‘The Outlaws’ Proves There’s More to Jessica Gunning Than ‘Baby Reindeer’

Jon O'Brien
·5-min read

Despite a cast that includes “The Office” co-creator Stephan Merchant, potential new Bond Claes Bang, and national treasure Christopher Walken, crime comedy “The Outlaws” has largely flown under the radar since debuting on Amazon in 2022. But now “Baby Reindeer” has alerted the rest of the world to the talents of Jessica Gunning, its third season, premiering May 31, should both attract a deservedly bigger audience and continue its regular scene-stealer’s meteoric rise.

The continuation of the saga involving seven petty criminals who become embroiled in a dangerous drug money-laundering scheme while undergoing community service was filmed prior to Martha Scott, and the memeable real-life Scotswoman she was apparently based upon, dominating the cultural discourse. Yet in a timely development, Gunning’s supervisor Diane Pemberley is given much more prominence, and indeed more layers, this time around.

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She’s still as ridiculously bureaucratic as ever, with the addition of Stan (Harry Trevaldwyn), an eager trainee prone to ridiculous comparisons (“You’re like a West Country Lizzo”), and promotion to police community support officer only heightening her sense of self-importance. The fact the gang easily convinces her the body they spend two episodes trying to dispose of is a hay bale proves her intuition still leaves a lot to be desired, too.

However, while previously on the periphery of the motley crew she’s employed to whip into shape, Diane gradually becomes an integral part of their madcap schemes, which on this occasion involves keeping Bang’s drug lord behind bars before he can seek vengeance for their earlier cocaine-planting, cash-grabbing ruse.

Subverting her bumbling idiot reputation (we learn she spent 11 minutes trapped in a portable toilet as the chaos of Season 2’s finale unfolded), the jobsworthy Bristolian essentially ends up the heroine of the hour, her love of surveillance cameras, willingness to apprehend motorists, and remarkable knowledge of ACU regulations playing a key part in the “Ocean’s 11”-esque climax. Gunning earned her first writing credit for the fifth and final episode, and boy, did she make the most of it.

‘The Outlaws’
‘The Outlaws’

Echoing her work in “Baby Reindeer,” Gunning also imbues Diane with a vulnerability that had largely gone untapped: the courtroom testimony scene where she finally realizes her workplace nicknames (“Crappy Valley, Poundland Poirot, Scooby Don’t”) aren’t affectionate but intentionally belittling is truly heartbreaking. The actress has an uncanny ability to elicit sympathy from characters who, in other hands, might be deemed too outlandish to register emotionally.

The parallels between Martha and Diane don’t end there, either. The latter also finds it hard to stick within social boundaries, repeatedly accosting police detective/lecturer Sgt. Haines (Grace Calder) after class in the hopes they’ll become the new “Cagney and Lacey.” She’s prone to bursts of anger, albeit of the kind directed more toward inanimate objects. And she has a distinctive turn of phrase that can be strangely poetic (“Have you ever tried maintaining law and order with minestrone sloshing around your gusset?”) and downright vulgar (“I’m a demon for the cock”).

Of course, British viewers were aware of Gunning’s talents long before “Sent from my iPhone” became TV’s creepiest sign-off. She first caught attention starring alongside Claire Foy and Sam Claflin in decade-spanning political saga “White Heat” before portraying MP Siân James in life-affirming drama “Pride,” impressing in crime dramas “What Remains” and “Prime Suspect 1973,” and sharing the stage with Cate Blanchett in the National Theatre’s production of “When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other.”

In recent years, though, it’s her comedic muscles which have come to the forefront, whether as an overzealous security guard in supermarket sitcom “Trollied” or relentlessly happy barmaid in rural satire “Back.” And she gets plenty of opportunity to flex them here, from Diane’s array of supervisory mantras (“Crime costs and here’s your invoice”) to her unwavering belief in her appeal to the opposite sex. Then there’s the misunderstandings which result in pimping out her flamboyant sidekick to a firmly heterosexual IT geek and essentially naming her self-published memoir Mein Kampf.

Best of all are the two montages in which a scooter-riding, shades-wearing Diane – very much channeling “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” – exerts her newly-appointed authority toward bus stop graffitists and drop-off moms who dare to ignore ‘no stopping’ signs, only for an existential crisis to inspire a hilarious undoing of all her by-the-book pettiness.

It’s a testament to Gunning’s performance that even when the series’ big names take precedence, Diane’s absence is keenly felt. Walken is typically compelling as the group’s con man father figure, even when his across-the-pond scenes appear to have been knocked out in an afternoon. And Richard E. Grant is in typical scenery-chewing form as a dastardly Earl determined to screw his influencer daughter out of her inheritance. However, you’re always waiting until Diane buoyantly strides back into view with another withering putdown (“You look like Andy Murray at Pride”), amusing malapropism (“I’m not just a pretty face, I’m one smart donut”), or bizarre analogy (“insubordination is like watersports on a first date – not having it”).

According to “The Outlaws” showrunner Merchant, Gunning was “the only person who sent in an audition tape that was note perfect.” In what’s proving to be a banner year, its latest – and possibly last – season’s MVP should now have every casting agent handing out roles on a plate.

“The Outlaws” is streaming now on Prime Video.

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