[Captain Oakum] She's a highway woman. Said to be armed and extremely dangerous.
What you gone and done to get yourself a 40-pound reward on your head?
[gunshot]
- [Thomas] She killed him! - I didn't. It was him!
Get after her!
I need Jackson dead.
[Earl of Poynton] Fate has thrown us together, Sofia.
Your abilities have progressed.
I want to learn more. I'm ready.
[Thomas] You shouldn't bother with him.
He's dangerous. Poisonous.
The Queen is a traitor.
You are a Jacobite.
[Earl of Poynton] Half of Anne's Privy Council feels as I do.
[Henry] Isambard Tulley captured in Slough.
Do you realize they'll hang you unless I pull a few strings?
[Nell] He's only in there because of us. So I'm gonna spring him.
[Billy] Look, we were sent to the planet for these poor souls.
Are you really Nelly Jackson?
- [prisoner] Oh, Nelly! - [Nell] Everybody out.
[in Latin] Dull earth dwelling. Confusion worst confounded.
You're going to die, Nelly Jackson.
Sofia?
I really liked your play.
Aw! Bless. Now then, where's the other one?
- [soft music playing] - [birds chirping]
[Polly] This is a tale of passion and woe with a nimble heroine,
Polly Honeycombe,
who, inspired by her recent survival of a brutal highway robbery,
applied to the brooding, thunderous Mr. Scribble.
Two together brave the fury of her heartless papa,
ignore his expressed desire to forbid the match,
and in the tradition of all great magisterial romances,
throw caution, convention, common decency to the wind, and elope.
[driver] Look up. Aye!
I must confess
that following the first giddy flush of love,
the noble, ethereal Mr. Scribble
showed himself to be rather more hirsute than expected.
[grunts]
Oh.
Good morning, my love.
Do you think there might be any highwaymen in these parts?
Not a one.
[Polly] And your stunning heroine found her mind
irrevocably drifting to a certain moment
and a certain rogue with far less hair.
However, with her characteristic charm and optimism,
your heroine assured herself that adventure no doubt awaited.
[guest laughs in distance]
But soon came to find that elopements have some downsides, dear reader.
[Polly scoffs]
Such as not a single robbery,
tidy-ins without a misunderstood brigand in sight,
and discovering one's favorite dress upon a serving wench.
My wardrobe is distinct,
and this piece I would recognize anywhere as the one stolen by my highwayman.
[gasps]
Oh, Mr. Scribble. My reputation.
- Oh, we're practically married. - But not yet.
I'm not feeling well.
[dramatic yelp]
That was when a thought befell your heroine
like a bolt of lightning.
[soft grunt]
[gasps]
The highwayman who robbed me of my garments so many weeks ago,
did so for love.
- [door closes] - [Polly] It was so obvious.
The wench downstairs is the highwayman's moll!
By gifting her my gowns,
he sought to create a pale imitation of me.
But Polly Honeycombe cannot be replaced.
I had to interrogate her.
For my heart now belongs irrefutably to my lovelorn highwayman.
- And I shall stop at nothing but… - [muffled screaming]
Alack!
Kidnap!
[tense music playing]
Your heroine was swooning
- in a most tragical manner when she… - Hold on.
You're supposed to be writing a ransom note,
not a blooming novel.
- Just trying to… - Can't we just put her back?
What are we gonna tell Japhia?
That Amorous is a bleeding fool.
I'm afraid that in a delicious twist of irony,
these villains have accidentally kidnapped exactly the right person.
For I, Ms. Polly Honeycombe,
am the true object of the highwayman's affections.
[Polly sighs deeply]
You don't mean our Nell? Nell Jackson.
Short for Nelson, I presume. [chuckles]
Nell's not a man.
She's my sister.
[George] That's why they took me.
They must have thought you were Roxy somehow.
A highwayman.
Woman.
Are you absolutely certain?
You keep quiet if you know what's good for you.
[troupe member 1] Hey!
Finish the note.
[George] George here.
Me and a toff called "Polly Honeydrone" have been snatched by strollers.
They thought she was you, Roxy.
They've taken us to a barn outside Uffington,
where they'll trade our safe return for Nell.
[upbeat music playing]
[groans]
Stand and deliver.
- Me? - Yes, you.
[Nell] Cheers!
Newgate Prison knew your name.
First, Herne, then that. Something's stirring.
- Like what? - Something dark.
- A magic, maybe, wants to stop you. - Why?
[Billy] Maybe it likes things the way they are.
This order wherein toffs think
they can do whatever they please to ordinary folk.
Well, they can't.
What was going on there, it ain't right.
Some of them prisoners were littler than George.
- It was wrong. - Yeah.
It needed to be changed.
Maybe it's why I have you.
Yeah.
I don't think I'm supposed to go to America.
I think we're supposed to stay here.
Are you agreeing with me, Billy?
Well, no. I'm not saying we should rush into anything.
No, anyone can travel the world and blow folk up, us.
I think we're meant to stand up when something's wrong, and…
whack some sense into them that profit off misery and pain.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Yeah. All right.
All right.
- What about George and Roxy? - They're best safe in Abingdon.
So we're in agreement, then?
We're gonna save the world.
We'll steady on.
We'll start off with the continent, or England,
or just Tottenham, maybe.
[Amorous] Whoa.
- [rattling] - [footsteps]
I thought you were magic during your show.
So why go around kidnapping folk?
We used to be a proper troupe.
We was at Drury Lane.
But there were some bad reviews. Japhia lost his part.
So?
So he beat the poor sod who replaced him half to death.
[troupe member 2] The entire troupe was tarred with the same brush.
No theater would take us after that.
Now we're hedge-crawlers, barely scraping a living.
[troupe member 2] And now, with a baby on the way.
[troupe member 1] All he wants is to be known.
Applauded like he was.
These shows are from years and years ago.
- Mm. - [Japhia] Good morning!
[Amorous] Japhia.
- [Japhia] Good morning, Amorous. - [shushes]
Just do what he says, and he won't hurt you.
- Good morning old, reliable… - [door opens]
Good morning, good morning.
Good morning.
You've… You've got…
Ah.
A farmer had some misgivings
about loaning us his barn for our performance,
but we've sorted it all out now.
Why has the poor dove still got this on?
Look, we was gonna… [stuttering]
Who's this?
Amorous.
[Japhia] Amorous, you thick idiot sod!
[Amorous stammers] Wait!
She had the dress! She had the dress.
- [Japhia grunting] - [Amorous groaning]
- [thudding] - [Amorous grunts in pain]
[horse neighs]
What a blunderbuss, eh?
Now we've got this useless bit of raspberry to be rid of.
[stammers] I…
My papa is very rich.
How rich?
He sells periwigs.
Everyone wears periwigs.
Well, that's fine then.
[Japhia] I suppose we won't kill you just yet.
I hope your sister ain't late.
- [Jack] Hyah! Hyah! Come on. - Uncle Jack. Uncle…
Where's he going in such a hurry? [chuckling]
- [Nell gasps] - We got your back, Nell.
He's gonna get help for George.
Why? What's wrong with her?
She's been taken.
I'm so sorry, Nelly. [Mary sobs]
What, what do you mean she's been taken?
- Nell. - Someone's got George?
Some strollers. They want you, Nell, in exchange. Um.
We got this toff to read out the ransom note.
- They've got his betrothed too. - Yes.
- So I… I'd better be off. - I thought you loved her?
I do. Of course.
But love and circumstance don't always align.
Coward! We've got to go, Nell.
They've had George all night, and Uncle Jack won't find help.
Not in time.
[Roxy] We can go straight to Uffington.
- I need a horse, quickly. - Becky, horse.
- And one for me. - No.
- I'm coming, Nell. - [Nell] No!
- Where's Rasselas? - [Nell] No idea. Which way do I go?
[dramatic music playing]
[Roxy] Nell!
- [Nell] What are you doing? Go back. - [Roxy] Nell, I'm helping!
What? No. Go back, Roxy.
[Roxy] Slow down.
Wait, Nell.
I can't go back. The inn's not safe anymore.
This isn't safe.
- And where is Rasselas? - [Nell] He ran off.
He did not.
Roxy, it was… [sighs]
There was this riot, and then this huge wall came between us.
I passed out.
I looked for him, but London is massive, Roxy.
But it's when we're separated, that's when everything falls apart.
Let's go get George back.
- [Roxy] We're better together. All right? - All right.
[Nell grunting]
[Earl of Poynton] Godolphin.
Poynton. You are recovered.
Her Majesty has been feeling your absence greatly.
She needs loyal men about her.
The Jacobites will seek to take advantage of what happened at Newgate.
All this chaos.
It has always struck me how much you despise them.
The Jacobites are greedy hypocrites.
They're attempting to put a puppet on the throne so they could rule.
A child, a stranger to England.
And they are among us, Poynton. Even in the Privy Council.
You must tell me if you hear anything.
Of course.
I did hear a talk of a traitor.
- One sending letters to France. - Who?
Oh, I think you know.
Lords Godolphin, Poynton.
What is the meaning of this?
Is it true?
- Locked in his desk. - You don't mean mine?
There's been some mistake.
- Poynton, tell them. - I had hoped I was wrong.
Poynton?
- What? - Come on.
- [Godolphin] Get your hands off me! - [guard] Move.
[indistinct shouting]
- [clanking] - [indistinct chatter]
The Courant should do more interviews. Better ones!
"Quite polite?" Interview me.
She could have killed me. I saw her face firsthand.
Valerian, now, support his head.
Tosh, tosh.
Merciless creature. [scoffs]
- I could put that in The Medley. - [Lady Eularia] Yes.
- Uh, Valerian. - [dog barking]
I said support his head.
The Weekly Journal may concede she had a certain grubby panache.
Chop, chop.
Now there is a risk that Nell Jackson will go to ground after the riot,
and that won't do.
The country is in chaos.
People don't want tepid, they want torrid.
And she's all they want to read about.
So we need something that will have her stomping about again.
Ideas?
"Nell Jackson eats babies."
It's been done.
"Known spreader of warts"?
No, Valerian. Vulgar.
One must balance bold and exceptional fashion choices
with subtlety.
Otherwise, what is one but…
rather gauche.
- Hmm. - [indistinct chatter]
Oh, no. Nelly Jackson won't care about any of that.
I know her type.
Yes.
This. This will light a fire under her.
So, um, as to my betrothed…
The Courant will report
that the fact that he's the only prisoner not to have escaped Newgate
is a bold statement of his innocence.
While The Medley will wonder if he's too stupid to find his way out.
- Hmm? - [Valerian] Eularia?
Yeah?
No, I don't want a syllabub.
I think you'll want to hear this.
[carriage approaching]
[suspenseful music playing]
[horse neighs]
- [door opens] - [Thomas] I said go away!
[door closes]
Why did you put me here? This isn't my room.
Well, you are Lord Blancheford now.
[chuckling]
You should have left me in London with my friends.
[Earl of Poynton] You were alone when my men found you.
Would you like me to describe what state you were in?
- It is all right. - It is not all right.
It will never be all right again because of you.
[Earl of Poynton] No, Thomas. Not because of me.
Do you think any man would have done what you did?
- You urged me. - And you went through with it!
[sighs]
The realization that we can have anything we want
if we are prepared to do anything for it.
Well, some men see it as limitless opportunity.
Whereas some see only…
Horror.
[whimpers]
No, no, no.
[Earl of Poynton] Don't, don't. Don't, don't.
[sighs deeply]
I understand.
I do.
And…
I-I fear I must apologize, Thomas.
You cannot bear it, can you?
- [Thomas crying] No. - [Earl of Poynton] All right.
[shushes]
What if I told you…
I could make it stop…
in an instant?
Guilt. Shame.
Do you know where they stem from?
Responsibility.
You can let it go.
[suspenseful music playing]
[ominous music playing]
[chuckles]
[laughing]
- [squeaks] - [laughs]
You will find,
dearest rodent…
- [clanks] - [grunts]
that Isambard Tulley ain't someone it's wise to ignore.
And that we all have our price.
So will you stop interrupting me?
[Charles] Only if you…
Lady Eularia…
Who are you talking to?
[Charles] Angel of angels.
I was, uh, just attempting to train a charming little mouse.
I haven't had a visitor.
Oh, new clothes for the trial?
Which Valerian's little friend tells us has been moved to tomorrow,
since you've somehow contrived to be the last fool prisoner left in Newgate.
Oh, it's splendid news. I'll be set free early.
You have everything in hand.
You have greased every palm there is that needs to be greased.
This time, tomorrow, we'll be planning the wedding.
Or you'll be dead.
Mm?
Your little friend has unleashed chaos.
So the powers that be have been throwing their weight around.
And if the verdict is guilty, they'll hang you immediately.
But money still talks.
Don't tell me the courts are actually lawful now.
[Lady Eularia] I must be off.
The Medley is doing a special feature on your crimes,
and selling faster than we can print it.
Eularia.
Bye, Charles.
[dramatic music playing]
[sighs]
The Earl of Godolphin has been arrested as a Jacobite.
- Godolphin? - Mm-hmm.
Some letters discovered amongst his effects.
Godolphin is the captain of the Queen's bodyguard.
[Earl of Poynton] Precisely.
And now he is a guest of the Tower.
Her Majesty has requested I visit her in London tomorrow.
I suspect she will hand the guard to me.
You plan to use them?
They will allow me to take the Queen in hand,
so James's troops can advance without opposition.
What are the news sheets saying?
The Medley claims the country is on the brink of revolt.
That the prison was overrun by a people's army led by Nell Jackson.
Whether they know it was you or not, you have shaken London.
You have recovered, then?
I feel excellent.
It is a marvelous thing, isn't it?
Intoxicating.
Yes.
I nearly had Jackson.
And you will again.
You had her on the run.
[Sofia] The spell evolved. The prison took over.
It burned up the hair we used to track her.
[Earl of Poynton] We will find her.
I wonder if you understand how talented you are.
How important.
Such power isn't for the likes of Nell Jackson.
There are ways to deal with her.
[tense music playing]
[rooster crows]
[horse neighs in distance]
- All right, I'm here. - [door closes]
[Amorous] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, one and all.
Oy. Where's my sister?
We have a very special treat today.
The hideous, the vicious, the bloodthirsty, the diabolical,
Nelly Jackson!
[exclaims, squeals]
What in the…
[Amorous] You are here to witness history.
Nelly Jackson's capture and downfall by the one…
the only…
The handsome, the heroic, the magnificent, the masterful, the prodigy,
the genius, the virtuoso…
Japhia.
To bring you today's very special performance,
a scheme has been concocted.
An exchange.
Nell Jackson for her little sister.
Yeah. Where is she then?
"Must you with hot irons burn out both mine eyes?"
[audience] Oh, whatever.
"I must. Must." [lisping]
[audience gasping]
Shakespeare.
- I've read a lot about you, Nelly Jackson. - Yeah?
Impossible to defeat in a fight, they say.
Impossible to harm.
But she ain't.
George.
[Japhia] Stay still.
He never said we was going to hurt her.
Put that down and I'll do whatever you want.
You lucky people are about to witness not just the capture,
but also the rightful execution of one of the monsters of our age.
I didn't do none of the things you are accusing me of.
- I'm not… - What you are is beside the point.
It's what they perceive you to be.
I kill you and I'm a hero.
[Japhia] Jackson's cup contains poison.
[exclaims]
We'll toast to her demise.
It doesn't matter how strong or fast the demon inside you is, Nelly Jackson.
I doubt it can save you from hemlock you drink yourself.
[whimper]
[troupe member 2] It's the other one.
[shushes]
[whispers] Hey.
We're all good, right? If I drink that?
Um…
Let's not test it out. I…
- What? - Well, I don't know, Nelly.
I'm only human.
Do something then.
[whispers] How?
Distract him.
Poison? That old chestnut.
Boo. [laughs]
It's a classic.
Well, these folk will tell people what you've done,
- and you'll get the noose. - It all depends on the spin, don't it?
- And them papers, they don't like you. - I ain't done nothing wrong.
I am sick of seeing your face in every paper.
[Japhia] Every page, your face where mine should be.
You'll be dead, and I'll be known.
Turn out that light!
Oh, dear.
[Nell] The Great Japhia looks a little sweaty to me.
Don't you think?
Put out one of the mite's eyes.
[Japhia] Put both of them out.
Oh.
- They don't work that well anyway. - All right.
All right.
To fate.
Yeah. Cheers.
Goodbye, Nelly Jackson.
[gasps]
- Nelly! - [Nell coughs]
- [coughs] - No, no, no. Nelly, no.
No, I can't. [panting]
I messed up. Did I?
[coughing]
I swallowed a fly.
[quirky music playing]
[Japhia clears throat, coughs]
You all right?
Just fine.
[coughing]
[yelps]
George, it's all right.
[Japhia coughing]
Kill them!
[dramatic music playing]
[screaming]
[coughs]
My last words…
We didn't need to hear them.
[Polly] Well done.
That were the best thing I've seen in years.
- [groaning] - [water dripping]
- [audience] Yeah. - [gasps]
- [scoffs] - [audience gasps]
Uh…
Good luck with that.
Let's go. Come on. Let's go, Roxy.
- [groaning in pain] - Oh.
One of the Army wives had her baby come during a march.
She just popped down the side of the road and squeezed it out behind a bush.
I'm just saying.
- That's considerate of her. - Yeah, it was.
And it was snowing.
She caught up with us by lunchtime with her baby.
It's very respectable. No carrying on.
- [Nell] Lean back now. Breathe. - [screaming furiously]
- There it goes. - [screaming continues]
The miracle of birth is not for me.
[distant squeal]
[infant crying]
[solemn music playing]
[music stops]
What are your thoughts on "Rebel Nelly" as a title?
Uh, well, I'm not helping you write a show about me.
There's enough guff out there already.
Well, I just want you to know,
I don't care that your father was a poacher.
- He was not. - Uh, oh!
Right. Of course.
- What else does it say? What else? - Nothing.
No. What? Tell me.
Obviously, slander. Obviously.
But they just say, you know,
the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
That the whole family's gone bad, that they're thieves too, and…
you know, generally, no better than they ought to be.
- Right. - Well, you know the way they write
about women sometimes.
It doesn't matter.
People won't believe it.
No, that's exactly the tripe folk will believe.
[sighs deeply]
Right.
We are gonna smash the presses up.
They'll just build more.
Well, maybe no one's ever stood up to them before.
[Nell] All those rags do is feed off misery and make more of it, Roxy.
They make monsters like that Japhia slug, and tell lies.
We need to show them that they can't get away with it.
People need to know that the truth matters.
Because it does.
We can stop them.
I think that's what we're meant to do.
Yeah. All right.
All right.
[Nell] Let's go.
Can we look for Mr. Rasselas too, Nelly?
Youse up to giving us a lift?
[uplifting music playing]
[thunder rumbling]
[wind gusting]
[thunder rumbling]
[Rasselas] Sofia.
[Sofia] Rasselas?
[Rasselas] I've been trying to get to you. I need to speak to you.
Is she here?
Nell? No.
I was at Newgate yesterday.
You were?
What was it like?
I read about it in the news sheets.
- You were hurt? - I thought…
What?
I thought I heard your voice.
What did I say?
- What did I sound like? - I came here to find out why, Sofia.
And this bloke's here.
The Earl of Poynton.
He's on the Privy Council.
They're folk that move in circles like that.
They're different.
Perhaps to you.
What's he doing there?
He's a friend.
Has he got something over you, Sofia? You can tell me.
He has only ever helped me.
And I am always in control.
I had enough control in Newgate.
You chose to do that?
- What happened there was monstrous. - No.
It was monstrous to abandon me when I needed you most.
The night my father died,
you threw away all our history.
- What history? - What?
- What history did we have? - You are my friend.
Sofia, your father bought me!
When you were too old for me, I was sent to the stables like an old toy.
I never treated you like that!
You were kind to me and, and you stood between me and Thomas.
And I am grateful for that. But it was never…
I was never here by choice.
Sofia, you could end all of this.
Just by telling the truth.
Don't you know what they'd do to Thomas…
if they found out?
He's my family.
What about Nell? What about her family?
Do you remember when Thomas
used to catch tadpoles and beetles and spiders?
And you and I…
we'd set them free.
And if he ever tried to take it out on me, you'd stop him.
Because you're fair, Sofia.
Go back to her.
Go back.
Wait.
[melancholic music playing]
You will get wound rot.
Good luck.
[suspenseful music playing]