Whenever Ricky Gervais’s name is mentioned, Stephen Merchant’s isn’t far behind. And it is no surprise, either.
These two have collaborated on so many projects together, that they have, by default, become a sort of creative tag team.
But that doesn’t mean that that is always the case. Merchant has achieved much success with his own projects, outside of the work the two have done together.
One such offering is Merchant’s latest project, “The Outlaws”, a crime thriller underpinned by comedy, on BritBox.
It recently debuted on the streaming platform.
The 48-year-old, who wears the hats of co-creator and co-director as well as actor in the show, shares the spotlight with Oscar-winning Christopher Walken, as part of a gang of lawbreakers in present-day Bristol.
The motley group include an Oxford-bound high flyer and a sad-sack corporate lawyer, an Instagram celebutante and a small-time crook, bond while doing community sentence together.
As you can imagine, there are personality clashes, especially with them coming from different walks of life.
While doing their time, one of them suggests a plan that sees them bond in ways that one could never imagine as they get swept up in a dangerous web of organised crime by underworld figures.
In a recent interview, Merchant shed light on the project and where the idea for the series came from.
He said: “Growing up, my parents used to work for Bristol Community Service. My mother was always careful, she would say, ‘I can't tell you about specific cases…’ as if it was sensitive information and I couldn't be trusted.
“But here and there, not naming names, she would talk about some of the people that came through the doors.
“I was always intrigued because it was such a mix of people. You'd have the businessman who'd got caught drink-driving or some student who’d got in trouble for some minor thing.
“Or there was an old guy who was stealing cabbages from allotments just to get community service because he was lonely and he liked the social aspect of it.”
He continued: “What was interesting to me was that it was a way of bringing completely disparate groups of people together. You could have a random cross-section of society and it was totally legit that they were all there doing community service.
“I was always interested in the idea of that. And finding ways of bringing people together is useful in a TV show.
“Also, I liked the idea of doing something which had a crime thriller aspect but that didn't just involve policemen or private detectives. And so this is just an interesting way of going into that world from a slightly different angle.”
It goes without saying that the streaming platform was sold on his idea because of the unique approach.
In etching the characters for the show, Merchant looked at characters that were recognisable, based on the feedback his parents provided.
Merchant explained: “What was interesting to me was to make them very specific archetypes, but then sort of peel back the layers and suggest why someone winds up with that point of view, and what happens when they are forced to question their own value system.
“That sounds a lot more grand and pretentious than it’s intended to be. You’re forcing these people to literally work together as a community service.
“So we can take a right-wing businessman and force him to work opposite a left-wing activist and watch the sparks fly. And let the viewer decide who is wrong or right on any given point.
“It's an equal opportunities portrayal of these people – no one's good or bad, no one's evil, no one's purely good. Everyone's a little bit more complicated than that.”
Since his home town of Bristol is such a visual city, blanketed in graffiti, and the mix of people suited his gentrified neighbourhoods narrative, the series was filmed there.
Merchant had never filmed in the town before.
On the tone he was looking to establish, he said: “I was always trying to compare it to the funny episodes of dramas. A great touchstone for me was always a famous episode of ‘The Sopranos’ called ‘Pine Barrens’.
“Paulie and Christopher get lost in the snow and they're trying to bump off a Russian hitman. It's darkly comic and yet the stakes are huge and they never break the drama rules of the show.
“I think you find that in a lot of good drama. Particularly American stuff, which can walk that fine line. The humour should derive from the characters and the situation and the environment, and not feel like sitcom stuff placed on top.
“It's always a tricky balance to get right. It's more about feeling it as you go and deciding when something feels too absurd.”
As for bagging Walken for the project, he shared: “One character is this older, charming, slightly devilish conman and I wanted him to be an older American actor because I liked the idea of him feeling a little alien in Bristol like he’s the man who fell to earth.
“That was the opportunity to have some big-star casting. But when you start to talk about it, there aren't many actors of that vintage who have that kind of charisma and that audience recognition.
“Someone mentioned Christopher Walken and I thought that would be amazing. What I love about him is that he can do both great charm and be very funny, but also menacing at the same time. We got word to him somehow.
“Chris doesn't use phones and he doesn't have a computer, so it was a bit hard to contact him. I ended up having this very glamorous weekend where I went to Los Angeles to go to the SAG Awards for the film ‘JoJo Rabbit’.
“On the way back, someone said, Chris can see you on your way home. So I flew from this glamorous award ceremony to New York, and then drove up to Connecticut, and met Chris at his house.
“And I was there for hours. Chris was just as committed and invested and passionate as I imagine he ever was.
“He was asking a ton of questions about the character and about the scripts and about Bristol. We spent hours just chewing the fat and the next thing I knew he agreed to do it. And that was a huge thrill.”
In the show, Merchant also plays Greg, a lawyer who has veered away from his chosen career.
He explained: “He’s a divorcee who has got himself in a bit of bother with a lady of the night and finds himself doing community service. I always like the idea of the least equipped people getting involved in a crime situation.
“ So Greg is an awkward and geeky guy who's suddenly involved with gangsters, (always a fun thing to play). Greg forms this unlikely bond with Eleanor Tomlinson's character, who is a glamorous, upper-class celebrity.”
In another way, this show gives “Ocean’s 11” vibes. So if you are looking for that kind of escapism, you won’t go wrong binge-watching this.
∎ “The Outlaws” is streaming on BritBox.