One-off curios notwithstanding, Noel Fielding’s performance as the legendary Dick Turpin is the Mighty Boosh star’s first scripted comedy in a decade. And while his high-cheekboned highwayman owes something to Adam Ant’s flamboyant precedent, this lavish six-part series essentially transplants the vain, loveable idiocy of his Vince Noir persona to Georgian England. Chiefly scripted by Jon Brittain and Richard Naylor, this is an enjoyably anachronistic romp that finds the vegan, image-obsessed Dick stumbling into a life of confounding villainy, and clumsily holding up stagecoaches with his irrepressible doofus cheerfulness.

Alongside fine support from Ellie White, Marc Wootton and newcomer Duayne Boachie as his equally hapless gang, with Asim Chaudhry, Mark Heap, Joe Wilkinson and Fielding’s brother Michael among other eccentric regulars, it’s the baddies that steal the show. Tamsin Greig is smilingly psychopathic as the head of a shadowy crime cabal, with Greg Davies and Jessica Hynes having great fun in their guest roles. Best of all, though, is Hugh Bonneville as Dick’s nemesis, the thief-taker Jonathan Wilde, struggling to maintain his nefarious enterprise and resist Dick’s charm while parenting his ever-present son.

A who’s who of comedy talent popping up in cameos never ceases to tickle, and the show successfully marries the production sheen and unhurried narrative arcs of a US streaming service with the cosy nonsense of a British period sitcom. You care about the main characters but don’t invest too deeply in them. Regrettably, Dolly Wells’ crucial role as a proto-tabloid reporter inflating Dick’s reputation is under-written. And Fielding, stuck in his Noir groove, is rather too predictable and invariably overshadowed by more charismatic antagonists. When Sex Education’s Connor Swindells arrives as an even flashier rival highwayman, you’re forced to conclude that he’d likely be a more compelling central focus.

The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin starts on Apple TV+, Friday 1 March.