, i Newspaper, 25th October 2021The Outlaws review
Star-studded Stephen Merchant series is Walken in a cringe comedy wonderland.
Harry Fletcher, Metro, 25th October 2021Stephen Merchant's The Offenders gets second series
Stephen Merchant's new BBC One comedy, co-starring Christopher Walken, has been renewed for a second series whilst filming on the first is ongoing.
British Comedy Guide, 13th January 2021Christopher Walken confirmed for Stephen Merchant's The Offenders
Christopher Walken has been confirmed as leading the cast of Stephen Merchant's BBC comedy drama The Offenders, which has resumed filming.
British Comedy Guide, 14th December 2020Guilty Feminists to perform Four Yorkshirewomen sketch
It has not yet been revealed who will be appearing in the sketch at the Royal Albert Hall, but the latest line-up for the major event has just been confirmed.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 24th June 2019