No./13 Behind The Power’s electric world order
Showrunner RAELLE TUCKER on bringing the bold bestselling novel to the small screen
IN AN EMPTY field somewhere in London, Roxy (Ria Zmitrowicz) stares at the bolts of electricity dancing between her fingers. She screams and channels the energy at a pylon in the distance, setting it ablaze. Her gift is the beginning of a new world order envisioned in The Power, a TV adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s seminal 2016 book, which sees all young women develop these newfound electrical abilities, overturning the patriarchy. “We weren’t modelling a revolution based on anything we’ve seen in the real world,” showrunner Raelle Tucker tells
Empire. “We were collectively imagining what a new revolution would look like right now.”
The Power hops around the globe from London to China to Nigeria, following the perspectives of seven people, both girls with powers and people impacted by their new abilities. Among them is Roxy, a crime boss’ daughter; Margot (Toni Collette), the mayor of Seattle, whose daughter obtains powers; Tunde (Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh), a Nigerian journalist documenting the phenomenon; and Allie (Halle Bush), an orphan running away from a violent crime while hearing a new, authoritative voice in her head. With its dark take on gender politics, it’s perhaps unsurprising the novel is in part inspired by Alderman’s mentorship under Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale. Alderman herself was instrumental in the adaptation process. “Naomi was in the writers’ room with me every week,” says Tucker. “She came to set and we held hands and laughed and cried. She is very much aligned in our purpose for the show.”
Like many, Tucker read the novel in the wake of Donald Trump’s election, “when women were marching in the street,” and felt drawn to Alderman’s cinematic writing style and her story about a radical matriarchal society. Now seemed like the perfect time to electrify the patriarchy. “I was about halfway through when I called my agents and said, ‘Who is making the show? It needs to be me!’” she recalls. “I made a strong, passionate pitch to them that this was the show I had been waiting my entire career to make.”
The Power was created by an all-female writers’ room and directorial team, which
proved key in fleshing out multiple women’s perspectives in the show. “There was comfort in being able to talk about some difficult issues with people who had experienced many of the same things I’d experienced, even if they experienced them in a different culture and from a totally different perspective,” says Tucker. The show tackles a spectrum of oppression and violence against women from the very first episode, but the showrunner says that it’s important to remember that this is also a sci-fi adventure on an epic scale. “What makes it special is that we seldom within that genre really dive into things this resonant and meaningful,” she says. “I think it should feel like something that sweeps you away.” Sparks will fly.