Never the Bride (TV series)

Never the Bride is an upcoming television adaption of Paul Magrs' supernatural series, The Brenda and Effie Mysteries. The television series is proposed to be seven seasons, each an adaptation of the seven novels that form the prose series.

The series, being produced by Free@Last TV, promises to mix drama and comedy with fantasy, with high art being combined with popular culture. It was also tackle themes of gender identity stemming from Brenda's body being constructed from both female and male limbs.

History
Around mid-september 2019, a page about the upcoming series was added on the Free@Last TV website, giving details on the series as well as linking a mood reel by Barry Ryan. Paul Magrs shared news that Never the Bride had been optioned on his Twitter account on 16 September 2019 Also in 2019, Abel Diaz signed on to adapt the stories into six, sixty minute long episodes. On 20 November 2020, Free@Last TV pitched the series at the C21 Digital Pitch.

Within this pitch, Barry Ryan gave a brief "portfolio" of Free@Last TV's previous series like, the premise of The Brenda and Effie Mysteries and the setup of the first episode in season one, the open nature of the series and how it would be a good IP to back, then it showed the mood reel...

"Mixing drama with fantasy, high art with popular culture, fusing the mundane with the surreal, the series will series will create an exciting anthology adventure across multiple episodes and returning series. Brenda's world and the adventures the viewers will embark upon is an alternate reality where The War of the Worlds did happen, where Mother Christmas' hotel is an all-year festivity, Dracula stalks Whitby Abbey, where to the naked eye most facets of life remain unchanged. Viewed through the eyes of our teenage protagonist, Robert, Never the Bride is a war of the weird worlds, where only our blue Buffy slayers can save us from."

- Barry Ryan

...then Barry cited the inspirations for the series, such as Doctor Who,, , and , and specified how they "resonate" with global audiences, and how the deal with the "timely issue" of identity, segueing into how Brenda will question her identity, sexuality, and soul, as she is built from the limbs and organs of others.

Cast

 * Brenda - TBA
 * Effie - TBA
 * Robert - TBA

Connections with the Magrsverse
The series, first and foremost, is planned to adapt The Brenda and Effie Mysteries, implying that most of the content in the novels will make it to the screen. In terms of confirmed connections, Robert, Brenda, Effie, the Martians (aka Meercocks) from The War of the Worlds, "Mother Christmas" and her hotel (Mrs Claus and the Christmas Hotel in the books), and Dracula, along with the setting of Whitby, are all confirmed.

Notably, Panda is seen on the re-used illustration by Bret M. Herholz, but this can't be interpreted as direct confirmation yet.

Broadcasts
TBA