Dracula is coming back to the small screen, but this time fans of the Bram Stoker character can expect a more faithful interpretation of literature’s most famous vampire. Coming from the creators of Sherlock , Dracula may feed every horror fan’s thirst for gothic suspense and the suppressed sexuality of the Victorian era.
BBC Enlists Sherlock Creators To Breathe New Life Into The Dracula Story
According to BBC News , the company behind the television network of the same name is enlisting creators of Sherlock to develop a new Dracula series, based on the 1897 novel of the same name. Adapting Dracula for BBC will be Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the same team that developed Sherlock from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books.
It can be expected that the new series will maintain the same level of excellence as was seen in the Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman series.
While Dracula will air on BBC, it will be something more than the traditional scripted series. Moffat and Gatiss are expected to draft scripts for a series of 90-minute installments, suggesting the plan is for a running set of made-for-television movies as opposed to a weekly installment.
While negotiations are still ongoing, the Sherlock creators are expected to begin working on scripts in the near future with a planned premiere date set for 2019. Count Dracula has yet to be cast.
Like A Good Vampire, Dracula Just Won’t Die
Gatiss and Moffat won’t be the first ones to adapt Bram Stoker’s novel for the small screen. As Variety shares, a 2013 series was developed for NBC by the producers of Downton Abbey . That series, titled Dracula , melded the 1897 story with a new vision but failed to capture the imaginations of viewers. The show was canceled after just one season.
Previously, Mark Gatiss played Dracula in a radio broadcast of the Stoker novel. The re-enactment aired to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of Stoker’s novel.
It’s unknown if Gatiss and Moffat will use a format similar to that of Sherlock by placing Dracula in modern times, or if the series will take a more traditional slant on the adaptation.
[Featured Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]
