Image Credit: Disney+
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, an adventurous, funny period tale. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
Sally Wainwright has spent years making quality drama on TV via the rightfully acclaimed Happy Valley. Yet if you’ve only seen or know of that superb Sarah Lancashire-starring series, you might not be aware that Wainwright also has a wryly funny side. It’s seen to some degree in Gentleman Jack, and you get her warmly comedic tone via Last Tango In Halifax.
Renegade Nell, though, feels like something altogether fresh from the writer/producer. A combination of period drama, fantasy romp and smart comedy, it stars Derry Girls’ Louisa Harland as the titular Nell. A young woman who left home to join the military with her husband, she returns to her family’s town when he dies in combat to discover that a loathsome, rich privileged spawn (Jake Dunn’s sneer-worthy Thomas Blancheford) is taking advantage of everyone in sight. But when she investigates, she ends up framed for the murder of Blancheford’s father, Nell must go on the run, surviving through highway robbery.
Oh yes, and there is a magical sprite named Billy Blind (played by Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed) who grants Nell special abilities in times of need, turning her into a super strong, unnaturally fast fighter.
Unlike Apple TV+’s Noel Fielding-starring The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin, Renegade Nell has more on its mind than simple knockabout comedy. Wainwright uses the adventurous format toad in social messages and clever discussion of ideas.
And Harland is excellent as Nell, completely charismatic and showing off more acting chops than even Derry Girls allowed. Along with the likes of Pip Torrens, Alice Kremelberg, Craig Parkinson, Adrian Lester, Bo Bragason, Enyi Okoronkwo and more (including a superbly snooty turn from Joely Richardson as the wonderfully named Lady Eularia Moggerhangar), she brings real feeling to the role.
Plus, thanks to Amanda Brotchie, M.J. Delaney and Ben Taylor, the show also looks superb, fully embracing the Disney+ budget and putting every penny on screen. If it sometimes has trouble balancing tone (it swings from violent moments to more child-friendly comedy in one episode alone), that’s a very minor issue. This is one renegade you should put on your watch list.
The first season of Renegade Nell is on Disney+ now. I’ve seen the first two episodes.