DRACULA: THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this fantasy drama series, based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker, about a vampire's quest attempts to destroy his enemies by posing as an American entrepreneur in Victorian London. In this episode, two graverobbers break into a crypt in Romania and one of the men kills the other, using his blood to revive the desiccated vampire corpse. Some time later, in London, the vampire prepares to throw an elegant party at his home and rehearses his American accent with the help of his sidekick Renfield. Reporter Jonathan Harker arrives with his intended, medical student Mina Murray, as well as her friend Lucy Westenra, and the guests speculate about their mysterious host. Renfield introduces "Alexander Grayson," and Mina seems to recognize him as her former lover. Grayson meets a number of guests and talks to members of the British Imperial Cooling board about his interest in their patents, but they immediately reject the "interloping colonial." Browning arrives unseen as Grayson meets Harker and Mina and seems to recognize her as well. Harker is surprised when Renfield invites him to interview Grayson on the following day. Grayson then tells his guests that he has harnessed "free, safe and wireless" power, and as a group of men toil in an underground workshop, Grayson hands out light bulbs which then briefly ignite, seemingly by magic. Everyone is awed, and the board members are disturbed by the threat to their oil business. One of them, Clive, accosts Grayson and calls him a fraud, vowing that he will fail.
Later, Harker discusses Mina with his friend Szabo, stating that he is too "common" to ever marry her, while elsewhere Lucy shares the same sentiment with Mina, though Mina states that she loves him regardless. Grayson then murders Clive as he returns home, and Renfield observes as he examines photos of his other guests, looking for other members of "the Order of the Dragon," an ancient and historical group which has long used violence and lately economic power to destroy its enemies. Grayson states that their reliance on oil will be their undoing, vowing to use his mysterious wireless power to bring them down. Elsewhere, a hunter removes Clive's head from his coffin, stuffing it with garlic and bringing it in a box to Lady Jane, who then takes it to Browning. Browning observes that he was killed by a vampire, though states that they must cover up the truth, as they did several years previously by inventing the story of Jack the Ripper, and they vow to find the true killer. Mina attends Professor Van Helsing's class, and Harker comes for his interview with Grayson, who is slightly burned by sunlight when he greets his guest. He explains that he comes from a "very old" European family and has come to England to help "redefine our species," though the reporter privately notes that he is something of an egomaniac.
Mina talks to Van Helsing, admitting that she is unsure of her surgical technique despite her high marks, and he urges her to have a "steady heart." Grayson stalks Mina and then feeds on another woman, and Mina then attends the opera with Harker. Grayson is joined in his box by Lady Jane, revealed to be his lover, though he maintains his watch on Mina. Clive's associates discuss how Grayson obtained Clive's stock immediately after his death, and as Grayson watches them from a rooftop, he is attacked by the hunter. They fight, and Grayson kills the man, who calls him "Dracula" with his last breath. Grayson returns home and is surprised by Van Helsing, who chastises him for his "lack of discipline" in killing Clive, revealing that they are working together against the Order of the Dragon and that Van Helsing was the graverobber who resurrected the vampire. He points out that they have built "an empire of lies" to destroy the Order's wealth, but Grayson furiously declares that the Order killed his wife, who closely resembled Mina, and that he will have his vengeance at all costs. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 27, 2013 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:41:41
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 111996
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 2013
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Tony Krantz … Executive Producer
- Gareth Neame … Executive Producer
- Anne Mensahn … Executive Producer
- Colin Callender … Executive Producer
- Daniel Knauf … Executive Producer, Created by
- Nigel Marchant … Co-Executive Producer
- Reece Pearson … Co-Executive Producer
- Harley Peyton … Co-Executive Producer
- Cole Haddon … Co-Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Steve Shill … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Irene Burns … Producer
- Christopher Hall … Producer
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers … Producer
- Steve Clark-Hall … Producer
- Howard Ellis … Producer
- Adam Goodman … Producer
- Rosalie Carew … Associate Producer
- Scott Huff … Associate Producer
- Brian Donovan … Line Producer
- Tyler Foell … Visual Effects Producer
- Trevor Morris … Music by
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers … Cast, Dracula / Alexander Grayson / Vlad Tepes
- Jessica de Gouw … Cast, Mina Murray
- Thomas Kretschmann … Cast, Abraham Van Helsing
- Victoria Smurfit … Cast, Lady Jane
- Oliver Jackson-Cohen … Cast, Jonathan Harker
- Nonso Anozie … Cast, R.M. Renfield
- Katie McGrath … Cast, Lucy Westenra
- Robert Bathurst … Cast, Lord Thomas Davenport
- Ben Miles … Cast, Browning
- Charlotte Asprey … Cast, Lady Laurent
- Miklós Bányai … Cast, Szabo
- Matt Barber … Cast, Campbell
- Pandora Clifford … Cast, Lady Dawson
- Simon Dutton … Cast, Sir Dawson
- Jack Fox … Cast, Alastair Harvey
- Viera Gaon … Cast, Female Vampire
- Anthony Howell … Cast, Lord Laurent
- Nicholas Keith … Cast, Man in Crypt
- Phil McKee … Cast, Joseph Kowalski
- Michael Nardone … Cast, Hermann Kruger