Apple TV+ Axes ‘Completely Made-Up Adventures’ as Dirk Turpin Fails to Show Up
Credit: Apple TV+
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Getting invested in a new TV series is always a bit of a gamble, as you never know whether it will survive beyond the first season. While we’d like to think Apple is an exception to this rule, it’s really not. Apple TV+ is just as subject to the whims and vagaries of the fickle television industry as any other studio or streaming service.
Although Apple has had plenty of success with hit series, it’s also prematurely cancelled quite a few before their time. The Big Door Prize comes to mind as one that ran two seasons and ended on a cliffhanger that really left fans hanging when it was revealed no third season would be forthcoming.
For every Ted Lasso, Severance, and Silo, there’s a long list of shows in the Apple TV+ graveyard. While few left us hanging the way The Big Door Prize did, many showed unrealized potential, including promising ones like Time Bandits and Constellation that never even made it into a second season.
However, sometimes, these decisions aren’t about nixing a show for lack of interest or poor ratings. Sometimes, it’s because the star has to bow out and leaves producers with no choice but to shut down production.
Such is the case with The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. This was a whimsical and off-beat comedy series that debuted on Apple TV+ early last year, based on the overblown stories of an 18th-century highwayman who may not have existed (hence the title of the series).
In this irreverent retelling set in the 18th century, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of highway robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship and great hair. Together with his gang of lovable rogues, Turpin rides the highs and lows of his new endeavors, including a brush with celebrity.
Apple
While audiences didn’t flock to the show in its first season, it received a positive enough response from critics to convince Apple to pick it up for a second season.
However, now it looks like that second season won’t happen, not because of anything from Apple’s end, but because the titular character is no longer on board.
According to The Sun’s Rod McPhee, who first broke the news, Dick Turpin’s Noah Fielding “failed to come to work” after Christmas, leaving cast and crew “bewildered and infuriated.”
The Sun reports that Fielding, a British actor best known for The Great British Bake Off, was present for the start of the filming in the fall, suggesting that a few episodes may have already been in the can. However, the star, who also served as a writer and executive producer, was seemingly nowhere to be found at the beginning of 2025 — “around three-quarters of the way through the shoot,” according to Deadline.
McPhee’s report indicated that team members were reportedly told the cancellation resulted from “the illness of a key cast member,” suggesting Fielding had fallen ill. However, none of the usual industry publications have been able to get any further information from Apple or Fielding’s team.
What does seem clear is that the production company behind the show, Big Talk Studios, has decided to cancel production. The cast and crew have been disbanded. This implies that Fielding’s illness may be severe enough to prevent his return. The actor is also scheduled to begin filming the next season of The Great British Bake Off, but there’s no word yet on whether those plans will also be scrapped.
