ELECTRICAL STORM

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED AS THE POWER ZAPS FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

- NICK SETCHFIELD

THEY SAY IT TAKES A SPARK TO IGNITE a revolution. In Naomi Alderman’s 2016 novel The Power it’s a genuine jolt of voltage, unleashed from the fingertips of teenage girls. Soon gifted to all women, this lethally empowering phenomenon is destined to upend society. Fried patriarchy, anyone?

“There’s a rebelliousness and a wit to Naomi’s work,” says Raelle Tucker, showrunner of Prime Video’s adaptation of Alderman’s provocative, best-selling tale. “She’s very daring but also imaginative. She’s talking about real world issues that are difficult, but she’s doing it without ever losing her sense of humour or sense of adventure. It connects on an emotional level. All those things combined with really original, distinct character work is unusual in one package.

“Naomi has been incredibly involved since the beginning of the series. She was in the writers’ room with me every week, she read every draft, every outline, she gave extensive notes. We held hands on set and laughed a lot!”

THIS WOMAN'S WORK

A veteran of True Blood, Supernatural and Jessica Jones, Tucker says she felt “a weird sense of destiny” bringing The Power to the screen. “In 2016 I was halfway through the novel when I freaked out and I called my agents and said, ‘Why am I not the showrunner on this? This is everything that I want to do, because it’s global and it’s epic and it’s ambitious and there are all these badass, strong, complex female characters, and it’s about real world issues…’