Television is going through a golden age, but the goldrush has brought on a number of consequences. One of the more welcome aspects is the accelerated merging of genres â in the way that RTÃâs Dead Still married macabre comedy with a period piece and, more recently, Skyâs Intergalactic overlaid sci-fi with a prison break drama. Itâs in this fruitful landscape that we welcome The Nevers: a female-fronted HBO series that mixes fantasy sci-fi with a historical drama.
Leading the cast are Belfast woman Laura Donnelly (who won an Olivier Award for The Ferryman) and Co Wexford woman Ann Skelly. Theyâre the unofficial leaders of âthe Touchedâ, a group of outcasts, mostly women, who find themselves with abnormal powers after an extraterrestrial entity in the sky expends its energy over London in the Victorian age. These abilities ostracise them from society, as decreed by Empire-loving Englishmen in suits.