The six-part BBC One and Amazon Studios series follows seven strangers from different walks of life forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol.
At first, the seven strangers seem like archetypes we can easily pigeon hole 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 and everyone has a story.
As their unlikely new friendships intersect with their complicated private lives, The Offenders must unite to protect one of their own from Bristol’s most dangerous criminal gang. The show is part crime thriller, character study, and a state-of-the-nation commentary - with humour and heart.
Originally created by Stephen and Elgin James, the series will be written by Stephen Merchant, who also directs and co-stars in The Offenders and the series will be produced by Producer is Nickie Sault. Speaking about the new series, Stephen Merchant said "The Offenders is a long-standing passion project for me. My parents used to work in the Community Service world and I was always intrigued that the many and varied people they dealt with only had one thing in common: they’d committed a crime."
"Ever since The Office, I love finding ways to bring unlikely groups of people together and watch the sparks fly. As a writer I always include humour but with The Offenders, I also get to add drama, pathos, crime genre thrills and say something optimistic about the common humanity that unites us all, whatever our background.”
“The Offenders’ mix of light and shade, dark and comic, middle-class angst with inner-city grit, reflects the unlikely partnership of me and Elgin. I grew up in suburbia whereas Elgin spent his early life building a national street gang until a police investigation landed him in prison. Despite coming from different sides of the tracks, Elgin and I share a love of convincing characters and authentic, engaging, human stories.”
Kenton Allen, Big Talk Chief Executive, said "Having long admired Stephen’s phenomenal work as a writer, director and actor we’re thrilled to be working with him on his first one-hour TV series and to continue our long relationships with the BBC who have been incredibly smart and supportive from the moment we mentioned the idea."
Adding "We’re also equally thrilled to be working with Amazon for the first time on an original production and can’t wait for UK and US audiences to see what I think will be a very distinctive and eye-catching show."
Whilst Kate Daughton, Head of BBC Comedy said "The BBC One audience are in for an absolute treat with Stephen Merchant’s gripping world rich with heart, humour and stand out characters. Amongst the deftly woven plots, high jinks, unlikely friendships and big belly laughs are very human stories about loyalty, truth and family."
“We’re so excited to work with Stephen on a series with his signature razor-sharp wit and distinctive, delightful characters,” said Brad Beale, Vice President, Worldwide Content Licensing for Amazon Prime Video. “Stephen is such a gifted actor and creator, and we know our Prime Video customers will love The Offenders.”
The Offenders will launch air later this year BBC One