Renegade Nell

Created and written entirely by Sally Wainwright — the writer behind Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey, and Gentleman Jack — Renegade Nell premiered on Disney+ on 29 March 2024. Produced by Lookout Point, the production company long associated with Wainwright's work, the eight-episode series represents her first foray into fantasy and adventure storytelling, departing from the contemporary northern realism of her most celebrated work while retaining her characteristic investment in female agency and comic timing.

Louisa Harland, best known as Orla from Derry Girls, plays Nell Jackson, a former soldier in Marlborough's army who finds herself framed for a murder she did not commit and forced to take to the highways of early 18th-century England. The series pairs her with Nick Mohammed's Billy Blind, a supernatural sprite who confers on Nell a near-invincibility that she has yet to understand. Bo Bragason and Florence Keen play her younger sisters, and Adrian Lester brings considerable authority to the role of the scheming Earl who pursues her. The production design creates a vivid, slightly anachronistic England that owes as much to Wainwright's comic instincts as to historical recreation.

Renegade Nell attracted strong critical notices on its release — Variety called it a series that “delivers” — and earned an 86 per cent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The series was cancelled by Disney+ after a single season in July 2024, making it a notable example of the kind of singular creative work that the streaming model can both enable and abruptly withdraw.