'Penny Dreadful' is a silly, sordid, mess of a Victorian monster mash-up ... and I love it!
*** no spoilers ***
This Showtime/Sky co-production aired earlier in the year on Sky Atlantic. Even though I was a Sky subscriber at the time, I eschewed Sky Atlantic as it seemed another of Sky's tawdry attempts to isolate re-sellers by placing premier shows on their new channel. I ain't playin' yo stinkin' games Mr Murdoch. Also it seemed all too much blood and gore for my liking ... or maybe it was just the wrong time. In any case, I've only just decided to tuck into the first series, and was very much surprised - pleasantly at that.
The show's first season (it looks like there will be a second) is 8 episodes, each around an hour's viewing time. The setting is Victorian London ... the London of Holmes, Jack the Ripper, and swirling fog, despair, and debauchery. A theme familiar to viewers of the departed 'Ripper Street'.
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| "Are you flossing regularly?" |
Into this world we are introduced to a collection of familiar, yet mysterious, characters; literary figures of the times - an adventurer, a medium, a surgeon of dubious practices, a seemingly immortal young man, and their various associated characters. Named after the sordid, sensationalist novellas (costing only a penny of course) of the time, 'Penny Dreadful' mashes up these characters' familiar stories into an exuberant, Gothic, visual feast which although not likely to gain any mainstream awards, delivers well in style, excitement, and traditional horror themes.
Technically the show is excellent. The set designs lavish and bold; the camera-work precise without being overly flamboyant. At times the sound was slightly muddy, but this is a minor grumble. This is a show that looks good ... the opening credits give you a good idea of what visually is to come:
The cast is largely well-known and do good work with a script that overall succeeds at handling the outlandish storyline within the confines of the times. Timothy Dalton heads the 'heroes' (such a term though is ill-fitting for any character as they are all essentially dark-hearted people, struggling - often literally - with internal demons) as Sir Malcolm Murray, the African adventurer, who cares more for his fame than his family; a broken, arrogant, egotist who is the focus of the group. He brings to his employment a young doctor (who has his own agenda, and demons) played by Harry Treadaway; an American sharp-shooting showman, Josh Hartnett; a friend of his daughter, the spiritualist Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green; and Mallory's own "man-servant" from his African expeditions, Sembene, played by Danny Sapani.
Additional regular characters are played by Billie Piper (a dying consumptive), Rory Kinnear, and Reeve Carney as Dorian Gray. The latter is worth singling out, as the role of a fey 'pretty-boy' can be hard to play with any veracity, yet Carney brings unexpected depth and nuance to the role.
Without doubt though, this is Eva Green's show. She excels as the enigmatic Miss Ives, letting slip only hints of the torment she has imprisoned within. It's a compelling, magnetic, and alluring performance, offering many opportunities to toy with the other characters and viewer. It's not completely without flaw, but the camera draws you to her in every scene, and she fizzes with restrained emotion. The memorable scenes come from her.
There are also lovely cameo performances from Alun Armstrong and David Warner; any show with David Warner can't be all bad.
I'm not sure where the show can go; whether is will eventually limp to obscurity or suffer an early, unfinished, demise, but when I compare this to, say, 'The Strain' it's far superior in all elements.
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| "I hate flocked wallpaper. How many times do I have to tell you?" |
I've deliberately tried to avoid much precision in plot details. However this is a mash-up story, with plot-lines less interwoven and more running parallel for each main character. Sometimes bumping into one another, but the eccentricity and enthusiasm of the story is part of the joy. It's like one of those old Univeral 'House of Dracula'/'House of Frankenstein' movies from the 40s but more so. Everything thrown into a pot of extraordinary characters, and left to bubble over. It is blood and gore, and sordid excess, and fleshy bits, but it also plays it wonderfully straight and genuinely. Marvellous.
