Noel Fielding’s TV comedy is AXED after Bake Off star failed to turn up to work – leaving crew ‘bewildered & infuriated’
NOEL Fielding’s multi-million pound comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin has been axed mid-production after he failed to come to work.
The Great British Bake Off and Never Mind the Buzzcocks star played the lead role of the legendary highwayman in the show which had its first series on Apple TV+ last spring.
Filming started on a second series in the autumn, but Noel, 51, didn’t return after the production paused for the Christmas holidays.
Creatives, cast and crew this week received the devastating news this week, and were simply told it was down to “the illness of a key cast member”.
A TV insider said: “They were understandably bewildered and infuriated by the bombshell because the shoe show required millions of pounds, months of planning and hours of work.
“It now effectively means that they are all out of work and looking for new jobs, but they still haven’t had a full explanation.
“Naturally, the rumour mill is in overtime as to what has happened with Noel, but it must have been very serious to axe the whole show.
“In most circumstances execs will at least consider pausing filming, but for some reason they decided to throw in the towel before the situation got any worse.”
Noel is due to start filming series 16 of the Great British Bake Off for Channel 4 this spring, which he co-hosts with Alison Hammond.
Currently, he can also be seen on Sky Max’s music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks and was expected to film another series later this year.
But it’s understood that Noel has left the country and is now believed to be somewhere in France.
Noel shot to fame starring in off-the-wall comedy The Mighty Boosh, which aired on the BBC from 2004 to 2007.
It turned him into a star in his own right and he went on to feature in a string of TV shows ranging from QI to Taskmaster.
But in recent years he has scaled down the number of programmes he makes.
Apple TV+ were approached for comment.