Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin – Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1

Episode 1 of The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin begins in England, 1735. It is just before bedtime and a noble named Saltley is riding in a carriage with another noblewoman. The two are indulging in some drinks and cozy time. 

Aman on a horse ambushes the carriage as Saltley shows a massive diamond to the woman. The driver goes faster and informs Saltley that he is about to be robbed. He goes inside the cabin and removes his dueling pistol. As he peeks out to offer the pistol to the driver, he sees the driver is no longer there. The driver is replaced by the highwayman robber.

When he goes back to the cabin, the man has replaced his wife. The wife says the strange man is Dick Turpin. Saltley sarcastically says that everyone wants to be robbed by Dick Turpin. He hands over all his belongings and says Dick Turpin can even keep his wife. Saltley jumps out of the carriage and his wife asks Dick for a kiss. Just then, Dick is awoken up by a bearded man. He slaps Dick Turpin awake and tells him that he is about to be hanged.

In fact, Dick Turpin and a few other prisoners are taken away to be hanged. A man approaches Turpin and asks if he wants to hire professional mourners. He shows a few prospects and negotiates a deal.

The prisoners’ carriage halts for some refreshments, and the bearded man warns them to be back in half an hour otherwise he will leave without them. Inside the tavern, the prisoners introduce themselves. Poorly Martin shot a chicken and Lizzy Fish threatened to set a hay bale on fire. Dick Turpin says that anyone can get hanged for anything these days and Bill the Blade says he killed 26 members of his own family.

When someone asks Dick Turpin, a woman in the tavern answers for him. She is Eliza Bean, a writer who writes true crime stories. She used to write poetry before but found no success. When she started writing murders, the tables turned. Bill the Blade recollects an incident where Turpin shot Tom King’s face off. After a little urging from Ms Bean, Turpin launches into his story.

Dick starts right when he was born to a butcher in the village of Hempstead. He had a happy childhood but he realized the life of a butcher was not the one for him. He is a vegan. He loves animals.

His father and he have discussion about the future and just like that, he leaves with just a pair of purple shoes and a sewing kit to follow his dreams. His cousin Benny takes his place instead.

The same night, Dick visits a tavern and befriends a server named Little Karen. The server guides him to keep the shoes in a cupboard, which is practically a secret passageway. The two share slightly awkward banter as a bunch of men arrive at the tavern. The men are Tom King, Honesty Barebone, Nicholas Fraser, Moose Pleck and Steve. When Steve protests the name picked, he is almost shot by Tom King. Tom King threatens Little Karen to guide Lord Rookwood’s carriage to Rowney Woods.

Tom King and his men would be waiting there to conduct a loot. Little Karen is not sure if she can do it, but the men give her no choice. Turpin catches Tom King’s attention and Tom King offers the job to Turpin instead. Turpin is concerned about carrying a gun without any safety measure in place. He has to do the job at sharp ten o’clock. After the men leave, Turpin says he only took the job to get Little Karen out of it since she is only a child aged eight.

The following morning, Turpin is in Lord Rookwood’s carriage in a disguise as a person from the future, but only the 15-minute away future. When Lord Rookwood inspects Turpin’s possessions, he finds the gun with the initials ‘TK’ on it. He figures out that Turpin is in Tom King’s gang.

Tom King and his men are waiting at the spot and the carriage overturns. Tom King corners Turpin and shoots him, but the shot misfires and bounces back to Tom King.

King immediately falls dead while his men thank Turpin for killing Tom for they always hated him. He only wanted to rob people for money, but Nicholas wanted to rob people for protesting against injustice of hereditary land ownership. Moose pitches in about how Tom King always said the horrible things to him and two hours later, he is still at it.

They discuss clothing, and Nicholas reveals that he is actually a woman named Nell. Nell dresses up as a man to participate in highway robberies. The group talks a little more about clothing styles and breeches.

Turpin says that he can foresee a time when men and women get paid the same wage for the same job. The men laugh at this, but Turpin does not understand why. He mentions a stray cartwheel rolling down the hill. The group proceeds to rest for the night. Moose asks if Turpin would be their new leader. After quite an animated monologue, Turpin agrees to become their leader. Nell opposes initially but agrees eventually.

Back in the present, Bill the Blade does not believe Turpin’s story. Poorly Martin does believe the story. Ms Bean recaps Turpin’s narration. She has added her own flair to story. Turpin continues the narration. His next step as the group’s leader was to get new outfits. The group likes the outfits. Turpin wonders if someone can draw the group and an artist does promptly. But he draws a bad caricature instead. Little Karen informs Turpin that the thieftaker general Jonathan Wilde has arrived.

Mr Wilde arrives with his son Christopher. He talks to Turpin about continuing the arrangement he previously had with King. He demands nighty-five percent share of each robbery. Turpin does not agree and Mr Wilde calls for his army to take Turpin and his gang to the gallows. Turpin tells his gang to escape from the secret passageway. When he makes the same attempt, he ends up in a cupboard and is instantly caught.

In the present Turpin sighs over the mishap. The group launches into a chaotic discussion over having a clear signage for cupboards and passageways. Turpin believes that his gang will come to save him.

Ms Beans echoes the sentiment and says that she will join them and document their adventures as modern highway robbers. Bill the Blade asks what if the gang does not come and Turpin is really hanged? Just then, the bearded man announces they will be leaving soon. Bill the Blade’s words make Turpin slightly concerned. He goes up the stall to be hanged and launches into an eye-catching monologue.

He unmasks the executioner thinking it would be one of his men, but he isn’t. He is hanged and dangling by the rope. His gang is nearby preparing to free him though. Nell shoots at the rope but misses the mark. The other two run towards the stage and cut the rope with a sword. The three men promptly escape but are caught by Mr Wilde and his son. The cartwheeler Turpin saw from earlier bounces in and knocks Mr Wilde out. The gang successfully runs away on their horses.

In the epilogue, Mr Wilde is wearing a neck brace. He and Christopher paste “wanted” posters of Turpin with his sketch, but the sketch is the same caricature from earlier. It is drawn by Alf from the pub. Christopher has got 3000 of these made up.

After they leave, Turpin arrives at the same spot, snatches the poster and looks into the camera.

The Episode Review

Well, what a funny start to a wonderful misadventure! Dick Turpin is one of the most iconic highway robbers and Noel Fielding does a great job in his performance. Dick Turpin is a modern man in the olden times, as we can clearly see. His thoughts are progressive, radically even and he has his heart in the right place.

His childlike wonder is what gets him into trouble but also something that gets him out of it. The first episode served a good glimpse into what the series will bring later!