Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Louisa Harland, Frank Dillane, Alice Kremelberg, Enyi Okoronkwo, Bo Bragason, Florence Keen, Nick Mohamed, Adrian Lester, Jake Dunn, Joely Richardson, Jodhi May, Pip Torrens, Ashna Rabheru, Daniel Rigby, Joe Dixon, Ryan Gage, Mark Heap, Rosalyn Wright, Bronwyn James, John Arthur, Craig Parkinson, Art Malik, Ramon Tikaram, Ruth Madeley, Lenny Rush, Oliver Lansley.
The allure of the highway man has been such that since the tales of Dick Turpin were eulogised by the English Historical novelist William Harrison Ainsworth in the 1834 gothic novel Rookwood, the public has been entranced by the dark side of 18th Century Britain’s justice system and the inverse of the heroic story attributed to those who otherwise would have garnered the nation’s affections.
This reversal of seeming heroism has been with us ever since, and the notion of the dashing highway robber inverting social convention is the reason why the eight-part series of Renegade Nell, written by Sally Wainwright works so incredibly well; not only does it embrace the inverted proposition with gusto, it takes it further by adding the elemental and the sexual politics of its time through the lens of modern psychological drama.
Even in the fantasy there is truth to be told, and the viewer’s pleasure will further enhanced by the adherence to historical fact as well as the completeness of its fascinating premise of costume, scenery, wit, and cinematography.
There is also the matter of the cast, a humongous effort of casting in pulling together some of the wonderful names that delight the screen, and with Louisa Harland making a dramatic entrance in her first lead since the delightful comedy/drama Derry Girls as the eponymous Nell, and with support from the likes of the impressive Alice Kremelberg, Adrian Lester, Pip Torrens, Ryan Gage, Mark Heap, and the exquisite Joely Richardson, Renegade Nell leaps of the screens and into the heart of the viewer’s admiration.
The public love a tale that invokes feelings of rooting for those that have suffered injustice, who see the parallels with today’s greed of the so called favoured few and those in such positions that they can believe they are immune to prosecution or persecution by those they have wronged. Renegade Nell reminds us that no one in presumed authority is absolved of their sins when they kick downwards, and the legends of Dick Turpin has found a new home in the body and spirit of Nell Jackson. Ian D. Hall