The Nevers
The Nevers is an American science fiction drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions, with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson, Ilene S. Landress, and Bernadette Caulfield. The series premiered on April 11, 2021. The first season consists of 12 episodes, split into two six-episode parts. In December 2022, the series was canceled before the back six could air and pulled from the HBO Max library on December 18, 2022. All 12 episodes began streaming on Tubi on February 13, 2023.
The series is set in Victorian London and follows a group of people, mostly women, known as the Touched, who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities. Among them are Amalia True, a mysterious and quick-fisted widow, and her best friend Penance Adair, a brilliant inventor. The series received a straight-to-series order from HBO in June 2018, after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services including Netflix. Laura Donnelly was the first actress to join the series in April 2019, with the rest of the cast joining in July 2019.
Premise
The Nevers is described as "an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world."Cast
Main
- Laura Donnelly as Zephyr Alexis Navine / Amalia True: One of The Touched, with the ability to see glimpses of the future. The most irresponsible, spontaneous, and psychologically broken hero of 19th-century London, and a danger to the British elite. She is dedicated to her cause and never turns down a drink.
- * Claudia Black portrays Zephyr in a previous body.
- Ann Skelly as Penance Adair: Amalia's best friend, and a Touched with the power of 'seeing' electrical energy patterns and a skill for inventing. She is both religious and heretically progressive.
- Olivia Williams as Lavinia Bidlow: A rich supporter of the Touched, and patron of the Orphanage where many of the main characters live.
- James Norton as Hugo Swann: An aristocratic pansexual young man who owns a private club and specializes in extortion
- Tom Riley as Augustus "Augie" Bidlow: A kind gentleman bird watcher, Lavinia's brother and secretly one of the Touched.
- Pip Torrens as Lord Gilbert Massen: A former military man and strong supporter of the British Empire, and very skeptical regarding people with extraordinary powers.
- Denis O'Hare as Dr. Edmund Hague: A brutal American surgeon who is experimenting on the Touched.
- Rochelle Neil as Annie Carbey, aka Bonfire Annie: A criminal with the ability to generate balls of flame.
- Amy Manson as Maladie / Sarah: An unstable member of the Touched living underground. Originally known as Sarah, Maladie is not only in charge of a band of renegades but also on a killing spree. Maladie also disguises herself as Effie Boyle, a deceased journalist. Manson is credited with the pseudonym Margaret Tuttle when Effie appears.
- Zackary Momoh as Doctor Horatio Cousens: A West Indian physician. Amalia was there when he discovered his own power to heal. He collaborates with her, and the Beggar King.
- Eleanor Tomlinson as Mary Brighton: A failed singer who has a big surprise ahead of her.
- Nick Frost as Declan Orrun, aka The Beggar King: Charismatic and brutal, Declan is in command of London's low-level criminals. Sometimes he works with Amalia and her cause – and sometimes he is just as happy to sell them out.
- Elizabeth Berrington as Lucy Best: A former thief from an extremely poor upbringing who can shatter whatever she touches.
- Viola Prettejohn as Myrtle Haplisch: An omniglot who can understand any spoken language although her own words come out in randomly shifting languages that she cannot control.
- Anna Devlin as Primrose Chattoway: A sixteen-year-old girl who is ten feet tall.
- Kiran Sonia Sawar as Harriet Kaur: A Scottish Sikh who lives at the orphanage; her breath turns things into glass. She dreams of being a lawyer.
- Ben Chaplin as Inspector Frank Mundi: A large and gruff policeman with a strong sense of morals. He has a reputation for violence and heavy drinking.
- Ella Smith as Desirée Blodgett: A prostitute who causes others around her to pour out secrets when they are feeling strong emotions.
- Vinnie Heaven as Nimble Jack: A young thief and member of the Touched who is notorious for breaking and entering and is capable of creating floating disks that can be used as shields or as stepping stones for accessing high places.
Recurring
- Martyn Ford as Nicholas Parbel “Odium”: A henchman of the Beggar King and a Touched whose body repels water.
- Pui Fan Lee as Su Ping Lam: the protector of the Orphanage, Touched with incredible strength.
- Brett Curtis as George: one of the protectors of the Orphanage, Touched with sharp thorns.
- Mark Benton as The Colonel: a follower of Maladie and a Touched with a power of persuasion
- David Garrick as Winemar Kroos: a follower of Maladie and a Touched who generates bullets from his right arm
- Rupert Vansittart as Lord Broughton: a member of Massen's Council.
- Andrew Havill as Douglas Broome: a member of Massen's Council.
- Timothy Bentinck as General Pecking: a member of Massen's Council.
- Nicholas Farrell as Prince Albrecht: a member of Massen's Council.
- Tim Steed as Lord Allaven Tyne: a member of Massen's Council.
- Domenique Fragale as Elisabetta "Beth" Cassini: an Italian immigrant and Touched whose turn allows her to make objects levitate.
Episodes
Production
Development
On July 13, 2018, it was announced that HBO had given the production a straight-to-series order. Joss Whedon would serve as a writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner for the series. The series landed at HBO after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services including Netflix. Whedon explained the title at Comic-Con 2018:Cast and crew
In April 2019, Laura Donnelly was cast in the starring role of Amalia True. Whedon said about her, "Laura Donnelly has charisma, wisdom and an anarchic precision that not only captures Amalia but defines her. She's fierce and she's funny – and I need both for the journey ahead." In July 2019, twelve actors were added to the cast, including Ann Skelly as Penance Adair, Olivia Williams as Lavinia Bidlow, James Norton as Hugo Swann, Tom Riley as Augustus "Augie" Bidlow, Pip Torrens as Lord Massen, Denis O'Hare as Dr. Edmund Hague, Rochelle Neil as Annie Carbey, Amy Manson as Maladie, Zackary Momoh as Doctor Horatio Cousens, Eleanor Tomlinson as Mary Brighton, Nick Frost as Declan Orrun, and Ben Chaplin as Inspector Frank Mundi. One month later, Elizabeth Berrington, Viola Prettejohn, Anna Devlin, Kiran Sonia Sawar, and Ella Smith were all cast in main roles Lucy Best, Myrtle Haplisch, Primrose Chattaway, Harriet Kaur, and Desirée Blodgett. Also in August, Martyn Ford was cast in the recurring role of Nicolas Perbal, also known as Odium.In the fifth episode, the character Effie Boyle is introduced. Effie is revealed to be one of Maladie's victims, with the Effie seen in the episode being Maladie herself in disguise. In order to create the illusion of Maladie posing as Effie, Amy Manson wore makeup and a fat suit, with the look altered in postproduction using computer-generated imagery. In an attempt to fool the audience, a fake name "Margaret Tuttle" was added to IMDb as the actress playing Effie.
Executive producers include Bernadette Caulfield, Jane Espenson, and Doug Petrie. Espenson and Petrie, who worked with Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, served as writers. Laurie Penny is also part of the series' writing staff. Gemma Jackson serves as production designer. Academy Award winner Christine Blundell served as the hair and makeup designer. She said that inspiration came from modern-day punk in order to help with the visual world of the series. In June 2021, HBO announced that Andrew Bernstein had joined the series as an executive producer and director.
Filming
On July 4, 2019, Whedon announced that principal photography had started, with filming occurring in London. In July 2019, it was reported that scenes had been filmed at Trinity Church Square, and in the New Wimbledon Theatre area. In August 2019, scenes were filmed at Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. In late January 2020, shooting took place at Joyce Grove, an Oxfordshire country house estate in the Jacobean style. The building will double as The Orphanage. Due to the lack of available studio space in London, HBO worked with Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, to find warehouse spaces and old industrial spaces in which they could base the production.The series completed production on the first five of its ten-episode order before production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in September and production was completed by the end of October. In February 2021, Bloys confirmed that the first season would consist of 10 episodes that would be broken into two airing blocks, due to the production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season's episode count was then extended to 12 episodes.
Production on the final six episodes of the first season began in June 2021 in the UK with filming completed by December 2021.