The Nevers

The Nevers is an American science fiction drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO.

The series is set in Victorian London and follows a group of people, mostly women, known as the Touched, who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities.

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.

The Nevers is described as "an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian[s] who find themselves with unusual abilities (due to alien intervention), relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.

"[2] 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.

[4][5] 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.

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.

[28] In late January 2020, shooting took place at Joyce Grove, an Oxfordshire country house estate in the Jacobean style.

[32] 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.

In a released statement, he explained that the taxing nature of working on such a project during the coronavirus pandemic had taken a toll on his energy levels and confirmed rumors that he would be officially exiting the series.

[39] In response to the accusations of workplace harassment against Whedon on his prior projects, Bloys stated, "We had no complaints or no reports of inappropriate behavior" regarding his work on The Nevers.

[40][41] Afterwards, series regular Denis O'Hare, who portrays Doctor Edmund Hague, noted that he was unaware of the misconduct allegations aimed at Whedon at the time and said that the whole cast was worried about the continued filming of the first season.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Despite strong performances and stellar production design, The Nevers struggles to stitch its slew of intriguing components into a solid show.

[53] Ed Cumming of The Independent gave the series three stars out of five, calling it an "overstuffed junk shop of ideas" and disliked that too many "themes of alienation and acceptance unfold amid horse-drawn chases, expensive special effects, high-society orgies, corset brawls, and wainscoting aplenty.

"[56] In a positive review by Lorraine Ali from the Los Angeles Times, she wrote, "The Nevers is a joy to watch and a thrill to follow.

Supernatural realism, complex storytelling, fantastical powers and topical realties meet in this smart, suspenseful and colorful production.

[57] Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter gave it a more mixed review, writing that the series is "in desperate need of focus, and as episodes progress, more and more characters are added and the connection to the richest thematic throughline becomes increasingly tenuous".

[60] Darren Franich of Entertainment thought "True" made the series much more interesting, saying "the sixth episode of The Nevers is the troubled HBO drama's best hour yet", but also noted that this development in the plot may have come too late.

[62] Adi Tantimedh of Bleeding Cool stated that outlets are not covering "the unseen episodes" as "no one is actually seeing them" given the afternoon timeslot for viewing – "the next opportunity to watch them is in March… and once again, only live".

[63] Tasha Robinson, for Polygon, commented that the "limitation on finally seeing the back half of The Nevers has led to fans of the show trying to find workarounds [...].

An official poster for the series