Sherlock might be on indefinite hiatus, but the two creators of BBC’s smash-hit drama, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, have got a new show lined up. Variety reports that the pair are working on a TV series based on Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel Dracula.
Simply titled Dracula, the show will follow the same format as Sherlock, taking the shape of a miniseries run of feature-length 90 minute episodes. It’ll be produced by Sue Vertue and her company Harstwood Films, who were also behind the aforementioned BBC hit.
Variety says that Moffat and Gatiss are “currently working on solo projects” but will turn their attention towards Dracula soon. Though no scripts have been written, talks are already underway with the BBC for broadcast rights in the U.K. It seems likely that a deal will be made, too, seeing as Moffat has brought much success to the corporation through Sherlock and his tenure as showrunner on Doctor Who.
It’s clear that Moffat and Gatiss are looking to recapture something of the success of their previous work by tackling another piece of Victorian fiction, and we’ve no doubt that they’ll be able to. After all, this will be the third time that Steven Moffat has adapted a classic 19th century novel, after Sherlock and 2007’s Jekyll. Though the miniseries didn’t perform quite as well as fans expected it to, the rights to the show have since been snapped up by Hollywood, with a movie version in the works starring Captain America‘s Chris Evans.
Mark Gatiss, meanwhile, is a self-confessed horror movie fan, with a particular fondness for vampires. He’s hosted The History of Horror documentary series which covered, among other films, the Dracula movies of Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. He also played the Dracula-like king vampire Mr. Snow in the BBC’s cult supernatural drama Being Human.
All in all, it seems like the pair are the perfect writers to bring the oft-filmed Prince of Darkness to the screen once again. Though fans might have been holding out for more Sherlock, if Moffat and Gatiss can strike gold with Dracula, we could be in for our next TV obsession.