Details revealed for The Frankenstein Chronicles, starring Sean Bean

March 26th 2015, 10:11am

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

In November of last year we learned that Sean Bean was set to star in the six-part series "The Frankenstein Chronicles" for ITV, which will be a thrilling and terrifying re-imagining of the "Frankenstein" myth. We later learned that the series had stitched up casting, adding a slew of names including Anna Maxwell Martin (PHILOMENA), Charlie Creed-Miles ("Peaky Blinders"), Ed Stoppard ("The Musketeers"), Elliot Cowan ("Da Vinci’s Demons"), Hugh O’Conor (KILLING BONO), Joe Tucker (BRONSON), and Kate Dickie ("Game Of Thrones").

This is what we've known about "The Frankenstein Chronicles":

Set in 1827 London, the drama begins when Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel recruits Marlott after a successful operation by Thames River Police to apprehend a gang of opium smugglers. As Marlott stands on the water’s edge contemplating the arrests, he makes a shocking discovery: A corpse washed up on the shore is not what it seems at first glance. Instead, it’s a crude assembly of body parts arranged in a grotesque parody of a human form. The mutilated child-like body leaves an indelible impression on Marlott who is tasked by Peel with tracking the perpetrator of this heinous crime. As he investigates, Marlott discovers that what he’s dealing with is more horrific than he could possibly have imagined.

Now Screen Daily is sharing more details on this intriguing sounding project, with Rainmark managing director Tracey Scoffield stating…

“It’s a mash-up of a genre detective thriller and a horror brand. As it is set at the same time that Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein was written, and with Mary Shelley being a character in the series, it feels very real.”

“Without wanting to give too much away, the series is, to an extent, set in the world of Mary Shelley’s book. It was a time when people were very interested in new science and body-snatching took place for medical research. Those themes were fed into her work and we are set in that world.”

Creators Benjamin Ross (The Young Poisoner’s Handbook) and Barry Langford (Torte Bluma) use the world of Shelley’s gothic classic as the backdrop for the series.

"The Frankenstein Chronicles" is currently in production in Northern Ireland, where it has received funding from Northern Ireland Screen, and Endemol Shine International will be selling the six-part series at MipTV in Cannes next month.

Vanessa Kirby