Dick Turpin (TV series) with the series. Dick Turpin (TV series) Dick Turpin is a British television drama series starring Richard O'Sullivan and Michael Deeks. It was created by Richard Carpenter, Paul Knight and Sydney Cole and written by Richard Carpenter, John Kane, Charles Crichton and Paul Wheeler. It was made by Gatetarn, Seacastle productions in-association with London Weekend Television between 1979 and 1982. 26 half-hour episodes and one feature-length episode were filmed on location at Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The series is loosely based on the adventures of the real 18th century highwayman Dick Turpin. The series takes place in 18th century England.
Dick Turpin trusty colleagues Claude Duval, Tom King, and Jack Rann. These narratives, which transformed Turpin from a pockmarked thug and murderer into "a gentleman of the road [and] a protector of the weak", followed a popular cultural tradition of romanticising English criminals. This practice is reflected in the ballads written about Turpin, the earliest of which, "Dick Turpin", would appear to have been published in 1737. Later ballads presented Turpin as an 18th-century Robin Hood figure: "Turpin was caught and his trial was passed, and for a game cock he died at last. Five hundred pounds he gave so free, all