Christopher Walken has joined Stephen Merchant's forthcoming BBC comedy drama The Offenders, British Comedy Guide can reveal.

Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson is also set to appear alongside Merchant and the Hollywood star in the six-part series, which revolves around seven strangers doing court-ordered community service.

However, filming on the co-production with Amazon was halted after only a few days because of the coronavirus pandemic, and before Walken could travel from America, BCG understands.

Set in Merchant's native Bristol, The Offenders has been described as a "crime thriller-meets-state-of-the-nation commentary", with the plot involving the group taking on one of the city's most dangerous criminal gangs.

Merchant has written the series with Elgin James, a former US gang member who co-created the American show Mayans M.C.

The Office creator, who also directs the new series and plays a kerb-crawler, has said: "The Offenders is a long-standing passion project for me.

"My parents used to work in the community service world and I was always intrigued that the many and varied people they dealt with only had one thing in common: they'd committed a crime.

"Ever since The Office, I love finding ways to bring unlikely groups of people together and watch the sparks fly. As a writer, I always include humour but with The Offenders, I also get to add drama, pathos, crime genre thrills and say something optimistic about the common humanity that unites us all, whatever our background.

"The Offenders' mix of light and shade, dark and comic, middle-class angst with inner-city grit, reflects the unlikely partnership of me and Elgin. I grew up in suburbia whereas Elgin spent his early life building a national street gang until a police investigation landed him in prison.

"Despite coming from different sides of the tracks, Elgin and I share a love of convincing characters and authentic, engaging, human stories."

Though primarily known as a dramatic actor, Walken has previously exhibited comic talent, having hosted long-running sketch show Saturday Night Live seven times. The Deerhunter star has a fear of flying and if he returns to film The Offenders, it will be his first British television project since the 2014 BBC drama Turks & Caicos.

He also appeared in the 2015 comedy feature biopic of British ski-jumper Michael Edwards, aka Eddie the Eagle.

The Offenders is being made by Big Talk (Cold Feet, Friday Night Dinner), with Nickie Sault (The Inbetweeners Movie, This Is England) producing.

Luke Alkin, Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice are the executive producers.

Speaking at the time of The Offenders' commission, Kate Daughton, executive at BBC comedy, said: "The BBC One audience are in for an absolute treat with Stephen Merchant's gripping world rich with heart, humour and stand out characters.

"Among the deftly woven plots, high jinks, unlikely friendships and big belly laughs are very human stories about loyalty, truth and family."

British Comedy Guide understands that a number of other stars are signed up to the project, but a Big Talk spokesperson warned that due to the filming delay cast details are liable to change.