Noel Fielding feared for his life filming ‘scary’ stunt on axed Apple TV show

Noel Fielding recalled how ‘scared’ he was that a hanging stunt could go terribly wrong while making The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.

A couple of days ago, it was announced that the comedian’s Apple TV Plus had been axed midway through filming season 2.

It’s been said that the unexpected cancellation of the shoot was due to a ‘health matter’, while Noel’s representative confirmed that he will be returning to present The Great British Bake Off.

Last year, Metro interviewed the 51-year-old about The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, telling the tale of a real-life highwayman who became an urban legend after his death.

During their joint interview, Noel’s co-star Hugh Bonneville, 61 – who portrayed real-life notorious criminal Jonathan Wilde – recollected the ‘long old days’ that they endured while filming in the ‘freezing cold’ at night at Hampton Court Palace.

‘Always helps for comedy, night shoots,’ Noel chimed in, with a mischievous laugh.

Noel starred as the infamous Dick Turpin in the upcoming comedy series (Picture: Mark Johnson/Apple TV Plus)

Meanwhile Hugh played Dick’s criminal nemesis, Jonathan Wilde (Picture: Apple TV Plus)

Hugh continued, explaining that it was so cold that you could ‘see your breath freeze in front of you’, outlining how they had to do stunts including jumping off bridges and being handcuffed together.

‘It was a shambles,’ Noel, who was also an executive producer on the series, quipped light-heartedly.

The Notting Hill actor added: ‘It was quite a big beast of a show actually, even though it’s sort of relatively straightforward in concept. The execution of it, there’s a lot of technical stuff and everything from horse riding to executions which you hope are going to go smoothly.’

This remark reminded Noel of one particularly hair-rising memory, when he had to film a scene where his character Dick was being hanged.

‘That was my most hairy moment, when I had a rope around my neck and like a trapdoor system is going to drop and I was going to be hanged and they assured me I was on a wire but you know, the mental weirdness of that, the feeling,’ the Mighty Boosh star said.

‘You’re just like, “Oh god, I hope this rope isn’t an inch too short,”‘ he said (Picture: Apple TV Plus/YouTube)

Tamsin Greig was also in the star-studded cast as the conniving Lady Helen Gwinear (Picture: Mark Johnson/Apple TV Plus)

‘You’re just like, “Oh god, I hope this rope isn’t an inch too short.”’

After Metro asked if he had to ‘coach himself’ through that moment, he answered: ‘Yeah because you’ve got your hands behind your back, you’ve got a rope around your neck and the floor’s going to give. It’s quite scary.

‘So now I know what it will be like to be hanged. But luckily I was saved at the last minute.’

Proving how brilliant of a comedic duo they are, Hugh swooped in to lighten the mood, remarking: ‘On a lighter note…’

‘It’s a comedy by the way,’ Noel then chirpily reminded us.

We could watch these two muck around all day (Picture: Metro)

The comedian was full of praise for the other comics and performers who are featured on the series, working through the scripts while also showing off their quick-witted chops with improv.

At the time, Noel expressed his hope that his Bake Off co-presenter Alison Hammond could join the cast of The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.

‘She’s very good in the sketches that we do for Bake Off. I think she’d be great actually. And she’d probably loved to do it as well,’ he said.

‘I did talk about Matt Lucas doing something but he was busy. But she would be great, actually.’

Having played roles in his career including the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey and one of the lead characters in Paddington, Hugh was asked how playing Jonathan in The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin compared.

‘Same performance, different outfit basically,’ he joked.

‘It was great because it’s another sort of authority figure being completely undermined by the circumstances and the people he comes across. Be that a small bear from Peru, or a floaty outfit with funny hair,’ he said, gesturing towards Noel sitting beside him.

This interview was originally published on February 28 2024.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpinis available to watch on Apple TV Plus.

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