Never say never in Victorian England

The underclass gets superpowers in fantastical new sci-fi series The Nevers, which airs issues of racism, misogyny and the pervasiveness of technology

Actresses Laura Donnelly (above left) and Ann Skelly (above right) play members of a new superpowered underclass that finds itself feared and shunned in the series, The Nevers.
Actresses Laura Donnelly (left) and Ann Skelly (right) play members of a new superpowered underclass that finds itself feared and shunned in the series, The Nevers. PHOTO: HBO
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Created by writer-director Joss Whedon (The Avengers, 2012), the buzzy new science-fiction series The Nevers is set in Victorian London after a strange supernatural event endows some people - mostly women - with special abilities.

Northern Irish actresses Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly play two of "the touched" - a new superpowered underclass that finds itself feared and shunned in equal measure, and slowly being hunted down by dark forces.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 12, 2021, with the headline Never say never in Victorian England. Subscribe