Talks are already underway for a third series of the hit Bristol comedy drama The Outlaws, its creator Stephen Merchant has revealed.
The second series of The Outlaws is due to be broadcast on the BBC in June, and the Hanham actor, writer and director has told American radio that he's already working on a third series.
Although the BBC are yet to confirm they are commissioning a third series, Stephen Merchant told National Public Radio in the US, where the first series is currently being aired, that they are already talking about it.
The Outlaws: Every Bristol filming location you will see in Stephen Merchant's new series
The Outlaws was a much-loved hit of 2021, featuring an ensemble cast of characters - including Hollywood legend Christopher Walken - who were thrown together doing community service in Bristol.
The programme was filmed in and set in Bristol, with many backdrops and streets in the city featuring heavily - from the Sea Mills Community Centre, where the minor criminals are sent to tidy up, to the Dove Street flats in Kingsdown, where the young hero of the series, played by Bristol-born actor Gamba Cole, lived with his little sister.
The second series was filmed back to back with the first series, even before the show aired at all, so was always going to happen - and now, as that second series is scheduled for broadcast, there is already talk of a third. "I feel like there's quite a lot of mileage in these characters," Mr Merchant told NPR radio in the US. "Someone had told me early on in my writing career that with a comedy or with a drama, you take your characters and you chase them up a tree and then you throw rocks at them," he said.
"And so Series 1 was chasing them up the tree, Series 2 is really throwing the rocks at them" he added. "Turning up the heat under them and it's been very enjoyable because you've established a world, you can have a lot of fun with the characters and see the consequences of their actions and I'm very pleased with it," he said.
"And we've already started talking about a third series as well. So I feel like there's quite a lot of mileage in these characters," he said.
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