Dracula miniseries from Sherlock creators finds its lead

The Dracula miniseries from the Sherlock creators is moving ahead. The show just found its lead: Danish actor Claes Bang.

The team behind Sherlock is finally moving ahead with their latest miniseries, Dracula, after months of silence about the series. The BBC just announced today that the series has cast its lead actor to play Dracula.

The lead will be played by Claes Bang, a Danish actor who recently appeared in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. The show, produced by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, will appear on BBC One in the UK and will be picked up by Netflix internationally. (So don’t go looking for the show on PBS like with Sherlock. Streaming is the way to go.)

This series could be a great launching pad for Bang in Hollywood if this series is as big a success as Sherlock is. Benedict Cumberbatch arguably owes a lot of his success to Moffat and Gatiss for their brilliance on the show (give or take his own great acting skills as well). But since Sherlock grew in popularity, the actor has had tons of A-list roles and even a few Oscar and Emmy nominations. This might just be Bang’s future if the show catches on.

Judging by the headshot alone, Claes Bang looks to be the perfect Dracula. Be gone, boy band vampires like Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen and Ian Somerhalder’s Damon Salvatore. Claes Bang is giving us serious “Sexiest Vampire Alive” vibes. But we digress.

The actor had a few words to share about his casting, saying:

"I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Dracula, especially when the script is in the hands of the incredible talents of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and the team responsible for Sherlock. I’m so excited that I get to dig in to this iconic and super-interesting character. Yes he’s evil, but there’s also so much more to him, he’s charismatic, intelligent, witty and sexy. I realize that there’s a lot to live up to with all the amazing people that have played him over the years, but I feel so privileged, to be taking on this incredible character."

Charismatic, intelligent, witty and sexy? Say no more. It looks like the BBC has a fine show on its hands. And finally, we know more about the show’s plot. Of course, it’s an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but an official synopsis from BBC lays it out:

"Three feature-length episodes will re-introduce the world to Dracula, the vampire who made evil sexy. In Transylvania in 1897, the blood-drinking Count is drawing his plans against Victorian London. And be warned: the dead travel fast."

So, unlike Sherlock, this on-screen adaptation won’t be a future update of the classic tale. Although, both Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have a flair for historical/”period drama” writing, as seen in their episodes of Doctor Who and even “The Abominable Bride” from Sherlock. So it’s safe to say that this series is in good hands.

There are only two issues that might draw some concern with the series. First, how long do they plan to keep the seasons going? Will we have to wait a year in between each season, and will the actors’ become so in demand (just like with Sherlock) that the filming gets hard to schedule?

And second, will the show reach the same level of fatigue that inevitably seems to come with any Steven Moffat project? The fourth season of Sherlock did not impress fans as the first few did. Even episodes of Doctor Who began to suffer during Moffat’s time as showrunner on Doctor Who after a while.

With all that in mind, we can predict that the first season will likely be outstanding — the second will as well, if and when they get to making it. But hopefully, the show’s quality won’t suffer too much if they push beyond that.

Dracula will begin filming next year. There is no definitive air date just yet.