Philip Glenister (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes) leads a starry cast cobbled together from modern day cult tv it seems in a six part drama based on the legacy of Bram Stokers Dracula set above and beneath the streets of modern-day London.
Glenister plays Rupert Galvin, a larger-than-life American with a tragic past and a zero tolerance policy to the rabble of mythical half-life entities that exist all around us. When he bursts into the life of his teenage godson, Luke (Christian Cooke – Echo Beach, Robin Hood), whose father died in mysterious circumstances 15-years before, little does Luke know what will be thrust upon him. There are supernatural forces of evil at work and it is Lukes destiny, as the last descendent of the Van Helsing line, to smite the half-lives that stalk our streets.
While trying to juggle an ordinary life of school exams, parties and learning to drive not to mention keeping it all from his mum – Luke is catapulted into a world of vampires, demons and zombies, along with his best friend Ruby (Holliday Grainger The Bad Mothers Handbook, Waterloo Road). But he remains cool its in his blood after all
Helping Galvin to train Luke in his quest is the beautiful but icy cold Mina Harker (Zoe Tapper – Affinity, A Harlot’s Progress) a blind concert pianist with a history, who is also the foremost authority on the undesirable entities preying on humanity.
But before they have time to properly prepare Luke, he is faced with a daunting opponent in the form of the villainous Gladiolus Thrip (Mackenzie Crook -The Office, Pirates of the Caribbean) a sinister vampire with a burning hatred for the Van Helsing line and all they stand for.
Filmed in London, the six-part series is a Shine production for ITV1. Founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Shine has produced shows such as Hex, Sugar Rush and Sinchronicity. The new show is produced by International Emmy Award winning Producers Julian Murphy (As If, Hex, Sugar Rush) and Johnny Capps (As If, Hex, Sugar Rush) and directed by Tom Harper (Cherries, Spoil) and Matthew Evans (Robin Hood, Rebus). Dean Hargrove is the executive producer for Sony Pictures. The series is written by Peter Tabern (Johnny and the Bomb, Hex), Howard Overman (Hotel Babylon, New Tricks) and Lucy Watkins (Sinchronicity, Hex).
