TV
BBC and Netflix Resurrecting “Dracula” with “Sherlock” Team
Variety says the BBC and Netflix are sinking their fangs into “Dracula”, a major new series adaptation of the classic vampire tale from the team behind “Sherlock”.
It was reported last year that Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat were working on a new take on the Bram Stoker story, and that Sue Vertue’s Hartswood Films was set to produce. U.K. pubcaster the BBC has now commissioned three 90-minute installments. Netflix will carry the show in most markets outside the U.K.
Set in 1897, the series will revolve around the blood-drinking count from Transylvania who sets his sights on Victorian London.
“Dracula” marks another collaboration between Moffat and Gatiss after they combined efforts on episodes on Hartswood-produced “Sherlock.”
Moffat and Gatiss said: “There have always been stories about great evil. What’s special about Dracula is that Bram Stoker gave evil its own hero.” Vertue quipped: “There’s nothing like fresh blood.”
Production on season two of “Alien: Earth” has begun in London, and Deadline reports that Tracey Ullman (“Tracey Ullman’s Show“), Sam Spruell (“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms“), and Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones“) have joined the cast.
They join previously announced series newcomer Peter Dinklage.
No character details have been divulged so far.
“Alien: Earth” Season 2 is shooting at the historic Pinewood Studios — home of the original Alien as well as Aliens, Alien 3, and Prometheus. The show’s new production designer, Neil Lamont, is the son of Alien production designer Peter Lamont.
Set in the year 2120, five corporations wield the power of nations, and proprietary advancements in technology provide the promise of a new tomorrow. When a mysterious space vessel crash-lands on Earth, a young woman and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.
The second season “certainly expands on the promise of the first,” according to series creator Noah Hawley (“Fargo,” “Legion”). “It’s a bigger show, more world-building, and I can’t think of a better place for taking on that bigger challenge.”
Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adrian Edmondson, David Rysdahl, Essie Davis, Lily Newmark, Erana James, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Kit Young, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, and Sandra Yi Sencindiver star.
Also on the way from Noah Hawley? A remake of Argentine horror film Terrified for Warner Bros.
Stay tuned for more on “Alien: Earth” season two now that production has begun.