Since it first premiered on Showtime back in 2014, Penny Dreadful has delighted both fans of period drama and horror buffs alike. It’s maybe the only show currently on the air that you could reasonably recommend to hardcore fans of both Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead, and there’s no other show currently on the air quite like it.
The series, executive produced by John Logan (who also writes every episode), is a mash-up of literary characters from 19th century Gothic fiction like Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. In the upcoming third season of the series, Logan is adding yet another classic monster from the same era—Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Henry Jekyll, played by Shazad Latif. One can safely assume that his alter ego Mister Hyde will also be along for the ride.
In the first season of the series, our protagonists Dr. Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) took on the minions of Dracula and Satan. In season two, a coven of witches made their lives hell. In season three, it looks like the eternally young Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) and his newly undead consort Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper) are going to become quite the deadly power couple—and a potential threat to our band of heroes.
Here’s the official synopsis for the series’ third season from Showtime:
This season on Penny Dreaful, Tony Award-winning star Patti LuPone (American Horror Story), who guest starred last season as the Cut-Wife, returns as a series regular in the new role of Dr. Seward, an American therapist who treats Vanessa with an unconventional new approach. Wes Studi (Hell On Wheels) joins as a series regular as Kaetenay, an intense, enigmatic Native American with a deep connection to Ethan who also becomes an ally to Sir Malcolm. The third season also adds Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Henry Jekyll. Other guest stars include Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Christian Camargo (Dexter, The Hurt Locker) as Dr. Alexander Sweet, a zoologist who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Vanessa; Sam Barnett (2012, Jupiter Ascending) as Dr. Seward’s mysterious young secretary; and Jessica Barden (The Outcast, Far from the Madding Crowd) as Justine, a young acolyte to Lily and Dorian Gray, and Perdita Weeks (The Tudors), as Catriona Hartdegan, a scholar with expert knowledge of the supernatural. Simon Russell Beale returns as Dr. Ferdinand Lyle. Rory Kinnear (as The Creature) and Harry Treadaway (as Dr. Frankenstein) also star.
You can watch the latest teaser for the series, “Frightened,” above. And yet another teaser—”Touched by Satan”—below. Penny Dreadful Season 3 debuts Sunday, May 1st at 10 p.m. on Showtime.
Are you a Penny Dreadful fan? Let us know in the comments below!
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HT: Comic Book Movie
IMAGES: Showtime
