# The Nevers (2021)

> In late Victorian London, a widow and a young inventor lead the Touched, people who have sudden extraordinary powers, as they carve out a refuge in a city that wants no place for them.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/69238

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 63 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: science fiction, fantasy, drama
- Created by: Joss Whedon
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Pip Torrens, Rochelle Neil, Amy Manson
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8697870/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, propulsive, melancholic, defiant, visceral

## What critics say

Viewers found the Victorian-set superpower drama intriguing and twisty, though the show was cut short after a single season.

## Synopsis

The Nevers (2021) is a British-set American science fiction and fantasy series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. Set in the last years of Queen Victoria's reign in London, it follows a mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and a brilliant young inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly), champions of the Touched, a new underclass of mostly women who suddenly manifest abnormal abilities, some charming and some deeply disturbing. The engine of the series is their effort to build a home for the Touched in a city hostile to them, which means fighting nearly every power structure they encounter while their own gifts grow unpredictable. Olivia Williams and James Norton also appear among the principal cast. The show runs as a single six-episode season of roughly an hour each, a serialized story that was canceled before its arc was finished. Its atmosphere mixes steampunk-tinged period detail with superpowered action, a visceral and often dark register where wonder and menace sit side by side. Viewers who enjoy Penny Dreadful, Carnival Row and The Umbrella Academy will find similar appeal in its blend of Gothic London texture and outsider heroics.

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