ITV bites back with a new drama

Philip Glenister (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes) returns to ITV in a fantastical new drama series: a contemporary spin on the legacy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula set above and beneath the streets of modern-day London.

Glenister plays Rupert Galvin, a larger-than-life American with a tragic past and a zero tolerance policy to the rabble of mythical “half-life” entities that exist all around us. When he bursts into the life of his teenage godson, Luke (Christian Cooke – Echo Beach, Robin Hood), whose father died in mysterious circumstances 15-years before, little does Luke know what will be thrust upon him. There are supernatural forces of evil at work and it is Luke’s destiny, as the last descendent of the Van Helsing line, to smite the half-lives that stalk our streets.

While trying to juggle an ordinary life of school exams, parties and learning to drive – not to mention keeping it all from his mum - Luke is catapulted into a world of vampires, demons and zombies, along with his best friend Ruby (Holliday Grainger – The Bad Mother’s Handbook, Waterloo Road). But he remains cool – it’s in his blood after all…

Helping Galvin to train Luke in his quest is the beautiful but icy cold Mina Harker (Zoe Tapper - Affinity, A Harlot's Progress) a blind concert pianist with a history, who is also the foremost authority on the undesirable entities preying on humanity.

But before they have time to properly prepare Luke, he is faced with a daunting opponent in the form of the villainous Gladiolus Thrip (Mackenzie Crook -The Office, Pirates of the Caribbean) a sinister vampire with a burning hatred for the Van Helsing line and all they stand for.

Producer Johnny Capps says: “We’re excited for the opportunity to be working with Laura Mackie and her drama team and to be making a primetime series for ITV, our first here at Shine.”

Currently filming in London, the six-part series is a Shine production for ITV1.