Blackpool actor and former Line of duty and Doctor Who star announced for cast of new Disney+ series The Ballad of Renegade Nell

Craig Parkinson, who began acting at an early age in school plays, later studied at Blackpool and The Fylde College before moving to London aged 17 to attend the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

He has now been announced as part of a star-studded cast for The Ballad of Renegade Nell, a Lookout Point original adventure series for Disney+, directed by Ben Taylor from Sex Education.

The Ballad of Renegade Nell is a swashbuckling new action and fantasy adventure series from BAFTA-award-winning writer and executive producer Sally Wainwright (Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley), with eight episodes of 45 minutes each.

Louisa Harland, previously in Derry Girl, plays the title role of Nell, a quick-witted and courageous young woman who finds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th Century England.

Newcomers Bo Bragason and Florence Keen star as her two younger sisters Roxy and George who, along with a plucky but prickly little spirit called Billy Blind, played by Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso), help Nell as she realises that fate has put her on the wrong side of the law for a reason much bigger than she could’ve ever imagined.

Adrian Lester plays Nell’s formidable adversary the Earl of Poynton, a master political schemer and manipulator.

The Earl joins forces with Sofia Wilmot, played by Alice Kremelberg (The Sinner), a young widow with thwarted ambitions whose quest for independence becomes indelibly entwined with Nell’s own. Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent, Fear the Walking Dead) also joins the cast as charming rogue Charles Devereux.

Blackpool’s Craig Parkinson stars as Sam Trotter, Nell’s kind-hearted, widowed father.

Joely Richardson of Nip/Tuck fame plays eccentric newspaper magnate Lady Eularia Moggerhanger, whilst Pip Torrens (The Crown, Poldark) appears as Lord Blancheford – the father of Sofia and her feckless, bullying brother Thomas, who is played by Jake Dunn.

Enyi Okoronkwo fromThe Lazarus Project and Giri/Haji, also stars as Rasselas, a spirited stable boy who joins Nell and her sisters on the run in his own bid for freedom.