''The Irregulars'' is a British mystery adventure

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series created by Tom Bidwell for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. Loosely based on the

works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, it features the

Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars are fictional characters who appear in three Sherlock Holmes stories, specifically two novels and one short story, by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are street boys who are employed by Holmes as intelligence agents. The na ...

working for

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

saving London from supernatural elements. Developed by Drama Republic, the eight-episode series premiered on 26 March 2021. In May 2021, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

A group of teenagers living on the streets of Victorian London known as the Irregulars work for John Watson to solve increasingly supernatural crimes, while they search for

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

Cast

The Irregulars

* Thaddea Graham as Bea, leader of the Irregulars. She is described as headstrong, fierce, and protective of her peers and her younger sister. She is 17 years old. * McKell David as Spike, described as "fast-talking charmer", and "dashing". He keeps the group together with common sense and humour. He is 16 years old. * Jojo Macari as Billy, the muscle of the group. He has a short fuse and tends to settle things with physical fights, He met Bea and Jessie in the

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

when they were children. He is 16 years old. * Harrison Osterfield as Leopold, a prince who has

haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

and who has lived a rather sheltered life. He befriends Bea and the Irregulars and joins them on their adventures, providing resourcefulness and knowledge. He is based on

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (Leopold George Duncan Albert; 7 April 185328 March 1884) was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow. He ...

, Queen Victoria's youngest son. He is 17 years old. * Darci Shaw as Jessie, Bea's younger sister who has

nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

, and then is able to view and show the memories of the people she touches. She is 15 years old.

Recurring

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television ...

as the Linen Man, a series original character who interacts with the Irregulars using their dreams. He claims to be from Louisiana and wants the Irregulars to keep tracking down the criminals and report to him on their supernatural powers. * Royce Pierreson as John Watson, a resident of Baker Street who hires Bea and the Irregulars. * Edward Hogg as Daimler, Leopold's

footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

. * Ian Whyte as Plague Doctor, a masked character who haunts Jessie in her nightmares. *

Alex Ferns Alexander Ferns (born 13 October 1968) is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role in ''EastEnders'' as Trevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hated soap villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper ...

as Vic Collins, the abusive taskmaster of the workhouse where some of the Irregulars used to be. * Nell Hudson as Louise, Leo's older sister, a princess and daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. *

Henry Lloyd-Hughes Henry Alexander Lloyd-Hughes is an English actor. He is known for his roles in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005), '' Unrelated'' (2007), ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008–2010), '' Miliband of Brothers'' (2010), '' Weekender'' (2011), ' ...

, a private detective who "appears to be a shadow of his former self". * Eileen O'Higgins as Alice, the deceased mother of Bea and Jessie

Guest

* Rory McCann as the Bird Master / Arthur Hilton, an

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

who acquired the ability to control birds. * Lisa Dwyer Hogg as Sister Anna, a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

who presides over the churchyard where Bea and Jessie's mother's grave lies. * Charles Armstrong as Mr. Bannister, Mycroft's assistant * Jonjo O'Neill as

Mycroft Holmes Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding me ...

, Sherlock's brother, in charge of a government organisation on the paranormal. * Sheila Atim as the Tooth Fairy * Olivia Grant as Patricia Coleman Jones, a participant in the order of the Golden Dawn. * Aidan McArdle as

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade ( or ) is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel ''A Study in Scarlet''. Hi ...

Tim Key Timothy Key (born 2 September 1976) is an English poet, comedian, actor and screenwriter. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, both as a solo act and as part of the comedy group Cowards (comedy troupe), Cowards, and plays Alan Pa ...

as Gregson, a Scotland Yard inspector

Episodes

Production

Development

On 20 December 2018, it was announced that Netflix was planning a series with Tom Bidwell based on the Baker Street Irregulars. Tom Bidwell (who had directed Netflix's ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natur ...

'') described the program as "my dream project and my oldest idea" and it takes a different view of Holmes and his relationship to the Irregulars. Bidwell will serve as executive producer alongside Jude Liknaitzky and Greg Brenman. Directors for the series have been announced as '' Endeavour''’s Johnny Allan as lead director with Joss Agnew and Weronika Tofilska also directing.

Casting

In December 2019 the cast was announced as

in the role of Sherlock, Royce Pierreson as Doctor Watson, and

as Linen Man, Thaddea Graham as Bea, Darci Shaw as Jessie, Jojo Marcari as Billy, McKell David as Spike, and Harrison Osterfield as Leopold. In September, 2020 it was announced that Aidan McArdle had joined the cast in the role of Inspector Lestrade along with Olivia Grant as Patricia Coleman-Jones. In December, 2020 Sheila Atim was also credited as having an unknown role.

Filming

The series was announced to be filmed in the UK, with reports In early December 2019 that filming had taken place in

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture ...

at Dorfold Hall. Filming took place in Liverpool and on the Wirral in late 2019 and early 2020, making use of several locations including St George's Plateau, the palm house in

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a conservation district of the same name, It is the largest public park in Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region. Suburbs neighbouring the park include Toxteth, Aigb ...

, Falkner Street in the Georgian Quarter and the Grand Entrance at

Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. Birkenhead park was designated a conservation area in 1977 and declared a Grade I N ...

. Scenes were also filmed in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

at the

Gladstone Pottery Museum The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium-sized coal-fired pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th centu ...

. Filming was temporarily disrupted in January 2020 when a cast member was injured on set on Liverpool's Ormond Street. Filming took place in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

towards the end of January 2020, in Abbey Square, next to

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

and also in the city's suburb of

Hoole Hoole is a suburb in the east of Chester, in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England. The area is contiguous with Newton to the north and Vicars Cross to the south. The A41 road marks the suburb's eastern boundary, with the separate Hool ...

. Production then went to

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

in March. Filming resumed in August 2020, starting with scenes in

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

that were intended to be filmed in March. On 31 March 2021, ''Esquire'' magazine reported that the second season was scheduled to film in Liverpool during the summer of 2021. However, on 4 May 2021, Netflix announced that they had cancelled the show for undisclosed reasons.

Release

On 22 February 2021 Netflix released the first teaser trailer for series. The eight-episode series premiered on

on 26 March 2021.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 80% based on 40 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "It taps into some fairly regular plot points, but when it dares to defy expectations and focus on its charming young cast, ''The Irregulars'' hints at something truly special lingering beneath the surface."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

reported a weighted average score for the series of 60 out of 100 based on 12 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". It was ranked second on the Top “Shows on the Rise” Week Ended March 28 list by Rise Ratio. The show managed to top Nielsen's Original Streaming Shows Charts, beating out Disney+'s '' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irregulars 2021 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2020s British drama television series 2020s British mystery television series Television series set in the 19th century British adventure television series British thriller television series British English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Sherlock Holmes television series British television series about teenagers Television shows set in London Television shows shot in Liverpool Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Victorian era in popular culture LGBTQ speculative fiction television series