This Easter, Disney is releasing a brand new action-adventure fantasy series, “Renegade Nell”, which is about a quick-witted and courageous young woman called Nell, who finds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious outlaw in 18th-century England. But when a magical spirit called Billy Blind appears, Nell realizes her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined.

There’s plenty of magic scattered throughout the show, with an evil villain trying to stop Nell from interfering in his plans, which involve the Queen. Along the way, there are a few sidequests, since they’ve got to stretch out the eight-episode series a bit, which helps build out the characters a little more.

While the series is set in the 18th Century, it does have some modern touches along the way, as when Nell is in danger, the magical spirit jumps into her body, giving her super human strength, speed and reflexes. Gives her a “superhero” type vibe, plus throwing in some mysterious creatures and other highwaymen, and it does a good job of blending some different genres together.

The scale of the show is very impressive, with plenty of real sets being used to transport us back to two hundred odd years and while the English accents do feel a little over the top sometimes, it’s a good hearted series, which reminds me of a typical Saturday evening fantasy show like “Robin Hood” or “Merlin”, which is great for the whole family to enjoy, but can be a little corny in places. Even though it’s set in the 1800s, it has the modern sensibility that you’d expect from a light-hearted fantasy series from Disney.

Louisa Harland plays the role of Nell and she does a great job in doing so. I have previously seen her in the excellent comedy series, “Derry Girls” and she couldn’t be any more different in this role. You’ve also got Adrian Lester playing the evil Earl Of Poynton, who makes a great villain, plus it’s great to see Nick Mohammed in the role of Billy Blind, though his character takes a while to warm up, but he often provides the comedy aspect when needed.

Disney is dropping the entire season at once, so I’d suggest spreading the show out a little bit, as one of the problems I did have with this series was that I felt that it was a little long winded and could have easily been cut by a few episodes. At the half way point of the series, I could easily see where the direction of the plot was going and it got a little tedious going through the motions, but eventually it picked back up in the finale.

One of the biggest problems with TV shows like this nowadays is the idea of having a continuous storyline throughout, as the sidequests feel like fillers since they stand out as not being part of the core story. Had the show been made a decade ago, it probably would have had double the amount of episodes, with more single-story episodes scattered throughout, keeping audiences more engaged, as I don’t think this series needed eight episodes.

Overall, “Renegade Nell” is a fun, easy-going, light entertainment drama series for the whole family. There’s nothing in here that’s that unique, but overall, I enjoyed it. There’s nothing specifically wrong with “Renegade Nell,” and I’d certainly recommend you check out the show on Disney+.

Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5

All eight episodes of “Renegade Nell” will be released on Disney+ on Friday, 29th March 2024.

Are you looking forward to watching “Renegade Nell”? Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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