Dracula – BBC Netflix mini series, UK, 2020 – first reviews and Blu-ray, DVD news

‘The legend gets some fresh blood’

Dracula is a 2020 British three-part television mini-series co-written by Mark Gatiss (Jekyll series, 2007) and Stephen Moffat (Doctor Who). The BBC One project is a co-production with Netflix, who will stream it outside the UK.

Danish actor Claes Bang (The Girl In The Spider’s Web) plays Count Dracula. Bang previously said: “I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Dracula, especially when the script is in the hands of the incredible talents of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and the team responsible for Sherlock. I’m so excited that I get to dig into this iconic and super-interesting character. Yes, he’s evil, but there’s also so much more to him, he’s charismatic, intelligent, witty and sexy. I realise that there’s a lot to live up to with all the amazing people that have played him over the years, but I feel so privileged, to be taking on this incredible character.”

Claes Bang stars alongsideDolly Wells, John Heffernan, Joanna Scanlan and Morfydd Clark.

Filming on the new Dracula adaptation began at Orava Castle in Slovakia (where Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was filmed in 1921), before relocating to Bray Studios in Berkshire, England. The latter reopened as a filming facility in May 2018 when the slump in the property market due to the ongoing Brexit fiasco meant that plans to develop it into flats had to be put on hold. Gatiss commented: “It’s seriously delightful that our new Dracula is being shot at Bray Studios – the former home of Hammer Films!”

Reviews [click links to read more]:

” …once the final act arrives, the lights keeping you safe suddenly explode into a gloriously shocking horror-show. Bang sinks his teeth into the role: injecting a seething, amusing malevolence into the character in one of the most theatrical depictions yet. The BBC makes the 123-year-old tale scary again…” Culture Whisper

” …Mark Gatiss rightly pointed out recently, “horror should be transgressive,” and Dracula holds this mantra close to its chest in all of its blood-soaked glory. Sure, there’s still scope for the show to be even more transgressive in later episodes – particularly in its treatment of the book’s gay subtext – but for the BBC, this is still remarkably mature and progressive programming.” Digital Spy

“I quite like Claes Bang in the lead role, talking in a general matter-of-fact way about what he gets up to – including his line, “I’m undead, I’m not unreasonable”, instead of putting on a dodgy Transylvanian accent. However, it is largely a very dull story being told and took forever to get anywhere.” DVD Fever

“It’s a bloodstained love letter to a classic, beautifully and delicately scented with just the faintest hint of ham gothic yarns need; a homage to all the great Counts who have gone before, but still entirely its own thing. And again, like the best of Gatiss and Moffat’s Sherlocks, with the searching intelligence that promises to flesh out the foundational story.” The Guardian

“ …has charm and sarcasm to die for but ultimately lacks any heft or bite … This Dracula has a fair amount in common with Sherlock, the titular neck-chomper oozing charm and spitting out sarcastic lines with an inbuilt menace […] Enjoyable up to a point but threatening to become a little ponderous in its telling, there is very little tension afoot.” The List

“ …a brilliantly campy, scary and stylish (if a little bloated) take on Bram Stoker’s bloodsucker … Dracula is sharp, visually arresting, genuinely scary and sometimes funny, and it’s got some great Easter Eggs for horror aficionados … a fun, slick and entertaining Dracula story…” Radio Times

“The makers of Sherlock have now turned to another classic character in Dracula and their giddily entertaining take on Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking Count provides plenty to sink your teeth into this New Year … This retelling pulls off the tricky balancing act of being both frightening and funny, spine-chilling and sexy – not to mention ever so slightly camp.” The Telegraph

Background:

Inspired by Bram Stoker‘s novel, the mini-series promised to “re-introduce the world to Dracula, the vampire who made evil sexy” said a BBC press release. “In Transylvania in 1897, the blood-drinking Count is drawing his plans against Victorian London. And be warned: the dead travel fast.”

“There have always been stories about great evil,” Sherlock creator Moffat and Gatiss said in the original announcement. “What’s special about Dracula, is that Bram Stoker gave evil its own hero.”

Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama added, “Steven and Mark’s ingenious vision for Dracula is as clever as it is chilling. In their talented hands, the fans will experience the power of Bram Stoker’s creation as if completely anew. We are thrilled to be collaborating with them and the brilliant team at Hartswood on yet another iconic British series.”

Speaking at the Radio Times Covers Party, co-writers of the new Dracula TV adaptation, Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat, revealed that their big pitch to the BBC and Netflix was to finally make Dracula “the hero of his own story” – the central focus of the narrative rather than a shadowy villain for more traditional heroes to overcome.

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, that you’ll have to wait and see.”

Gattis 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. And that’s a really clever idea, but we had to make good on it!”

In a December 2019 interview in the British newspaper the Independent, Stephen Moffat discussed staying true to the original spirit of what Bram Stoker wrote, being influenced by the 1977 BBC version of Dracula with Louis Jordan as the Count and how to present vampires “in a post-#MeToo era”, without resorting to sexploitation, saying:

” …every young man in those Hammer movies takes his top off,” adding “The Hammer movies wanted to get everyone into the cinema so, yes, the girls would be in a low-cut dress or taking their top off, but the blokes would be too. And if you look at the first Hammer one, the person Dracula looks most turned on by biting was Peter Cushing. There’s a whole homoerotic moment. But he’s eating them, not dating them. Dracula is not so much bisexual as bi-homicidal.” Read the full piece here

Previously, the BBC and Netflix posted the first trailer (below) for their new adaptation of Dracula which features a curious cover of Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’ rock anthem.

The mini-series premiered on BBC One on New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2020. It will debut on Netflix on January 4th, 2020 and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 3rd 2020.

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Special features:

Who is Dracula?
Styling Dracula
The Score
Building Castle Dracula
The Beast Within
Arwel’s Set Tour
Audio commentary with Mark Gatiss, Stephen Moffat, Sue Vertue and Arwel Wyn Jones

Dracula has been adapted by the BBC before, most notably in 2006 with Marc Warren in the title role and in 1977 with Louis Jourdan as The Count.

Co-writer Mark Gatiss has played Count Dracula himself in a 2016 Big Finish audiobook adaptation.

Cast and characters: