Screenwriter Philippa Goslett takes over as showrunner on the HBO superhero drama, slated for release later this year.

Goslett will serve as both showrunner and executive producer.  She replaces series creator Joss Whedon, who departed the show in November last year.  Whedon previously released a statement citing exhaustion and the challenges of delivering a large production during a global pandemic as his primary reasons for stepping down.  He remains credited as an executive producer, alongside fellow Buffy alums and long-term collaborators Jane Espenson and Douglas Petrie, as well as former Sopranos producer Ilene S. Landress, and Game of Thrones producer Bernadette Caulfield.

Philippa Goslett

This will be Goslett’s first role as showrunner. Her previous screenwriting credits include the Robert Pattison-starring Little Ashes, which won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film in 2010, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties, which starred Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman, and premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.  Goslett is no stranger to television, having previously worked with the BBC and Channel 4 in developing projects for the smaller screen.

The Nevers was subject to a network bidding war when it was first pitched back in 2018, in which HBO emerged victorious against rival Netflix. The cable giant made a straight-to-series commitment despite The Nevers being the first solo-Whedon project since Fox’s ill-fated Dollhouse. Whedon previously co-created Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Principle photography began in London across the summer of 2019. The series is set in Victorian times, and is described as a science fiction drama about a group of young women, known as the Touched who find themselves developing special powers and abilities. Laura Donnelly (Tolkien), Olivia Williams (Counterpart), and James Norton (Happy Valley) are set to star in the series, which HBO confirmed was still on track to be released this summer as planned.