Victorian fantasy drama ‘The Nevers’ reveals trailer and start date

Epic science-fiction drama The Nevers will premiere next month on HBO.

The new six-part fantasy period drama focuses on a gang of Victorian women in 1890s London who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.

The opening episodes have been written and directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, although he has since departed the project.

The cast includes Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark), James Norton (Grantchester), Olivia Williams (Miss Austen Regrets), Tom Riley (Da Vinci’s Demons), Pip Torrens (The Crown), Ben Chaplin (The Thin Red Line), Elizabeth Berrington (In Bruges), Rochelle Neil (Das Boot), Amy Manson (Atlantis), Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story), and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead).

Watch the new trailer:

 

The official synopsis reads: “August, 1896. Victorian London is rocked to its foundations by a supernatural event which gives certain people – mostly women – abnormal abilities, from the wondrous to the disturbing. But no matter their particular “turns,” all who belong to this new underclass are in grave danger.

“It falls to mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) and brilliant young inventor Penance Adair (Ann Skelly) to protect and shelter these gifted “orphans.” To do so, they will have to face the brutal forces determined to annihilate their kind.”

Watch the first teaser:

 

The Nevers will be available to watch in the US on HBO and HBO Max from Sunday 11th April.

All six episodes will debut in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV on Monday 17th May.

The final four episodes of the ten-part first season are expected to premiere later this year.

We’ve also got some new details on all the main characters:

Olivia Williams plays Lavinia Bidlow, the wealthy benefactress funding the orphanage for Amalia’s outcasts, who are also known as the Touched.

James Norton plays Hugo Swann, the rich and irreverent proprietor of a den of iniquity.

Tom Riley plays Augustus “Augie” Bidlow, Lavinia’s sweet, awkward, younger brother with a secret of his own.

Pip Torrens plays Lord Gilbert Massen, a high-ranking government official leading the crusade against our heroines.

Ben Chaplin plays Inspector Frank Mundi, who’s torn between his police duties and moral compass.

Denis O’Hare plays Edmund Hague, a deranged doctor searching for the source of the powers.

Amy Manson plays the tortured, murderous Maladie, who derives power from pain.

Rochelle Neil plays the fire-wielding Annie “Bonfire” Carby, one of Maladie’s motley gang.

Zackary Momoh plays orphanage doctor Horatio Cousens, whose turn equips him with healing powers.

Eleanor Tomlinson plays Mary Brighton, a broken and resilient performer pursuing her dream of singing on stage.

Elizabeth Berrington plays Lucy Best, adaptive and streetwise, her quick-wit and high spirits mask the pain of a tragic past.

Anna Devlin plays Primrose Chattoway who, at ten feet tall and a dreamy demeanor, wishes to be an ordinary girl not taking up too much space.

Kiran Sonia Sawar plays Harriet Kaur, a young Scottish Sikh and aspiring lawyer, determined to live her life as she planned.

Viola Prettejohn plays Myrtle Haplisch, a middle-class girl rescued from a family who cannot understand her – literally, as she can no longer speak any form of language they understand.

Ella Smith plays Désireé Blodgett, a prostitute with a power that gets her in trouble and a six-year old son who never speaks.

Vinnie Heaven plays Nimble Jack, a rakish and charming young thief and an expert at breaking and entering.

Nick Frost plays feared criminal overlord Declan “Beggar King” Orrun.

The complete Buffy the Vampire Slayer box set is available on DVD on Amazon.