Penny Dreadful

Saw a trailer for some show on Showtime called Penny Dreadful premiering next week?

Anyone know if it'll be good or not?

Seems to have gothic horror stories with erotic... stuff, Game of Thrones style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFXHfEqMcis

Also, I SMELL GAY FANSERVICE!!! :P

Eva Green's the central actress. It's sort of a mock-Victorian piece inspired by all the horror stories that came out in the 1800s. I don't get Showtime, but I might borrow the first season on DVD from the library if they get it. Will have to go from there.

edited 4th May '14 6:39:28 PM by Journeyman

I think Alan Moore should sue.

Why?

Alan Moore is the author of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I can see where there'd be overlap. Not a bad thing though.

I'll watch it and see where it goes. It could be the closest thing LEG gets to a proper adaptation after the film version went down the toilet.

It looks like it's trying to be the next American Horror Story, but British. And it looks awesome. Mostly because of Eva Green.

And am I seeing things, or was Billie Piper in that trailer?

edited 9th May '14 6:07:54 PM by Sisi

She's playing someone named Brona Croft.

I swear, if they don't mention some 'adventurous archeologist' in that family, I will be disappointed.

I think Eva Green can make most things better.

Well, the way they were saying it in the trailer I watched in theater, they weren't following League. They looked at all those horror stories from the 1800s and created their own world where those stories existed in a more "real" sense.

edited 9th May '14 7:27:15 PM by Journeyman

Does this mean we'll get some iteration of Sweeney Todd? *glee*

I just looked on my DTV Box and I apparently have the first episode somehow???

I'll watch tonight and post my thoughts.

EDIT: It was a 15 min Interview-Introduction thing and it was rather interesting.

No CGI Monsters, everything is done through make-up prosthetic magic. I'm impressed with this direction.

No mention of Piper's character, though she appeared in a brief snippet. It seems like she's either a hush-hush role or a minor character.

The interviews explicitly made mention of Frankenstein (which the show originally started as an adaptation of), The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Dracula (though, they said they wanted it there, but not with the actual character presented). I think there was a Nosferatu featured in a shot, but might have just been a bald zombie.

Some scenes really highly hinted that werewolves will be present as well, which I assume is what the American Sharpshooter will turn out to be. But I could be wrong.

They also (sadly) seem to be building Dorian Grey as the love interest to their protagonist. No Gay Love story for me. :( But, they had gay fanservice, which is good enough.

Their protagonist seemed interesting, but they didn't share many details of what the plot and characters were besides their literary counterparts and the premise ("Literary Horror Characters in late 1880s London").

I really hope this isn't a single season show and will get a second season already. I can also see some jump points for future Literary characters, like Alice in Wonderland, which the gothic elements have been overshadowed by Disney and Tim Burton.

I'm REALLY excited for this show now.

edited 9th May '14 11:23:05 PM by lancesolous13

So it's an adult version of Once Upon a Time without the world jumping. I should have paralleled that earlier, I guess, but the way the interview I watched worded it made it sound like they were making an original world of it, not using a real setting with fantastic elements.

I think the pilot is available on You Tube right now.

Its premiering tomorrow night, so eh. Though I have some time on my hands... Got a link?

Found it and watched it.

I liked it. The sets, the costumes, the everything was beautiful and how I'd picture a Victorian Horror Novel. The dialogue wasn't snappy and witty, but it had flow to it and I feel it respected the time period.

I will say, the first episode has a lot of exposition in it, so be warned. Its mostly setting up all the plots; Our American Gun Slinger Protagonist, the mysteries of his two employers And our hunter guy seems to be a Vampire and he's hunting the Vampires who kidnapped his daughter, and Frankenstein and his monster.

I didn't see Billie Piper despite getting named early in the cast credits, so I'm actually wondering if she'll have a major role.

My money is on the murder shown at the beginning being done by a werewolf. Vampires seemed to have their own operation Frankenstein's Monster hadn't been born, Jekyll and Hyde seems doubtful to be that brutal and haven't been mentioned, and Dorian Grey didn't murder people.

I haven't the slightest on our female lead... but I am intrigued.

My girlfriend is treating this as a Mother's Day present.

Creepy Vanessa was creepy.

Agreed. I'm afraid I'm very confused as to what the hell happened this episode.

Also, way to go Dorian for making me incredibly creped out... and simultaneously aroused.

Good Job Billie Piper for sounding completely unrecognizable too. If I were to have heard that voice, Billie Piper would be my last guess.

Didn't expect that with the monster... And I'm actually rather impressed. I had a conversation with one of my English Professors who teaches a horror class about the show and we discussed how vastly different Victor and his monster were from their book counterparts and I just brushed it aside as the usual Hollywood adaptation differences with their ridiculously good looking people... And then I was horribly wrong. Bravo.

I had to look it up that it was her. Hadn't seen her since Day of the Doctor. So it was neat seeing her on tv again.

So it looks like this show is going to be my replacement for NBC's cancelled Dracula when it comes to Victorian supernatural insanity.

And the original monster is a dick.

Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't? We don't really know. My Horror Lit. Professor theorized that this Victor is some descendant taking after his grandfather (based off of the year the novel was written) and that the 'monster' has hence returned. But, who knows?

As part of my job, I get previews of shows like this before their UK premier and when my boss pithced it to me (sans title), I thought more of Anno Dracula than of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I really enjoyed it though!

I'm beginning to think that the major issue this show has is rather awkward pacing. The first half of this episode is The First Monster telling his tragic Phantom of the Opera-esque background. and then the second half is The Group of... We need a name for them, but the group of Ives, Chandler, and etc going to the Zoo and finding a Vampire eating a monkey. Instead of flowing from one side of the story to the other, they're divided. Its very unusual.

It was a slower episode, but it wasn't a bad one.

I'm curious about Ethan. The internet seems to think he's a werewolf. That scene with the wolves at the zoo could be seen as confirmation of that. If so, I'm wondering about the nature of his curse. It could have been something inflicted during his time fighting in the Indian Wars. Given the time period, it could have been punishment for something that happened during Wounded Knee.

After hearing his story, I hate Caliban a little less than before. Killing Proteus was still a dick move though.

Werewolves ares so...done. Make him a goat or a platypus.

edited 26th May '14 8:07:39 PM by tricksterson

Another slow episode plotwise. Except for the appearance of what may or may not have been an honestly creepy version of Dracula and the introduction of Van Helsing. I honestly don't know what's going on with Ethan. So maybe it's not the lingering horror of war or possible lycanthropy that made him flee the States, but some scandal involving his apparent sexuality.