Christopher Walken to make his UK TV debut in new Stephen Merchant comedy

Christopher Walken is to make his debut on a UK TV series, starring in The Offenders, a new comedy series from Stephen Merchant on the BBC.

Produced with Amazon, the series will throw together a disparate group of people on a 'Community Payback' scheme.

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Walken will play Frank - 'an inveterate scoundrel trying to reconnect with his family' - in the series, which is currently filming in Bristol.

"Like so many other productions, we’d just begun filming when Covid-19 struck and we had to shut-down,” said Merchant.

“I’m delighted that we’re now finally able to resume filming with this incredible cast and finish this long-standing passion project. This is the first series I’ve made in my hometown of Bristol and I’m so excited to showcase the city and utilise the amazing local talent.”

Leading the cast is Rhianne Barreto as Rani, 'a gifted but rebellious math student who has been hot-housed from a young age by her loving but controlling parents', and Gamba Cole as Christian, a young man struggling to raise his kid sister while staying one step ahead of a notorious Bristol crime gang’.

Merchant plays 'lonely' recent divorced lawyer Greg, Killing Eve's Darren Boyd is businessman John, EastEnders star Clare Perkins is ageing activist Myrna and Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson is aristocrat Gabby.

Walken, meanwhile, is as busy as ever, soon to star in Ben Stiller's workplace thriller Severance for Apple TV, alongside Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, and also in Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt rom-com Wild Mountain Thyme.

Watch: Wild Mountain Thyme trailer