One is a former gang leader who was in and out of juvie in his teens and later spent a year in prison for extortion. The other is a Bristol-born "awkward, bespectacled nerd" who, at the age of 23, was handily defeated on the UK quiz show Blockbusters.

On paper, Elgin James and Stephen Merchant are total opposites. But both men built successful careers in TV and film — James as co-creator of Mayans M.C., and Merchant as co-creator of The Office — and that Hollywood connection brought them together for Amazon Prime Video's comic crime caper The Outlaws, which returns for season 2 on Friday, August 5.