Christopher Walken is set to star on “The Offenders,” an Amazon Prime Video and BBC series from Stephen Merchant and “Mayans M.C.” co-creator Elgin James, TheWrap has learned.
The six-part show follows seven strangers who are forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol, with Walken starring alongside Merchant, Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins and Eleanor Tomlinson.
The drama, which first began filming in the spring but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, centers on the group who becomes involved with a dangerous criminal gang. Production has recently resumed in the U.K.
Per the show’s description, “At first, the Offenders seem like archetypes easy to pigeonhole, but gradually we see behind their façades, understand their hidden depths and what made them the people they are today. We are reminded that no one is all good or all bad. Everyone has a story.”
Academy-Award winner Walken has been cast in the leading role of Frank, “an inveterate scoundrel trying to reconnect with his family.”
“The Offenders” is an Amazon-BBC co-production that hails from Big Talk, part of ITV Studios, and Merchant’s Four Eyes production banner.
Deadline first reported the news of Walken’s casting in Amazon/BBC’s “The Offenders.”