THE NEVERS
A fresh, lady-centric mash-up of X-men and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Nevers explodes onto the scene
Huzzah, the League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen stands among us!
VICTORIAN ENGLAND IS HAVING a bit of a moment right now as a TV series backdrop. From Dickinson to The Irregulars, there’s plenty of period storytelling to go around. But the latest on the scene, HBO’S new 10-episode drama The Nevers, aims to mix it up by going epic with its narrative, like Charles Dickens going on a storytelling bender with George RR Martin.
Created by Joss Whedon – who left the series in November 2020 for personal reasons after writing or directing three episodes – The Nevers features many of his familiar signature elements, like strong female leads, the supernatural (X-men-esque powers), a large ensemble cast, patriarchy-punching and a unique aesthetic (quasi-steampunk).
New showrunner Philippa Goslett is the one seeing the story home as the creative architect of the back-end of the season, which is gearing up for production now in London. And that shift sits just fine with actresses Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly, whose characters are the beating hearts of the series.
Amalia True (Donnelly) and Penance Adair (Skelly) have both been recently empowered with random, “unnatural” abilities bestowed via a supernatural event, which essentially creates a new class of humanity in Victorian London overnight. Newly “touched”, the duo become advocates for their kind, running an orphanage/safe haven for the many others with nowhere else to go.
After recurring seasons on Outlander, Olivier Award-winning Donnelly says that she decided to recommit to the rigours of TV on The Nevers as Mrs True because the show manages to be so many things at once. “I realised what separated us from a typical sci-fi – particularly where people have powers or anything like that – was just the idea that this really comes down to discussions about social equality,” Donnelly tells Red Alert.
“It’s about people being made to be the ‘other’ in society, and what happens when those people suddenly try and find a way to make their voices heard. And importantly, who are the people in the established order? Who are the people who have the power? And how do they respond to that, because naturally – as we’re finding in our own society now – people who have power often are very reluctant to give that up. I really wanted to be involved in something that spoke to something that wasn’t simply based in fantasy and that was absolutely about human connection, and the stuff that we are dealing with [today].”
Adair functions as the brilliant “Q” to True’s brawn when it comes to protecting their vulnerable charges. Where the former is soft, the latter is rough. “Penance very much sticks to the more positive side of things, and she approaches every situation with a lightness,” Skelly muses. “I think they are two halves of a very misshapen whole, and that’s really lovely.”
The series itself is one of two halves. Donnelly promises that the midseason finale (episode six) is a game-changer: “The sheer level of information that you’re getting is going to blow people’s minds!” TB
The Nevers will be on Sky and NOW (as a box set of episodes one to six) from 17 May.