Netflix and BBC are tag teaming up for a new production of Dracula and while the air date hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, an ensemble cast has been announced. Written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the series has cast Claes Bang (The Square) as Dracula and with such a dark plot to reimagine, it’ll be interesting to see what theme tune it gets to set up the latest adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic.
In addition to Bang, Dracula has also cast Jonathan Aris (Rogue One, The Martian), Sacha Dhawan (Iron Fist, Sherlock) and Clive Russell (Game of Thrones, Thor The Dark World), but their roles haven’t been announced as of yet. You can see the rest of the cast list below and as soon as the parts are announced we’ll be updating with more information.
Story
The book introduced Dracula to the world, telling the story of his attempted move to England to branch out from his usual haunt of Transylvania. His efforts are opposed by a small band of people led by Professor Van Helsing, who wage war on the dark lord to prevent him from laying down roots in good old Blitey.
While the BBC and Netflix adaptation is going to be set within that framework, the fact that Mark Gatis and Steven Moffat are at the helm of the show is a good indicator that this is going to be a very different beast altogether. Their work on Sherlock is one of the best examples of a modern day reworking of classic literature and there’s a distinct possibility that they’ll be doing a similar job with Dracula.
BBC is describing the three-part series as a reinvention for the 21st Century, so it looks like it’ll follow a similar format to Sherlock. This could well see the series being set in modern days, but it’s going to be interesting to see how it all comes together.
Dracula BBC cast
- Claes Bang – Dracula
- Jonathan Aris
- Mark Gatiss
- Sacha Dhawan
- Clive Russell
- Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
- Catherine Schell
- Youssef Kerkour
- John Heffernan
- Joanna Scanlan
- Dolly Wells
- Morfydd Clark
- Lujza Richter
Theme tune
We’re definitely in for a smart, dark production with Dracula, so the theme tune has got classical written all over. Sherlock’s title theme song was an original piece composed by Michael Price and David Arnold. It’ll be surprising if they’re not called on again for Mark Gatiss and Steven Mofatt’s next work together, which would give it an orchestral feel with a new twist.
If it goes on to be an existing classical piece then possible contenders include Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, J. S. Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor and Giuseppe Verdi’s Dies Irae. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is an outside shout along with Franz Liszt’ Totentanz and Rachmaninov’s The Isle of the Dead. However, if it is a new composition for the theme tune then it will have John Williams’ Dracula to compare to.
Air date
The production of Dracula is still in the early stages of production with the full cast list only recently announced and filming in flight, so the air date is likely to be 2020. Late 2019 is possible, depending on how much post production is needed. Filming began earlier this year at Orava Castle in Slovakia and it recently continued in the UK with studio shoots and green screen taking place at Bray Studios.
