OCS - The Nevers in April on HBO

By Mulder, 02 february 2021

"They don't call themselves The Nevers in the series. It's a sentence that aims to evoke a kind of reaction to their quirkiness, to what is considered unnatural. The idea that you should never be like that, that you should never have existed. Something is not the way it should be, and you are not allowed to have any weird power or ability whatsoever. And this idea, that some people are not of the natural order, fascinates me. I don't agree with it. But for me, it's one of those things where you take something negative, and you wear it as a badge of honor, basically. Some things could never happen - they do happen. And the people they happen to take their place in the world. "Joss Whedon

The Nevers is a science fiction television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson and Ilene S. Landress and Bernadette Caulfield. The series is scheduled to premiere in April 2021. The Nevers is composed of six episodes and will air exclusively on OCS in April in US+24. The cast also includes Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Rochelle Neil, Eleanor Tomlinson, Amy Manson, Pip Torrens, Denis O'Hare, Zackary Momoh, Elizabeth Berrington, Kiran Sawar, Anna Devlin, Viola Prettejohn, Ella Smith, Nick Frost and Ben Chaplin. Bernadette Caulfield, Ilene S. Landress, Doug Petrie, Jane Espenson, and Philippa Goslett provide executive production for the project.

On July 13, 2018, it was announced that HBO had given the production a direct serial order. Joss Whedon will be the writer, director, executive producer and showrunner for the series. The series came to HBO after a bidding war with other networks and streaming services, including Netflix. The executive producers are Bernadette Caulfield, Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie. Espenson and Petrie, who worked with Joss Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will also be screenwriters. Laurie Penny is also part of the writing team for the series. Gemma Jackson is the production designer.

On July 4, 2019, Joss Whedon announced that the main shoot had begun, with filming taking place in London. In July 2019, it was reported that scenes had been filmed in Trinity Church Square and the New Wimbledon Theatre area. In August 2019, scenes were filmed at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent. In late January 2020, filming took place at Joyce Grove, a Jacobin-style country house estate. The building was also used as an orphanage. Due to the lack of studios in London, HBO worked with Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission to find warehouses and former industrial space in which to base production. The series completed production on five of the ten episodes ordered before production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in September 2020 and production was completed in late October 2020. On November 25, 2020, Whedon announced that he was withdrawing from the series, citing various reasons for his decision in this year of unprecedented challenges. In a published statement, he explained that the trying nature of working on such a project during the global coronavirus pandemic had affected his energy level, as he confirmed that he was officially withdrawing from the series. On January 28, 2021, British screenwriter Philippa Goslett was announced as the new showrunner.

Synopsis :
In the last years of the Victorian era, the city of London is besieged by the Touchés: people, mainly women, who suddenly find themselves endowed with extraordinary abilities. Some are charming, others very disturbing. Among them, we will discover Amalia True (Laura Donnelly), a mysterious widow with a punch that is a little too easy and Penance Adair (Ann Skelly), a young and brilliant inventor. They are both at the head of this new class. They create a home for the "Touchés", while fighting the forces of... well, just about all the forces - to make room for those whom history, as we know it, would like to forget.

The Nevers
Directed by Joss Whedon (2 episodes)
Created by Joss Whedon
Showrunners: Joss Whedon, Philippa Goslett
Written by Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson
Produced by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Douglas Petrie, Bernie Caulfield, Philippa Goslett, Ilene S. Landress, Bernadette Caulfield
Executive producers: Joss Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Bernadette Caulfield, Ilene S. Landress, Jane Espenson, Douglas Petrie
Starring Laura Donnelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Amy Manson, Nick Frost, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denis O'Hare, Zackary Momoh, Rochelle Neil
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey, Ben Smithard, Richard Donnelly, Kate Reid
Production companies : Mutant Enemy Productions
Distributed by HBO (USA), OCS (France)
Release date: April 2021

(Source: press release)