Darkness dripped from every scene in Happy Valley as the desperate battle between good and evil pitting Sergeant Catherine Cawood against her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce in the bleak Yorkshire countryside played out over three series of the incomparable crime drama.
As we all caught our breath after last year’s shocking finale, the big question was how its creator Sally Wainwright could follow up such success.
The answer comes to Disney+ this week with her latest series Renegade Nell – a family show so fresh and imaginative it belongs in a genre all its own.
Originally written as a play for her Cotswold amateur drama group many years ago, it’s a feminist fantasy superhero folktale about a female roadie with special powers bestowed upon her by a sprite called Billy Blind.
It takes class warfare, slavery, black magic and a miscarriage of justice, but more than anything else, it’s a rip-roaring historical romp.
Renegade Nell will be on Disney+ this week – a family show so fresh and imaginative that it belongs in a genre all its own
Louisa Harland, who stars as the bold Nell, played Orla in Derry Girls (left)
And set alongside Happy Valley and Sally’s other hits – the bittersweet romance Last Tango In Halifax and the groundbreaking costume drama Gentleman Jack – Renegade Nell further demonstrates what an extremely versatile writer she is.
‘I love this world the Sallys have created and I hope it goes down well because I like the idea that the whole family can sit down and watch it,’ says Derry Girls star Louisa Harland, who plays the daredevil Nell.
‘I feel like it’s a new world we’ve created, and apart from a line of historical accuracy, we can do whatever we want. Sally rewrites the story a little bit and that’s what’s lovely about the show.’
We meet our heroine Nell in 1705 as she is on her way home to see her family in London after her soldier husband was killed during one of the countless wars of the time. She is dressed as a soldier for her own protection, but when she is attacked by highway patrol officers and identified as a woman, her life appears to be in danger – until a light enters her body and suddenly she is able to dodge bullets, jump on top of wagons, turn invisible and basically save the day.
Back home, our cockney heroine soon gets into another fight with Thomas Blancheford (Jake Dunn), the bully son of the local gunman.
Once again, just as it looks like she’s in really big trouble, something strange happens and she gets the superpowers to knock him off.
Blancheford takes revenge on Nell’s father and accuses Nell of his murder. Forced into hiding with her two sisters, Nell becomes a highwayman – but of the Robin Hood variety. “Nell is an ethical thief,” says Louisa. ‘Everything is for the greater good.’
Darkness dripped from every scene in Happy Valley, as the desperate battle between good and evil pitted Sergeant Catherine Cawood (pictured) against her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce
Fortunately, she has Billy Blind (Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed) to give her superhuman strength, which she needs even more when she discovers that fate has put her on the wrong side of the law for a reason that involves a magical plot against Queen Anne.
Like Gentleman Jack’s Anne Lister, Nell prefers menswear, and Louisa says it’s easy to see why.
‘She dresses like a man because it’s easier to get around, to ride a horse. It was terrible for women back then. It’s crazy how you had to present yourself as a woman, how much class went into it. I’m glad I wasn’t born at that time.’
However, Nell also had to look authentic. “Our hair and makeup designer would say, ‘Nell’s been on horseback for months, she has to look like she smells.’ I need her to look like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.’
Louisa also had to suppress her native Dublin accent and luckily she was living in London when she got the part so she spoke to the locals. “I had lived in the East End for two years,” she laughs. – Without knowing it, I prepared myself for the role.
‘Nell does accents and I thought it was fun playing someone who’s cockney, pretending to do a Scottish accent, a bad one. When she slips, it must be back in cockney. I thought of those scenes as a musical score. My brain was exhausted at the end of the day.’
Nell prefers men’s clothes and Louisa says it’s because it’s ‘easier to get around and ride horses’
It seems highwaymen are back in style with another new series, The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin, starring Noel Fielding, on Apple TV+. But while superheroes on TV are a dime a dozen, there’s never been one who owes his powers to a sprite, an idea that came from ancient folklore. “He was a creature that lived under a girl’s bed and protected her,” says Louisa.
‘He can be described in different ways – a sprite, an imp – and it’s a bit cringe, but I think it’s like a soulmate. We had to get Billy right because it’s a weird concept.
‘Nick Mohammed is perfect. I didn’t have him in person because he can’t fly and he can’t fit in my pocket – I had to talk to my imaginary friend which was frustrating but made it even more magical when I got to see the finished product .’
The eight-part series may just be the start of Nell’s adventure. “Sally is so good at writing for women, writing truthful characters and relationships,” says Louisa.
‘Put it in a fun world of magic, fantasy and epic battle sequences and it’s all of the above.’
- Renegade Nell, from Good Friday, Disney+.
Five more Sally Wainwright dramas to watch
HAPPY VALLEY (BBC iPlayer)
An utterly absorbing drama that pits Sarah Lancashire police officer Catherine Cawood against the evil Tommy Lee Royce, the man who raped her daughter Becky and left her to raise her grandson after Becky’s suicide.
James Norton’s mesmerizing performance as Royce made him a household name and last year’s third and final series had the nation on the edge of its seat.
LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX (BBC iPlayer)
Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid play Celia and Alan (below), widowed and in their 70s, who didn’t admit their feelings for each other in the 1950s and have a lot of catching up to do over the course of five series.
Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid play Celia and Alan didn’t admit their feelings for each other in the 50s in Last Tango in Halifax
Suranne Jones gives a BAFTA-nominated performance as landowner and industrialist Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack
GENTLEMAN JACK (BBC iPlayer)
Suranne Jones gives a BAFTA-nominated performance as landowner and industrialist Anne Lister. Over the course of two series, she transforms her late uncle’s estate while also seeking love with wealthy heiress Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle).
HOME WITH THE BRAITHWAITES (ITVX)
Some people shout it from the rooftops when they win the lottery, but not Alison Braithwaite. Played by Amanda Redman, she figures that her £38 million windfall could have a damaging effect on her family, so she keeps quiet about it at first. Four series ran in the early 2000s, starring Peter Davison as Alison’s cheating husband David.
SCOTT AND BAILEY (ITVX Premium and BritBox)
Britain’s answer to Cagney And Lacey saw police detectives Janet Scott (Lesley Sharp) and Rachel Bailey (Suranne Jones) fight crime together on the streets of Manchester while also dealing with a series of crises in their personal lives over the course of five series.