BBC One has unveiled a new trailer for its upcoming three part series, Dracula, Deadline has reported, and being that it’s Friday the 13th Dracula couldn’t have made his return at a more appropriate time. The drama is being brought to audiences by the Hartswood Films production company, which already has experience reinventing classic material for a more contemporary audience by producing the Sherlock series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Hartswood Films and BBC One are hoping to replicate this successful formula with this dark retelling of Bram Stroker’s 1897 tale about the count, a story that has become as immortal as the vampire himself.
The series has been in production as far back in 2017 when it was announced in June that Mark Gatiss and Steven Wofatt, who also wrote and produced Sherlock alongside Hartswood films, would be giving the same modern makeover to Dracula.
Gatiss and Wofatt, who was at the premiere this week for their new undertaking, told Deadline, “We’d done Sherlock Holmes and the second most filmed character as we make our way down the list of plagiarism, was Dracula. As we talked about it, we started having ideas that we thought were quite good. It got to the point where we thought we should take this seriously.” Mofatt said on the concept.
Alongside Hartswood films, the show will also be produced by John Campbell, Damon Thomas and Paul McGuigan. Actor Claes Bang will be starring as the titular character. BBC One will be kicking off 2020 with Dracula as the show will premiere on the network on New Year’s Day, and will be airing on three consecutive nights. Afterwards, Dracula will be haunting Netflix next, as the three episodes will air on the streaming service on the first weekend of 2020.
The reactions from the premiere may be foreshadowing Dracula’s success. Deadline had said of the series’ early screening, “The end result is an uproariously gothic creation that does not pull any punches in the horror stakes.”