Neverland

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Neverland is a two part miniseries by Nick Willing, the creator of Tin Man and Alice, released in 2011 by the Syfy network.

Set in turn of the century London, the series chronicles the arrival of Peter, Hook and the Lost Boys in Neverland. Peter and the boys are a band of pickpockets led by James "Jimmy" Hook. They acquire a strange orb that transports them to Neverland. As they search for a way home they become entangled in the affairs of pirates, Indians and fairies.

Tropes used in Neverland include:
  • Actor Allusion: Not only does Bob Hoskins play Smee, but the costume he wears is almost identical to the one he wore in Hook.
  • A God Am I: Both Hook and Bonny get preemptive cases of this, as they declare that they will be gods once they've gained control of the Tree Spirits' magic mineral dust.
  • All Webbed Up: Peter gets on the receiving end of this.
  • Army of Thieves and Whores: After the plan to gain control of the mineral dust fails, Hook plans to return to London and gather one of these off the streets, then return to Neverland with advanced (i.e., early 20th century) weaponry and conquer it.
  • The Artful Dodger: Peter
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: They're called Giant Spiders, sure, but in fact they're more like some weird spider/scorpion hybrid that spits webs.
  • Blessed with Suck / Cursed with Awesome: If you end up in Neverland, you stop aging and essentially can live forever...but as you are when you arrived. See Fridge Horror below for what this means if you arrive in a less-than-ideal state. Likewise, while you can apparently die by violent means (or explode from too much magic, see the fate of Captain Bonny) or recover from injuries, if you're mutilated like Hook's severed hand, it doesn't grow back.
  • Chekhov's Skill: At one point, Tinkerbell reveals she has the ability to release bursts of energy from her body when stressed; she uses this during the battle in the caves to knock the pirates away from the orb.
    • Hook is established as a fencing master early on; his skill with a blade quickly comes in handy in Neverland.
  • The Chief's Daughter: Tiger Lily.
  • Composite Character: Neverland's Starkey is the combination of the original Gentleman Starkey and the handsome Italian Cecco.
    • In Name Only: He was called "Gentleman" for a reason -- he always insisted on a fair fight. This Starkey has no reservations about pulling a gun on someone behind their back.
  • Continuity Nod: The final line of the series -- "Peter, where's your shadow?"
    • At the end of the series Hook's severed hand gets eaten by a crocodile, which also eats his pocket watch; clearly, this is meant to be the same crocodile from the original story.
  • Darker and Edgier: When compared to the Disney version.
  • Death by Origin Story: Fox's death is a major motivator in Peter's split from Jimmy.
  • Disney Villain Death: A couple of pirates during the fight in the tree city, and several more during the fight in the caves.
  • The Dragon: Starkey is initially this to Bonny, though the position ends up shuffling between him and Hook.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Captain Bonny
  • The Fagin: Hook
  • Faux Affably Evil: Hook.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: A concern Bonny has with going back to Earth -- she and the other pirates have remained unchanged for over 200 years; Earth hasn't.
  • Foregone Conclusion: Peter will become Pan, Jimmy will become Captain Hook, all the named characters from the original story will survive and none of them are going back to London any time soon.
  • Going Native: When Peter sees the boys in the clothing the tribe gave them, he remarks that they've "gone native."
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: After Peter is tricked into leading the pirates to the Tree Spirits' colony and they burn it, both the Spirits and Kaw blame him for it, and call him a traitor.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Bob Hoskins plays Smee - again.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Elizabeth voices Tinkerbell.
  • Homage: At times, it seems Anna Friel (Captain Bonny) is channeling Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Bellatrix Lestrange.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Bonny is killed when she finally gains the power of the mineral dust, because she didn't gain it properly, having killed/drove off the Tree Spirits who must sing a song to prevent the Phlebotinum Overload.
  • Hook Hand: He never dons it on screen, but Starkey asks him what he will use for a hand and quips "a Hook?"
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Smee wasn't joking when he talked about cooking the boys.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Peter's innocence is what attracts the Tree Spirits to him. It also get him into loads of trouble since he keeps trusting Jimmy.
  • Kill'Em All: The pirates' plan for the Indians after they raise their army from London.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: The tree spirits impose this on Peter after he betrays them to Hook.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Hook is more or less decent (for a thief) but quickly falls for Captain Bonny and becomes progressively more evil after she dies.
  • Love Triangle: In a sense. Starkey's main job as First Mate was tending to Captain Bonny's "needs", and becomes quite jealous when she takes Hook as her new lover.
  • Made of Explodium: Anything sprinkled with the fairies' mineral dust, without their help including Captain Bonny.
    • Not so much "explodium", but The Alchemist's tree city goes up in flames after only a few sparks from flintlock muskets and pistols.
  • Never Land: Of course.
  • No Name Given: Raoul Trujillo's character is only referred to as The Holy Man.
  • Not Using The F Word: Instead we have "tree spirits" and "mineral dust."
  • Origin Story
  • Our Fairies Are Different: They're silver and shiny!
  • Papa Wolf: Hook towards the boys, especially Peter - initially. He pretty much stops caring about anything but himself by the end.
  • Phlebotinum Overload: Anyone who uses the mineral dust without the fairies' help.
  • Portal Cut: The transport orb grabs a spherical section of space relative to the amount of force it was struck with. Little things like floors, walls, and/or ceilings aren't accounted for in this, so pretty much every use of the orb ends with a giant chunk of building just plain missing. Bonny sure is lucky her gun had enough power to encompass her entire ship.
  • Prequel: To the original Peter Pan.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Everyone in the Kaw tribe is around the hundred-year mark, the pirates are all around two hundred years old, and Dr. Fludd is about four hundred years old.
  • Sacrificial Lion: Fox
  • Self-Disposing Villain: Bonny
  • Spiritual Successor: to Tin Man and Alice.
  • Spontaneous Human Combustion: Alas poor Bonny.
  • Storming the Castle: Or the pirate ship, as the case may be.
  • Take Over the World: Bonny's goal is to use the mineral dust to take over Neverland, while Hook convinces her to instead use it on Earth. When this fails, Hook instead plans on using the more advanced technology of 20th century Earth to conquer Neverland.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: During the fight in the caves at the climax, Hook tells the other pirates to leave Peter to him.
  • Trapped in Another World: Well, more like trapped on another world, as Neverland is revealed to be on a planet in the center of the universe (which is part of the Techno Babble Hand Wave for why no one ages).
  • Villainous Breakdown: After Bonny dies, Hook ditches the Affably Evil act, and starts violently screaming at Peter and almost kills him, only to be interrupted by the Kaw. He gets (slightly) better after, but not so much.
  • We Can Rule Together: Hook tries this several times on Peter.
    • And he and Bonny do it on each other -- she convinces him to join her crew and rule Neverland beside her, and he in turn convinces her to instead to return to London with him and use the mineral dust to rule there.
  • You Killed My Father: It turns out Hook killed Peter's father in a duel in a jealous rage over the fact that Peter's mother chose him over Hook.
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