When I saw that a new show by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat was available on Netflix, I knew I had to watch it as soon as possible. The creative duo was also responsible for Sherlock and had previously worked on shows like Doctor Who. In short, I’m a fan ;-)
In Dracula, they now tell the origin story of the infamous Vampire-Count from his time in Wallachia (now part of Romania) to his fights with the Van Helsing family. Sadly, I haven’t yet read Bram Stoker’s original so I cannot really say how much of the story in the show is based on the book and how much is original.
What I can say, though, is that it received quite a modern twist and the acting by Claes Bang as Dracula and Dolly Wells as Sister Agatha Van Helsing is brilliant. Dracula is charming, clever, cultivated, strategic, and curious like I’ve never seen him before. Sister Van Helsing is a worthy opponent for the Count with pretty much the same characteristics. Together, they question and partially explain some of the myths around the Vampire like why Dracula is so disgusted by and afraid of the Christian cross.
They do so in a very bloody and - in places - extremely grotesque manner. Obviously, Dracula lives from human blood but it never felt like blood was spilled simply for getting more blood onto the screen, though.
Slight spoiler ahead: As I expected, Gatiss and Moffat have produced yet another extremely entertaining show! This time, though, the season ends in a way that gives a lot of closure. I’m not sure that I’d want another season after that unless there is a really good story to explain it. That being said, I’m pretty sure that the two of them could pull it off and I would enjoy a second season!
Over the years I've written quite a few reviews 🙂 You can find them at /reviews/.
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