The Frankenstein Chronicles

The first season was amazing,exept botched finale...The dark, gothic detective story in the beginning ,unfortunately transformed in something unrecognizable... Story became very slow, overly religious and plain,not in a good way,macabre. All in all,decent one time watch.

With the recent glut of Superhero TV series hitting our screens I found this show to be welcome relief. Sean bean as lead manages to play the inspector with the air of someone who just isn't quite right, with flashbacks to his troubled past becoming more frequent it helps to build on his mental breakdown.

I have found the story at times needing a little more "Umph", yes the characters are being fleshed out and the mystery appears to deepen with each step the inspector takes to catch his "Monster", but at the same time do we really need to spend so much time in the inspectors rooms, what do they add to the story?

The overall gloom of the setting does lend weight to the story, the divide between rich and poor, privilege and servitude is very apparent, with the inspector squarely in the middle of these differing worlds.

Absolutely brilliantly directed! A Must watch series. Great cast, loving Sean Bean in this! and set in a bleak and dim London, it is fantastic and very atmospheric. Apparently filmed in Northern Ireland the scenery is fantastic. Cleverly written, with the traditional Frankenstein story woven with historic nineteenth century London, makes you feel it could be true! I'm a sucker for a period drama so this ticks that box for me too. So often you come across a series that tries hard to do a remake of a famous story and fails in an epic way, so it is refreshing to watch this as it has brought the story to life again and in a historically inspired way.

I'd heard nothing about this show going in. I'm kind of surprised no word of mouth reached me before discovering it... seeing as how it hits so many beats that share my interests. History and mysticism and conspiracy and film noir... and Frankenstein! I was impressed when William Blake showed up in the series and even moreso when Mary Shelley herself makes an appearance. Her infamous book being a possible impetus behind the crimes the protagonist detective is tasked with investigating. The show is gritty and gruesome and complex in the motivations of its various political factions vying for power. Add to that that the protagonist is not entirely reliable because of disease and medication and the show becomes a quite a heady mix at times. The bad guys range from street scum on up to, maybe, members of Parliament... and no one is safe.

Great stuff, I hope there is more to come.

The Frankenstein Chronicles is a very dark interpretation of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.

Indeed, this work is far more bleak than the original book. Its mired in the misery, inequality and depravity of 19th century London. The focus in this case is not adults but missing children, making this already disturbing tale that much more troubling.

Sean Bean hands in an excellent performance as the lead detective who knows the case he has been tasked with solving, is not, in fact, the case he is really investigating. There's a dark underbelly to this stories dark underbelly.

This is a masterful work, but I would say its not for everyone. I personally found its heavy, sombre and at times downright depressing tones, a little too much to handle. No doubt its true to the awfulness of the times but that's in some ways little consolation. That said, if you are prepared to accept the dark tones of this series I have little doubt it represents an impressive watch. Eight out of ten from me.