How Stephen Merchant brutally cut his own family from third series of The Outlaws
The creator of The Outlaws has admitted he brutally cut his own parents’ dialogue from the upcoming third series of the BBC comedy.
Ahead of the new season of the sitcom, which airs next week, Stephen Merchant, 49, has opened up about why he chose to make such a killer decision.
The series features a group of misfits in Bristol trying to stay out of trouble after serving community service after previously breaking the law.
Part of the inspiration for the series came from his parents, who worked as Community Payback Supervisors.
As a result, Stephen has revealed that although he wanted to involve his parents in the latest season of the show, he was unable to do so.
The creator of The Outlaws has admitted he brutally cut his own parents’ dialogue from the upcoming third series of the BBC comedy
Ahead of the sitcom’s new season, which airs next week, Stephen Merchant, 49, has opened up about why he chose to make such a killer decision (pictured this month)
After casting his mother and father as extras, he has revealed that he cut all their dialogue in the final edit.
He told The sun: ‘They did have a bit of dialogue, but unfortunately I had to cut it out, I don’t think I told them yet!’
‘Not because of their performance, but because of the time. My mother will say, ‘We want to be extras, why can’t we be extras?’
However, his mother still captures the shot in one clip, as they appear on the computer screen of his character, socially awkward lawyer Greg Dillard, as he attends business meetings.
He added that the character of Dianne, played by Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gurning, was inspired by his mother, something Steven said she was very happy to hear.
Stephen also said that his mother was extremely nervous after initially being cast as an extra on the show, while his father was excited and “gung-ho” after being on set for his son’s show.
Speaking to BBC News about his mother’s role as a community monitor, Stephen said she was often cautious, as he recalled: “My mother was always cautious, she always said, ‘I can’t tell you about specific cases tell… ‘ as if it was sensitive information and I couldn’t be trusted.
“But here and there, without naming names, she would talk about some of the people who came through the door. I was always intrigued because it was such a mix of people.”
The Outlaws airs on Thursday May 30 at 9pm on BBC1 One and BBC iPlayer
Stephen added that the character Dianne, played by Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gurning (pictured), was inspired by his mother