Showtime, home of Dexter in the US, has announced that production will begin shortly on a new series entitled Penny Dreadful, described as a ‘psychosexual’ horror series and created by John Logon and Sam Mendes (scriptwriter and director of the recent James Bond smash Skyfall).

The eight-episode series, all of which is expected to be written by Logan, will examine the origins of classic literary creations such as Dracula, Dorian Gray and Victor Frankenstein and his monster. The tone of the series, expected to air towards the end of 2014, is said to be “very realistic and very grounded” and announced cast includes Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) as Dorian Gray, Josh Hartnett, Doctor Who’s Billie Piper, Eva Green, Rory Kinnear and Timothy Dalton who, it’s reported, will be portraying a hardened African explorer on a personal quest.

Penny Dreadful will start filming in around Southern Ireland in October. Showtime’s president David Nevins says of the series “John Logan and Sam Mendes are two of the great storytellers of our time. The visual spectacle combined with the psychological insight in their reimagining of these iconic literary characters seems totally mesmerizing to me. This promises to be a wholly original television show.”

Watch out for more news of Penny Dreadful as filming progresses.

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