First look at ‘Gentleman Jack’ creator’s new period drama ‘The Ballad of Renegade Nell’

Disney+ have released some brand new images for The Ballad of Renegade Nell.

Irish actress Louisa Harland, best known as Orla from Derry Girls, is leading the upcoming period drama.

We’re told that her titular character is “a quick-witted and courageous young woman who finds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th Century England.”

Here’s a closer look at Harland as Nell:

The swashbuckling new action adventure series for Disney+ is created by Sally Wainwright.

If the Yorkshire-born writer’s name isn’t familiar, you’ll certainly have seen many of her previous shows.

She’s the BAFTA award-winning creator of Last Tango in Halifax, Unforgiven, Happy ValleyScott & BaileyTo Walk Invisible, At Home with the Braithwaites, and Gentleman Jack!

First announced in April 2021, It’s been a long wait for The Ballad of Renegade Nell, with filming taking place in the summer of 2022.

In an intriguing departure for writer Sally Wainwright, it sounds like The Ballad of Renegade Nell has some fantasy elements in the story.

Nell will realise her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined when she meets a magical spirit called Billy Blind, played by Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed.

Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent)is playing plays Nell’s “fickle friend and sometime adversary” Charles Devereux, who is apparently “a charming rogue with a dangerous, villainous alter ego.”

Meanwhile, Adrian Lester from Trigger Point and Hustle stars as the Earl of Poynton, “a master political schemer and manipulator who joins forces against Nell.”

He’ll be teaming up with a character called Sofia Wilmot, “a young widow who wants power and independence at any cost,” played by Alice Kremelberg (The Sinner).

Other familiar faces for period drama fans will include Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) as an eccentric newspaper magnate, Craig Parkinson (Indian Summers) as Nell’s widowed father, and Pip Torrens (The Crown, Poldark) as Lord Blancheford, Sofia’s father.

Nell’s two younger sisters Roxy and George are played by newcomers Bo Bragason and Florence Keen.

We don’t have an exact release date yet, but it has been confirmed that the eight 45-minute episodes will premiere on Disney+ in spring 2024.

The Ballad of Renegade Nell sounds like it could be a lot of fun, and we’re huge fans of Sally Wainwright’s other TV work!

She’ll be back in more familiar territory later this year with a new BBC One drama called Hot Flush, and we’re still hoping for another season of Last Tango in Halifax one day!

Last Tango in Halifax is available on DVD on Amazon.