Penny Dreadful is a British-American television horror series created by John Logan which draws upon many public domain characters from 19th century British fiction, including Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, Mina Harker from Bram Stoker's Dracula and Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The title refers to the penny dreadfuls, a type of 19th century cheap British fiction publication with lurid and sensational subject matter.
In Penny Dreadful, some of literature's most famously terrifying characters - including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all brilliantly reimagined in a whole new light - have become embroiled in Victorian London.
The series stars Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, License to Kill) and Eva Green (Casino Royale).
Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger) and Danny Sapani (The Bill) also star.
Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychosexual thriller created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan's Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street.
Of the eight episodes, the first two were directed by J.A. Bayona, who helmed The Orphanage and the acclaimed film, The Impossible starring Naomi Watts in her Oscar-nominated performance.