BBC’s new ‘Dracula’ period drama from makers of ‘Sherlock’ begins filming
Production has begun this week on the BBC and Netflix’s upcoming Dracula series.
Written by Sherlock creators Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen), the project was officially commissioned last autumn, having been first announced way back in June 2017.
Dracula will comprise of three 90-minute episodes, loosely based on Bram Stoker’s classic Gothic novel, which was originally published in 1897.
Award-winning Danish star Claes Bang is playing the titular Count.
The 51-year-old actor is best known for his roles in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Affair and Borgen.
Moffat and Gatiss previously commented on Bang’s casting: “It was one of those moments – who else could it be than Claes! He has it all. Brilliant, gorgeous, charismatic, lethal. Tall, dark and gruesome all at once. Hell has a new boss.”
The new Dracula series will be set in Transylvania in novel’s original time period of 1897 as the blood-drinking Count draws his plans against Victorian London.
Writer Steven Moffat confirmed the start of filming on his Instagram account yesterday, teasing: “Night has fallen … it’s a new dawn.”
Moffat and Gatiss have hinted that their take in Bram Stoker’s Dracula will have a twist.
Moffat said: “There’s lots of things that are challenging about Dracula. Having an evil lead character is actually really difficult. That’s been the main challenge I think. But how we’ve handled [it], that you’ll have to wait and see.”
Gatiss added: “It’s been very exciting though. Because we sort of made a promise to ourselves and the people who are making it, paying for it, that we’d make Dracula the hero of his own story, and less of a shadowy presence.”
Dracula is expected to premiere in late 2019 or early 2020 on BBC One in the UK and on Netflix in the rest of the world.
The complete Sherlock DVD box set is available on Amazon.