Renegade Nell

(2024)
Created by Sally Wainwright
Starring Louise Harland, Adrian Lester, Nick Mohammed, Enyi Okoronkwo, Frank Dilland, Alice Kremelberg, Jake Dunn,
IMDB Entry

My cable company gave us Disney+ for free. I wasn't all that interested -- I'm not big on Star Wars and would much rather watch Aardman or Laika for animation. But free is free and I started looking around. After someone mentioned it, I started on Renegade Nell, which is superb.

The show is set in the early years of the 18th century.  Nell Jackson (Louise Harland) is returning home after her husband has been killed in a war. She stumbles upon robbery by the notorious highwayman Isambard Tully (Frank Dillane). When he tries to rob her, something miraculous happens: a tiny light goes into her mouth, and Nell can now stop bullets in the air and turn invisible.  Tully is forced to let her go.

Her home village is terrorized by Thomas Blanchford (Jake Dunn), the son of the local lord,  who goes around raising hell in the village. When a prank goes wrong, Nell's father is killed and she goes to Thomas's father for justice. Thomas pulls out a pistol and kills his father, making him lord, and then loudly blames Nell for the murder. His sister Sofia (Alice Kremelberg) witnesses it, but backs up Thomas's story. Nell grabs her two sisters and goes on the run, turning to robbery to survive and are helped by Blancheford's groom, a former slave names Rassalas (Enyi Okoronkwo).

Meanwhile, the Earl of Poynton (Adrian Lester), who urged Thomas to kill his father, starts using occult means to plot against Queen Ann. And Nell discovers the source of her own powers:  a sprite named Billy Blind (Nick Mohammad), who was sent to help her, but doesn't know by whom.

This is a tour de force by Louise Harland. Nell is excellent -- funny, heroic, and principled. I had seen her before as the ditzy cousin Orla in Derry Girls. There's no sign of that here, and she handles the role with aplomb.

Adrian Lester, who came to my attention as the head of the con men on Hustle*, makes an excellent villain, with dangerous magical powers. Frank Dillane makes Tully a charming and attractive rogue, fully capable of surprising you at every step.

The show was created and written by Sally Wainwright, whose won several British Academy Television Awards.

One season is on Disney+ and there's talk of another.** It should be great viewing.***

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*Having recently been rewatching Hustle, it was a surprise to recognize him.

**The final shot, which shouldn't be a surprise, makes it possible.

***The original title of the show was The Ballad of Renegade Nell. I find that quite reminiscent of "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell," a poem that is the very antithesis of the Disney image and may have been a factor in the change.