~ Before this begins I must note that I have never read Dracula nor do I know much about the actual Vampire/Dracula lore. So do take this with a pinch of salt! ~
BBC seems to be really pumping out the high budget 3 part tv shows recently. Dracula is no exception. The first episode was directed by Jonny Campbell, a rather unknown director who most recently directed an episode of Westworld in 2016 and 2 episodes of Doctor Who in 2010. With the knowledge that this adaptation was written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat I was filled with confidence as personally, I’m a huge fan of their work from Doctor Who to The League of Gentlemen to Sherlock. Gatiss and Moffat are renowned successful writers with their work being some of my favourite on BBC tv. However, I have recently found that there’s one thing they cannot do. Write endings. Needless to say, they can definitely write pivotal conclusions but they suck. Season 4 of Sherlock was dubbed by fans as a ‘Let’s pretend that never happened’ and that’s exactly what I’m doing with episode 3 of Dracula.
But first some context.
BBC 1’s adaptation of Dracula tells the tale of Jonathan Harker, a solicitor, hired to act as an estate agent to Count Dracula who wishes to move to England. The story does differ slightly from the 1897 Bram Stoker original book but tells a gripping and beautiful tale of deception, death (or lack of it), and ultimately respect.
Episode 1 ~ 4.5/5
It begins beautifully, with SFX to make you squirm and shots to make you smile. Set us as a story, Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) sits in a grim almost cell-like room inside a convent, he sits down with a nun, Sister Agatha (Dolly Wells). There he tells of his time in the castle and how he escaped. Flicking between the story and its teller can be challenging but Campbell does this flawlessly, lining up each movement with its change to subtly keep you gripped. As for the writing, its brilliant, subtle laughs and fantastic metaphors lead you through the story without showing you as Christmas Carol does, it consistently leaves you guessing and learning. Its also smart, rather than characters blindly following orders you know they wouldn’t do, they question it and fight back when they can as well as addressing the English language and why they are speaking it, a beautiful thought. The cinematography is beyond compare, the set of the castle is beautiful and the addition of the candles only makes the lighting more entrancing than it already is.
One critique I must address is that I felt the episode dragged a little. It had the perfect spot to stop but continued leaving you waiting for the credits rather than watching the show.
Episode 2 ~ 3.5/5
Again, this episode lands us feet first into action, instantly putting you at the edge of your seat; somewhere I found myself at a lot throughout this series. It tells the story of Dracula (Claes Bang) coming to England on a boat called the ‘Demeter’ from the perspective of both Dracula and Sister Agatha. The editing is extremely clever since the story is told by a different person, the transitions are sharper now and more distinct. I thought direction given by Campbell was outstanding, as they dance you notice how in sync the boats rocking becomes making it almost entrancing. As for the acting, Bangs performance cannot be faulted, each character gives you rich subtext just with a look.
However, i feel like the was Dracula feeds on people wasn’t entirely what I expected and was a little disappointing but I can see why they made it ‘Beast-like’. And I don’t even want to talk about the ending, that’s for episode 3 me to write about.
Episode 3 ~ …
Oh episode 3. You were doing so well!
The end of episode 2 was a shock. Not a good shock but an ‘if they go through with this then they have ruined both the show and my faith that these two can actually write an ending’. They did.
Jumping through time the way they did was lazy, I hate how creators just jump to a few years later without needing too just so they can actually progress the story! It’s not thought through and as I said it’s just plain lazy. Only do it when it’s necessary! On the topic of writing and laziness, it is sometimes said that Van Helsing was a vampire hunter because he was a werewolf, therefore being poisonous to vampires. Much better than just getting her to have cancer to put a spin on things. It doesn’t work.
Lighting wise it was too bright and unnatural. The colour-grading was just… well my nan could do better and she can’t even work her flip phone… I get that blue means their sad and red is lust and so on but the only thing that’s making me sad right now is the fact that Lucy looks like a blueberry! As for the introduction of Lucy ( Lydia West ) and Jack Seward (Matthew Beard) you get about 15 minutes with them before you’re supposed to be feeling sorry for them, there is no setup or reason to care so we don’t. There’s no empathy for characters we don’t know!
As for the ending, the message was there and it was effective but by that point, they’d lost me completely.
3.5/5 Stars (Would have been 4.5 if it wasn’t for episode 3…)
The Film Nerdette