Victorian superheroes

Laura Donnelly and James Norton on how their sci-fi period epic asks some important questions…

- ELAINE REILLY

IT’S ESCAPIST, BUT ALSO HAS REAL HEART - JAMES NORTON

Fantasy, sci-fi and history collide in Sky’s new drama The Nevers, which follows the epic adventures of a group of outcasts with mysterious powers.

When a supernatural event in Victorian London gives some of the city’s residents – mainly women – abnormal abilities, from the awe-inspiring to the disturbing, they become known as the Touched and are shunned by the rest of society.

It soon falls to widow Amalia True (Britannia’s Laura Donnelly), whose ‘turn’ allows her to glimpse the future, to protect and unite the chosen ones against malicious forces.

The 12-part series has been split in half, with the second six-part installment set to air at a later date. It’s also being shown weekly on Sky Atlantic, starting this Monday at 10.10pm, with the first six episodes available on Sky Box Sets and NOW after the first episode has aired.

The cast list includes Poldark stars Eleanor Tomlinson and Pip Torrens, Nick Frost (Sick Note) and Ben Chaplin (Press), along with James Norton (Happy Valley) playing privileged pleasure-seeker Lord Hugo Swann.