If you were utterly obsessed with Happy Valley, you might not want to miss this one. From the mind of Sally Wainwright, the creator of the hit BBC show as well as Gentleman Jack and Last Tango in Halifax, Renegade Nell is set to land on Disney+ very soon, has an incredible cast and sounds seriously good - get all of the details.
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The eight-part series is set to follow Derry Girls star Louisa Harland as Nell, “a quick-witted and courageous young woman, [who] finds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious outlaw in 18th-century England”.
The show also has a hint of magic, with the synopsis adding: “But when a magical spirit called Billy Blind appears, Nell realizes her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined.”
Frank Dillane as Charles Devereux, Alice Kremelberg as Sofia Wilmot, Ényì Okoronkwo as Rasselas, and Nick Mohammed as Billy Blind. Line of Duty’s very own Craig Parkinson also stars as Sam Trotter.
Speaking to The Guardian about the show, Sally revealed: “It’s set in the reign of Queen Anne which is very exciting because, of course, she paid for Blenheim Palace to be built.”
She revealed that the show began as a play which Sally was writing for an am-dram group in her area in the Cotswolds. When asked if the group of hobbyist actors knew about her incredibly successful career as she screenwriter, she said: “I don’t think they really noticed what I did for a job. The plays I did were quite good. I think they noticed that the plays were good.”
Chatting about the show to Disney, she added: “I can’t wait to bring swashbuckling highwaywoman Nell Jackson to the screen. Nell’s a ball of irreverent, blustering energy, fighting against the privileged gatekeepers of English society in 1705, battling to contain mysterious forces within her and her enemies as she goes on the run with her two sisters.”
Faith Penhale, Lookout Point CEO and Executive Producer, added: “In Nell Jackson Sally has conjured up yet another instantly iconic female lead. Her wit, warmth and boundless capacity for the invention will make our journey through Nell’s riotous imagined life a very special ride indeed and viewers of all ages around the world will love the way Sally blends history and magic to create an utterly original, endlessly entertaining world.
“I’m delighted to be working on this series with Disney+. It’s a cutting-edge platform built on a great history, with enormous reach and class, and a dream home for our highwaywoman.”
