I find British genre-TV is often dismal stuff, that’s pathetic at best, but RENEGADE NELL is good fun. Its confident scenario offers a quirky blend of superhero-mystery and comedy-adventure, where a failed soldier gets dangerous pixie powers to avenge a murder, commit Robin Hood robbery, and fight against landowners’ corruption. A scheming Earl (Adrian Lester) conjures up a version of devilish ‘Herne the Hunter’, for a spectacular mythic action sequence, while the heroine’s own family struggle to survive pursuit by mercenary types.
Despite a climactic Jacobite plot to oust Queen Anne (Jodhi May), jokey anachronisms are all part of this drama’s witty appeal, so forget about historical or cultural accuracy, also happily opposed by top news-maker Lady Moggerhanger (a splendid Joely Richardson). Louisa Harland carries the show as the feminist vigilante, but it’s rather a shame that the creators supply a supporting cast with campy characters (especially a boringly pantomime highwayman), on both sides of the law, too. I think this could have been even better, as home-grown fantasy, with only Nell as a source of amusement.
Nick Cave's theme song -
