Sean Bean to star in new ITV drama The Frankenstein Chronicles

The Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings actor will play Dr John Marlott in the six-part reworking of Mary Shelley's novel

By Jeremy Gordon

17 November 2014 

RadioTimes

Sean Bean is to star in The Frankenstein Chronicles, a new six-part period crime drama to air on ITV.

Combining elements of the crime and horror genres, the drama takes its inspiration from Mary Shelley’s classic novel in which maverick scientist Dr. Frankenstein creates a grotesque monster.

Set in Regency London in 1827, The Frankenstein Chronicles is the creation of Emmy-nominated director Benjamin Ross and writer Barry Langford and will unfold in six hour-long episodes.

Bean – known for his work on Lord of the Rings and Games of Thrones – will play Dr. John Marlott, a renowned investigator who “doesn’t know the meaning of fear”. Marlott is drawn into the pursuit of a chilling, unknown adversary after the discovery of a mutilated child-like creature, crudely assembled from a range of human body parts.

When he is offered the chance to probe further, he finds himself compelled to accept the harrowing case and is soon drawn into a frightening “underworld of prostitution, drug smuggling, bodysnatching, and murder for profit,” according to co-creator Benjamin Ross.

Frankenstein’s monster is one of the most enduring symbols in literature, inspiring countless adaptations including James Whale's 1931 classic. While recent depictions have tended either to underwhelm or play the story for laughs, such as Tim Burton’s knowing Frankenwee, released in 2012, The Frankenstein Chronicles looks set to reanimate the evil at the heart of this narrative. Likely to prove essential viewing, it may well be the darkest reflection on the story yet.

Filming on the ITV series will begin in Northern Ireland in 2015 with further details of the cast yet to be announced.