The Nevers launches in the UK on Sky Atlantic tonight, and is also available to stream from NOW TV. In advance of the UK premiere, a great new review for The Never has been shared online by critic Matthew Turner, who loved the show and had kind words to say about Tom Riley as Augustus Bidlow. Read it in full on the Hero Collector website.
The cast are superb across the board. Donnelly makes a compelling, slightly off-kilter lead, investing Amalia with an intriguing quality you can't quite pin down, which works well. She's also terrific in the action scenes and has extremely expressive eyes, bringing a strong undercurrent of emotion to every scene. She's matched by Skelly, who generates strong chemistry with her co-star and brings a lot of warmth and heart to Penance – her awkward flirtations with Riley's character are ridiculously charming.
The supporting cast are equally terrific. Norton is clearly enjoying himself as Hugo (even throwing in a cheeky bit of nudity), while Riley is extremely endearing as Augie (he also gets the biggest laugh with his delivery of the line, “What if she's some sort of Elephant Man woman?”) and Torrens brings Massen a suitably sinister air, while also suggesting hidden layers to his character. There are also colourful smaller turns from the likes of Nick Frost (as underworld boss the Beggar King), Dennis O'Hare (as a creepy doctor) and Rochelle Neil, who steals every scene as super-stylish flame-thrower Bonfire Annie...
...this is an engaging and enjoyable fantasy show that combines action, humour, mystery, emotional drama and a little bit of politics to winning effect. Bring on Season Two, or the second half of Season One or whatever we're calling it...
There is a new interview with Tom Riley and James Norton on a Hungarian website. The link to the google translation is here, so excuse the slightly mangled English.
I really liked that although they never went into comedy, your characters have a lot of humorous moments in the series. James got scenes with pretty dark humor, and Tom sometimes got scenes like he was a character in a romantic comedy. Was this already obvious to you when you read the script, or did it come about by the way you shaped them?
James Norton:You caught the point. I’m such a dark humorous dude, and Tom is like he stepped out of a rubble. (laughs) I'm just kidding. It was actually already in the script, but at the same time our characters had a very subtle sense of humor. We’re not throwing funny single lines or telling jokes: the humor tends to hide somewhere in between the lines, so I was a little scared if I could pass it well. I remember when I read the script, I laughed out loud quite a few times, but it also caused me some anxiety. Although I’ve been an actor for a long time, I’m not really at home in the field of comedy, and pinpoint timing is very important here, every word and emphasis needs to be in the right place for humor to work. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but since the lyrics were good and I practiced a lot, I was confident things would work out.Of course, success depended not only on me, but also on my partners in the scene, but luckily I never had a problem with that. I looked back at myself and dare I say that here and there maybe I’m really a little funny. (laughs) Tom is a very funny kiss in life. The Victorians weren’t even such a stick-swallowed population - photos
Tom Riley: I’ve never played a character like Augie before. I’ve never remembered the cast before a quiet, humble, romantic role like this before, which is why I appreciate Nevers ’ castingos for daring to take risks when they were assigned the role. It already shows how differently they think they were invited to the hearing at all. A special feature of Augie is that his vulnerability and all his doubts somehow always show up on his face: he’s simply unable to hide his feelings, and that gives the character’s distinctive humor as well. In the past, I was mostly given characters who hide their feelingsand their vulnerability, and Augie is the exact opposite, so it was a great pleasure to play him. However, I couldn’t stand his high-collar, neck-buttoned shirts. Wearing them all day was dirty uncomfortable, it would make a man an awfully stiff position. This type of collar rubbed my neck regularly, by the end of the day my skin was always red on it.
