Sunday, 11th April 2021 at 11:00 am
New HBO/Sky Atlantic drama The Nevers introduces a sort of Victorian X-Men story, with a host of unassuming people (usually women, but not exclusively) gaining strange afflictions or abilities that set them apart from normal society.
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Called âThe Touchedâ, these people are intriguing to some, feared by others and hunted by many more, with the unique âturnsâ often being more of a curse than a gift.
But what powers do the characters in The Nevers actually possess? What are their turns and how do they work? While we havenât learned the truth about every character just yet, hereâs an early look at what The Touched can do.
The Nevers S01E01 Images Intro Amalia True & Penance Adair s World
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Laura Donnelly) and Penance Adair (
Ann Skelly) are ready to save Victorian London from the supernatural threats it s about to face while also looking to save those – mostly women- who ve developed special abilities as the result of a game-changing event. But to do that, they will find many a friend and foe over the course of Part One - and now, HBO is offering a new set of preview images (posted throughout the article) to introduce viewers to the angels, demons, and everything in-between who populate the world of HBO and series showrunner
The Nevers
Curious about the story and cast? Find out the latest on the upcoming series led by actors Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly.
What s the story?
August, 1896. Victorian London is rocked to its foundations by a supernatural event which gives certain people â mostly women â abnormal abilities, from the wondrous to the disturbing. But no matter their particular âturns,â all who belong to this new underclass are in grave danger. It falls to mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and brilliant young inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly) to protect and shelter these gifted âorphans.â To do so, they will have to face the brutal forces determined to annihilate their kind.
Despite the showrunner change and writing credits by Jane Espenson, Kevin Lau and Madhuri Shekar, Whedonâs fingerprints are all over The Nevers (as well as the first episodeâs title credits as director, writer, creator and executive producer). The four episodes made available to critics bear the mark of a creator given infinite and inflated latitude, favoring lavish, indulgent sprawl over synthesis. The storylines balloon from an unexplained supernatural event that mark (mostly) women with strange, idiosyncratic talents to a forbidden sex club, a Jack the Ripper-style female serial killer, a deranged doctorâs cruel underground experiments, union strikes and the fate of the British empire, among other ideas. Itâs unfortunate, given the female action hero premise, that such thematic dabbling is occasionally absorbing in isolation but, as a chaotic chorus, canât muster the requisite charm to override the off-screen Whedon baggage.
After a strange event in 1896, a minority of mostly women find themselves “touched” with strange and sometimes dangerous powers. Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) is their leader, and fights to protect all the ‘Touched’ girls she can find but strangers are seeking the girls for their own ends, and the Establishment is uneasy…
by Helen O Hara |
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HBO won a frenzied bidding war to make
The Nevers, and it’s easy to see why everyone wanted it. The premise a female-skewing, Victorian
X-Men from the creator of
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is rich in possibility for visual dazzle and a fresh take on an era where men’s stories too often dominate. And partly, it delivers on that promise. But on this evidence, the match was an uneasy one even before Joss Whedon left the show (replaced by Philippa Goslett), because HBO’s fondness for sex and violence sits awkwardly alongside a story that otherwise skews teenage.