The Outlaws series 3: When it's on, what it's about, how many episodes and cast in full

Critically acclaimed comedy thriller The Outlaws is back for a third series. The series - created by and starring Stephen Merchant - follows a group of strangers from different walks of life thrown together to complete a community payback sentence in Bristol.

The new run of episodes will open with crime boss The Dean behind bars awaiting trial and the outlaws moving on with their lives - until one of their own returns with a deadly secret and puts them back in mortal danger and facing a race against time.

Writer and director Stephen Merchant says the series was inspired by his parents' work for Bristol Community Service. He said: "What was interesting to me was that it was a way of bringing completely disparate groups of people together. You could have a random cross-section of society and it was totally legit that they were all there doing community service.

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"I was always interested in the idea of that. And finding ways of bringing people together is useful in a TV show.

"Also, I liked the idea of doing something which had a crime thriller aspect but that didn't just involve policeman or private detectives. And so this is just an interesting way of going into that world from a slightly different angle."

Read on to find out everything you need to know about The Outlaws and its return for a third series.

What is The Outlaws on BBC One about?

Set in modern-day Bristol, the BBC says the series "celebrates the city’s distinctive culture and people". Ahead of the first series, it said viewers could expect "legal chicanery, budding romance, audacious acts of heroism and unexpected cases of mistaken identity".

It opened with seven strangers from different walks of live forced to work together to renovate a derelict community centre, resenting both the menial physical labour and each other. However when one of their number became dragged into a dangerous world of organised crime, they found themselves uniting in ways none of them thought possible. They soon came to realise that they have more in common than that which sets them apart.

Who are The Outlaws?

The Outlaws include academic high-flyer and serial shoplifter Rani, who has never really known a world outside her overprotective family. Inept lawyer Greg was caught soliciting in a local car park, and Gabby is a socialite with 1.5 million followers who seems to have it all, but is prey to drink and drug problems.

Christian is sole carer for his sister Esme and has been trying and failing to keep her away from a local gang. To protect her, he ends up doing the bidding of the gang’s charismatic leader, leading to him stealing a bag of cash and hiding it in the very community centre where he and the other outlaws are working.

There is also right-wing businessman John, radical activist Mryna and Frank, an unreformed con-artist and womaniser. And Diane, who is their Community Payback Supervisor.

Who is in the cast of The Outlaws?

• Stephen Merchant (The Office) returns as Greg. Here's the rest of the cast, along with where you might have seen them before:

• Rhianne Barreto (No Escape, Hanna) as Rani

• Gamba Cole (Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Hanna) as Ben

• Darren Boyd (Killing Eve, Trying) as John

• Clare Perkins (Silo, The Wheel of Time) as Myrna

• Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark, The Couple Next Door) as Lady Gabby

• Jessica Gunning (Back, Baby Reindeer) as Diane

• Charles Babalola (Black Mirror, Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation) as Malaki

• Tom Hanson (Brassic) as Spencer

• Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, Dune: Part Two) as Frank.

How many episodes of The Outlaws series three are there?

There are five hour-long episodes in the third series of The Outlaws.

When is The Outlaws on BBC One?

Episode one of The Outlaws, series three is on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday, May 30. It can also be watched on BBC iPlayer along with episodes from series one and two.