After her college plans are put on hold, 18-year-old Nancy Drew finds herself involved in a ghostly mystery when she and her four friends are witnesses to a murder and they all team up to find the person responsible.
Cast and characters
Main
Kennedy McMann as Nancy Drew, a brilliant former teenage detective whose sense of self used to come from solving mysteries, but who finds herself reluctantly drawn into a homicide case connecting to her family.
Alex Saxon as Ace, the zen and amiable dishwasher/cook at The Bayside Claw with a secret to hide.
Alvina August as Det. Karen Hart, an investigator with the Horseshoe Bay police department who is dating Nancy's father Carson. August is credited through "The Haunting of Nancy Drew".
Riley Smith as Ryan Hudson, a handsome and affluent socialite who is the husband of murder victim Tiffany Hudson. In the end of season 1, it is revealed that he is Nancy Drew's biological father and that her mother was Lucy Sable.
Scott Wolf as Carson Drew, a criminal defense attorney and Nancy's widowed father, whose attempts to connect with Nancy since her mother's death have failed. Carson is Nancy's adopted father and secretly adopted her with his wife Katherine.
Recurring
Adam Beach as Chief E. O. McGinnis, the Horseshoe Bay sheriff and Karen's boss. He isn't fond of Nancy's knack for interfering with police investigations.
Sinead Curry as Tiffany Hudson, Ryan's wife who recently died and was killed by Lucy's half-brother.
Stephanie Van Dyck as Lucy Sable, a girl killed 19 years ago who is revealed to be Nancy Drew's biological mother in the end of season 1.
Sara Canning as Katherine Drew, Nancy's adoptive mother who died of pancreatic cancer a year earlier.
Katie Findlay as Lisbeth, a woman working for the Hudson family and Bess's love interest.
Miles Gaston Villanueva as Owen Marvin, the scion of a wealthy clan with ties to the Hudsons and a potential ally to Nancy.
Stevie Lynn Jones as Laura Tandy, Tiffany's sister who suspects her sister was murdered and pushes for further investigation.
Liza Lapira as Victoria Fan, George's deadbeat mother who knows a lot of things about ghosts.
In September 2018, The CW announced that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage were developing a new Nancy Drew series. The CW announced that the project was picked up for series on May 7, 2019. On May 16, 2019, The CW released the first official trailer for the series. The series debuted on October 9, 2019. On October 25, 2019, the series was picked up for a full season of 22 episodes. On January 7, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season.
Casting
In early 2019, the pilot was cast with Kennedy McMann as the title character, Tunji Kasim as Ned "Nick" Nickerson, Alex Saxon as Ace, Leah Lewis as George, Maddison Jaizani as Bess, and Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Nancy's father, Carson Drew. Pamela Sue Martin, who played Nancy Drew in the 1970s series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, was cast as Harriet Grosset for the pilot in April 2019. On May 9, 2019, it was announced that Scott Wolf had replaced Prinze in the role of Carson Drew. Riley Smith joined cast as Ryan Hudson in May 16, 2019. On October 28, 2019, Miles Gaston Villanueva was cast in a recurring role.
Filming
for season 1 began on July 22, 2019, and was expected to end on April 7, 2020, in Vancouver, British Columbia. On March 12, 2020, production was halted until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on April 14, 2020, it was revealed that episode 18 would serve as the season one finale.
Episodes
Broadcast
Nancy Drew premiered on The CW in the United States on Wednesday, October 9, 2019, with the season four premiere of Riverdale as its lead-in. HBO Max and CBS All Access acquired the streaming rights to the series in the United States, with seasons available on their platforms several days after the season finale airs.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Nancy Drew holds an approval rating of 53% based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 7.31/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "An appealing aesthetic and promising ensemble can't quite manage to liven up Nancy Drew, an overly broody and unfortunately bland mystery that follows too closely in the footsteps of the shows it aspires to be." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
