The Outlaws
- TV comedy drama
- BBC One
- 2021 - 2022
- 12 episodes (2 series)
Stephen Merchant comedy drama following seven people serving community payback in Bristol. Also features Christopher Walken, Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd, Eleanor Tomlinson and more.
- Due to return for Series 3
Character guide
Greg
Sad-sack corporate lawyer Greg finds himself on the wrong side of the justice system after indulging his loneliness in the wrong car park. Greg just wants to get his head down and put yet another embarrassing chapter of his life behind him, but he soon finds that his shaky legal acumen might be a little too useful for comfort. Across the series, recently divorced Greg will form the unlikeliest of friendships, find himself battling workplace bullies, aristocratic landowners and even scary men with knives - coming out on the other side with a rediscovered sense of self-worth and purpose.
Frank
Frank (in his 70s) is a twinkly-eyed small-time crook who has seen the world and done everything under the sun. After passing one too many counterfeit cheques Frank must move back in with the daughter he abandoned decades before, and finish his custodial sentence of community service while wearing a wing-clipping ankle tag. As an inveterate womaniser and con-artist who has spent a life running away from responsibility and letting down those who love him, Frank's work with the outlaws presents a second chance at family life - even as his old habits are offered an unexpected new outlet.
Rani Rekowski
Oxford-bound high-flyer Rani has been hot-housed from a young age and has never really known a world outside her overprotective family. When her serial shoplifting finally catches up with her, she is given community service - much to the shame of her parents and to the detriment of her Oxford University scholarship. Removing graffiti and undertaking other menial tasks, Rani finds herself interacting with very different people for the first time. She'll realise there is a whole world beyond her textbooks, and that the dreams of her parents may not necessarily be the same as her own.
Christian
Christian (in his early 20s) is in debt to the wrong people, doing everything he can to keep his kid sister Esme free of their clutches. To protect her, Christian agrees to do the bidding of the gang's charismatic leader. On his orders, Christian steals a big bag of cash, setting in motion a deadly game of cat-and-mouse and threatening the safety of anybody in his orbit - including the other outlaws. Unassuming, with a previously-untapped romantic streak, Christian will subvert expectations and labels as he seeks safety and security for himself, Esme, and his new friends.
John
John (in his 40s) is a middle age and middle-class white businessman. John has always paid his taxes, and has always been the pillar of the community his strict Northern Irish father bred him in, and so is furious when he finds himself sharing oxygen with criminals while he scrambles to save his family business. John's common-sense approach to his sentence and contempt for political correctness will place him on a collision course with the other outlaws, his supervisor and some extremely dangerous people. But is there more to John than the starched-shirt, small island mentality he shows the world?
Gabby
On the surface, Insta-celebutante Lady Gabriella Penrose-Howe, seems to have it all. 1.5 million followers across her social media, a chic Clifton apartment, and all the Dom Perignon she can drink. But beneath her effortlessly polished exterior, Gabby struggles with a number of deep-seated problems which threaten to swallow her whole. As she finds herself litter-picking alongside regular members of the general public, she'll realise what it is to feel part of something bigger than herself, liberating herself from the retinue of sycophants and hangers-on who love her credit card more than her personality.
Myrna
Black Bristol civil rights veteran Myrna, was there when Colston went into the harbour. She was there at St Paul's in 1981. Myrna has given her whole life to the cause of social justice. She's sacrificed friends, family, and even her innocence. Myrna is old school and refuses to admit that her approach has put her at odds with a newer generation of activists. But 40 years ago, Myrna made a terrible, life-changing mistake, which she's been running from ever since. Working with the other outlaws, Myrna will realise she must stop running and face the past head-on.
Diane
Diane is a hyper-confident and seemingly competent supervisor for Bristol's Community Payback programme. She has been charged with overseeing the outlaws' dispensation of their duties, and treats the responsibility of directing litter-picking and repainting the community centre with deadly seriousness. Diane exudes the sense of power that minor authority bestows on insignificant people, but is a lonely woman at heart who wants to feel part of something bigger than herself; whether that's hijacking the outlaws' team-building exercises, or using every ounce of her self-professed detective's instinct to ingratiate herself with Bristol's bemused police force.