Baby Reindeer's Martha actress returns to TV in new dark and surprising role

When Stephen Merchant got the news that his show, The Outlaws, was being commissioned for a third series, he led with one bold idea – someone shows up with a dead body.

The group of misfits in Stephen’s creation have already been involved in their fair share of crime, but Stephen says these “ordinary” people dealing with murder is a whole other ball game.

“I love a TV show when someone shows up with a dead body,” admits Stephen. “So that was the one thing I had when we started this. I said to the writers, ‘Someone’s going to show up with a body – I don’t know who, or why, but it has to happen.’”

The first and second series saw Greg (Stephen), Rani (Rhianne Barreto), Ben (Gamba Cole), John (Darren Boyd), Myrna (Clare Perkins) and Lady Gabby (Eleanor Tomlinson) thrust together as they served a Community Payback sentence in Bristol.

Down on their luck, they thought things were about to change when they discovered a huge bag of cash. And it did, but for the worse as the true owner was revealed to be The Dean (Claes Bang), an extremely dangerous drug lord. The only way of getting The Dean off their backs was to get him behind bars, so the group set him up.

Six months on and The Dean is awaiting trial, but problems arise when there’s a risk the case could collapse, and then Rani returns seeking help from the gang.

“Rani has a dead body in the boot of her car,” says Stephen. “And Rani sort of disappeared at the end of the last series. So now these guys, who are moving on with their lives, find themselves with this twin threat of a dead body they have to bury and a drug crime boss who might get out and threaten their lives.

“So they’re thrown back into this crime thriller while trying to juggle their private lives which are also moving on. We keep dialling up the stakes and with each episode they get in more and more hot water.”

Also returning for the five-part series is someone viewers may recognise from the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer. Actress Jessica Gunning played Scottish stalker Martha in the show but is back in The Outlaws – with a different accent. She plays Diane Pemberley, a former juvenile delinquent who has since been employed as a police community support officer.

“Jessica is the only person I can remember sending in an audition tape where I had no notes – it was perfect,” recalls Stephen. “We made her a writer on this series and Jessica wrote the last episode with me. I’m incredibly proud, it’s no surprise to me she’s now an international superstar. I’m just worried that when I want to work with her again, she won’t return my calls!

“I’ve worked with a lot of actors who’ve gone on to become superstars, and I wish there was something in their contract where I could get a piece of their future earnings because I helped them early on – like Martin Freeman or Florence Pugh. Apparently that’s not allowed.”

Stephen, who co-wrote The Office with Ricky Gervais, is particularly attached to The Outlaws, although as its creator he admits it can be stressful at times.

“I always enjoy things where I have my fingers in all the pies,” he says. “As a writer, director, producer, and as an actor, I like having all that involvement. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle that you’re trying to put together, it’s really stimulating and it’s fun. But it’s a lot to take on, and it can be very stressful.

“In saying that, I have enjoyed this one probably the most because everyone was just firing on all cylinders. We all knew each other, we all knew everyone’s strengths and we could write to those.”

Another plus side for Stephen is filming in his home city of Bristol where, after three series, the locals have got to know the crew.

“They don’t ask why we’re there now because they know we’re filming for the show,” he says. “There’s a lot of filming that goes on in Bristol, but I think The Outlaws has made the city a part of the DNA of the show, so everyone is very welcoming.

“It’s fun for me because I get to see bits of Bristol I haven’t visited for years. We film a lot on the City Farm which is lovely. I just don’t understand why I haven’t got a statue. There’s one of Cary Grant. Maybe because if it’s going to be full size they’d need a lot of iron and it’s too expensive.”

Watch The Outlaws on Thusday 30 May, 9pm, BBC One and Prime Video on Friday 31 May.