The old bloodsucker Dracula gets a fresh start as Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss team once again to bring the vampire back to TV. It’s the first new series from the pair after they presumably brought their modern-day take on Sherlock to a close with its fourth season back in 2017. Since then, Moffat has also handed off the reins to the beloved sci-fi franchise Doctor Who, leaving him and Gatiss with plenty of time to conceive of a fresh take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, one that finds the undead seducer setting sail from Transylvania to London.
At this point, Dracula is perhaps second only to Sherlock Holmes in terms of how many different iterations of the character there have been in film and on television. In that sense, Moffat and Gatiss are one away from starting a trend with their interpretations on classic literary and film characters, making them the purveyors of a different kind of IP. This time around, the two will work with Danish actor Claes Bang (The Square) as he interprets Dracula in manner that’s akin to Bela Lugosi’s 1931 version — though perhaps that’s largely because the two are somewhat similar in appearance.
Nevertheless, the BBC and Netflix series looks to be a full-on horror show, one where the bloodthirsty and immortal count is once again hunting on the streets of London, and perhaps even being hunted himself. The teaser trailer, though short, demonstrates the show will certainly go heavy on the atmosphere and the gore, as the shot of someone’s fingernails being peeled off will induce its fair share of cringes. Take a look at the dark teaser trailer for Dracula below:
Filming on the series was reportedly completed earlier this summer, which means that although it does not have an official premiere date yet, it likely will very soon. Though it’ll be something of a missed opportunity for the show to have missed out on Halloween 2019, the series looks to be prestige-y enough that most fans of the character, horror, or just Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss will likely have no problem waiting for the series to premiere.
That being said, Moffat and Gatiss have their work cut out for them. Not only are they retelling the origins of one of the most famous fictional characters around, but they’re following up the massively popular Sherlock to boot. And if this teaser trailer is anything to go on, the road might just get tougher for the two as anticipation is sure to build some fairly high expectations. With any luck, Dracula will strike a chord with audiences just as their previous efforts did.
Dracula does not currently have a premiere date.