The Frankenstein Chronicles
Released 2015
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”The Frankenstein Chronicles” is a British TV series that can best be described as a drama, mystery, thriller, fantastic, crime yarn that takes place in 19th century England. It was created Benjamin Ross and Barry Langford and stars the very talented caste of Sean Bean, Anna Maxwell Martin, Richie Campbell, Shaun Balney, Lucy Cray-Miller,Vanessa Kirby, Steven Berkoff, Deidre Mullins, Tom Ward, Ryan Sampson, Charlie Creed-Miles, Deidre Donnelly, Patrik FitzSymons, Joel Gillman, Stuart Graham, Anthony Morris, Jessie Ross, Eloise Smyth, Robbie Gee and Samuel West. The series was produced by Sean Bean, Patrick Irwin, Justin Thomson-Glover, Oliver butler, Carol Moorhead, Frank Doelger and Tracy Scoffield. It is a very good spin-off of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley´s classic novel ”Frankenstein”.

”The Frankenstein Chronicles” is a spin-off of the classic novel that takes place in the dark, seedy world of the acquisition of corpses for the medical schools in 19th century England. It´s a world of poverty and hardship where the citizens of the lower castes of society struggle to survive. I´m always surprised to see the world from this time. A place without computers, cell phones or even electricity in most parts. The houses are beautiful from the outside but sparse and dreary on the inside. Most people couldn´t read or write back then and society lacked so many of the comforts of today.

For example when the characters are having a conversation in a pub you can see their breath because it´s that cold inside. No heating or air conditioning of course. Many of the walls have kerosene lamps for lighting. No fresh coats of paint on anything either because that is a luxury of the modern age. The characters seem to wear the same clothes everyday and I´m guessing they don´t get a chance to do weekly laundry because that´s probably a luxury too. I don´t even want to talk about water or air quality. That is the world of the story and I´m guessing it´s historically accurate. The lower castes are struggling and desperate while the upper castes are smug, entitled and detached.

One touch I really liked about the story was the fact they not only took inspiration form Mary Shelley´s masterpiece but they even included her in the story. She even had to be ruled out as a suspect. Her novel really is at the center of the story and is a big lead for Sean Bean´s character. That was a nice touch. Brilliant!!!

The story begins when investigator John Marlott, played by Sean Bean, investigates the case of a young girl that washed up on shore in the bog. She had stitches in places on her body which suggested that she was cut apart and the body parts of other children were sown onto her, like Frankenstien´s monster from the Mary Shelley novel. Her dead hand seemed to grab John then go limp. However, we cannot be sure if this was a hallucination because John is also suffering from the psychological and emotional trauma of losing his wife and child. He also has syphilis and may be clairvoyant. We aren´t sure yet.

John is a man who misses his loved ones so much that he looks forward to the after-life to be with them again. In a way he is just finishing his last Earthly responsibilities before he sheds his mortal coil and joins his wife and child. I loved the fact that John is a character in all kinds of suffering who remains so focused on stopping the monster.

I highly recommend ”The Frankenstein Chronicles” as a must see. The first three episodes were very good and I have high hopes for the rest. This is good storytelling and great acting in one package.

(Commentary by  www.ink2quill.com )
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