Recommendation: "The Frankenstein Chronicles" series

Hey everyone!!

Today I'm here to recommend something I think you'll enjoy! It's the series "The Frankenstein Chronicles". Produced in 2015 by Benjamin Ross and Barry Langford and starring Sean Bean (our eternal Ned Stark ), the British series offers a reinterpretation of Mary Shelley 's "Frankenstein" and provides us with an atmosphere of tension, terror, and suspense from beginning to end.

Set in pre-Victorian London in 1827, the series has a kind of "Jack the Ripper" feel, with photography and costumes in the characters' cold (period) tones, which makes the narrative seem even darker (the first season was filmed in Northern Ireland). Besides Sean Bean, the series also features actors/actresses Richie Campbell , Vanessa Kirby , Eloisa Smyth , and Ed Stoppard .

How to transform a story about science, religion, and the afterlife into a completely different narrative.

The series tells the story of detective John Marlott , responsible for investigating a series of crimes occurring in London. Numerous corpses were appearing in the streets with sewn-on limbs, parts of other people's bodies. What was most strange and shocking was that the person doing this had medical knowledge (judging by the way the limbs were sewn together), and because of this, the crimes became even more suspicious.

The story of Mary Shelley's book, "Frankenstein" (which had been published two years before the narrative), hung in the air due to the crimes resembling Victor Frankenstein's experiments in bringing inanimate bodies to life. This sparked widespread hysteria among the local population, and Detective John Marlott was put in charge of investigating these cases. However, he was unfamiliar with Shelley's book and any possible connection, even coincidentally, between the story and the crimes. Because of this, Shelley also appears as a character in the series (played by Anna Maxwell Martin ), as one of the main suspects, since, given the way the crimes were committed, the suspect was also obsessed with the idea of animating lifeless bodies.

With two seasons (available on Netflix), the series features major changes throughout the story, blending the influence and thoughts of the religion of the time with the refutation of Catholic theses by science and the study of human anatomy, and with each episode it becomes harder not to binge-watch it all at once!

In the second season, the same criminal attacks priests and church members in London; this time removing some vital organs (yes, very much in the style of "Jack the Ripper"), while leaving the rest of the body intact. John Marlott reappears, already suspecting who is behind these crimes.

Frankenstein and the story of a scientist wanting to bring life to stitched-together bodies is a story that never gets old. However, several films and series have already been produced about Shelley's plot. I thought this series would be just another production of that genre, but I was wrong.

"The Frankenstein Chronicles" avoids the obvious. When we see the surname of Victor Frankenstein, that illustrious character responsible for giving life to a creature, we immediately imagine that the narrative will be solely and exclusively about that, or even a remake. However, in this series, only the idea of reanimating bodies is used. The story of Mary Shelley, and even this historical figure, appear briefly in the first season, only to help with the setting.

Another thing I really liked (I'll try to avoid spoilers as much as possible) was the plot twist and the sequence of events that happen, things we never even imagined. All that suspicious atmosphere also makes us distrust all the characters, and in the end, the villain becomes someone we never imagined!

Why do I recommend it?

I started watching "The Frankenstein Chronicles" thinking it would be just another narrative about the story of Mary Shelley's book. Another reason that led me to watch the show was the historical period in which the story takes place. I love series that depict historical periods, because I really enjoy seeing both the setting and the costumes (I think that type of clothing, those cool tones, overcoats, dresses, etc., etc., etc., are AMAZING).

The series is full of suspense, blood, betrayals, violent deaths, and many plot twists. If you enjoy all of that combined with fictional elements from Shelley's book and Victorian and pre-Victorian London, then you should watch it.