In 1705 England, Nell “Don’t call me Nelly” Jackson is a commoner, adventurer and unexpected superhero. Returning home after five years at war, she stumbles upon a highway robbery in progress. Circumstances cause her to unleash a sprite infused comeuppance on the robbers. Though given up for dead, her family again welcomes her home. She soon runs afoul of the local lord’s ne’er-do-well son, whom she also trounces. He frames her for murder, and she is soon wanted throughout the country. On the run, it is the outlaw’s life for her now. The life of a notorious highwaywoman. Nell with her younger sisters in tow flee and are pursed by all of the forces of aristocratic society both natural and supernatural. 

An oft spoke description of her is that there is something unnatural about Nell. Certainly, having your own personal Tinkerbell qualifies in that, but more elementally she is a woman who does not behave like a woman. Or at least not how a woman is supposed to act. Nell’s independent and freethinking mind is extended to thoughts on 18th-century problems of class, poverty and the press. Her adventures are generally lighthearted, in a YA way. The supporting cast is wide, varied and sometimes helpful, but it is Nell’s grit, wit and luck that powers her through most difficulties. Created by Sally Wainwright of Happy Valley fame and featuring Louisa Harland from Derry Girls, Renegade Nell, which dropped Friday on Disney+ is a lark.