Penny Dreadful (TV series)

Penny Dreadful
Genre
Created byJohn Logan
Written by
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme
  • "Demimonde" by Abel Korzeniowski
  • "A Prayer" by Sophie Meade (series finale)
ComposerAbel Korzeniowski
Country of origin
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes27 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • James Flynn
  • Morgan O'Sullivan
  • Sheila Hockin
Production locations
Cinematography
  • Xavi Giménez
  • Nigel Willoughby
  • P. J. Dillon
  • Owen McPolin
  • John Conroy
Editors
Running time47–60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseMay 11, 2014 (2014-05-11) –
June 19, 2016 (2016-06-19)
Related
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Penny Dreadful is a horror drama television series created for Showtime and Sky by John Logan, who also acts as executive producer alongside Sam Mendes. The show was originally pitched to several US and UK channels, and eventually landed with Showtime,[1] with Sky Atlantic as co-producer.[2] It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival on March 9 and began airing on television on April 28, 2014, on Showtime on Demand.[3][4] The series premiered on Showtime in the United States on May 11, 2014, and on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2014.[5][6][7] After the third-season finale on June 19, 2016, series creator John Logan announced that Penny Dreadful had ended as the main story had reached its conclusion.[8][9]

The title refers to the penny dreadfuls, a type of 19th-century British fiction publication with lurid and sensational subject matter. The series draws upon many public domain characters from 19th-century Victorian Gothic fiction, including Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; Mina Harker, Abraham Van Helsing, John Seward, Renfield, and Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula; Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; and Henry Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, showing their origin stories as an explorer searches for his daughter. Justine from Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue by the Marquis de Sade also appears.

A spin-off series, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, aired from April 26 to June 28, 2020.

  1. ^ "Sam Mendes to direct vampire TV series?". The List. November 7, 2012. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  2. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (September 16, 2013). "Sky Atlantic To Co-Produce Showtime's 'Penny Dreadful'; Billie Piper Joins Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  3. ^ "Penny Dreadful". South by Southwest. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  4. ^ "Showtime(R) Samples the Premiere of Its Highly-Anticipated Series "Penny Dreadful" on Multiple Platforms Now" (Press release). Showtime. April 28, 2014. Archived from the original on April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  5. ^ Reiher, Andrea (January 16, 2014). "'Penny Dreadful,' 'Nurse Jackie' and 'Californication' get premiere dates". Zap2it. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  6. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (May 13, 2014). "Penny Dreadful: Sky's new horror hit". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  7. ^ Gilbert, Gerald (May 7, 2014). "Josh Hartnett goes gothic for new Sky Atlantic series Penny Dreadful". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Patten, Dominic (June 20, 2016). "'Penny Dreadful' Ends After 3 Seasons, Series Creator & Showtime Boss Confirm". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  9. ^ Connolly, Kelly (June 20, 2016). "Penny Dreadful will not return for season 4". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.