Richard E. Grant and Julia Davis have joined 'The Offenders'.
Richard E Grant
The 64-year-old actor will appear alongside the 54-year-old comedian in Stephen Merchant's BBC One series, which follows seven strangers who are forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol and they come face-to-face with the city's most dangerous criminal gang.
Richard will take on the role of The Earl, a member of the landed gentry and the father of Eleanor Tomlinson’s wayward character, Gabby.
Julia plays Rita, head of human resources at Stephen's character Greg's company.
The comedy-drama also features Rhianne Barreto, Gamba Cole, Darren Boyd, Clare Perkins, and Christopher Walken in his first British television role.
While BBC One has picked up the drama in the UK, the series will be distributed by Amazon Prime Video in the US, Canada and Australia.
Stephen - who has written and directed the show - previously revealed he will be heavily involved in the project as his parents both had experience within the "Community Service world" but he also drew inspiration from co-creator Elgin James.
He said: "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.
"The Offenders' mix of light and shade, dark and comic, middle-class angst with inner-city grit, reflects the unlikely partnership of me and [co-creator Elgin James].
"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."
Tagged in Richard E Grant Stephen Merchant