The Rules of the Beast

This version of Dracula is Gothic yet with a touch of the modern . I suppose it's meant to attract a variety of ages. It makes a big nod to Christopher Lee and Hammer House . Nice!

Unfortunately , there is humour made by Dracula which is entirely misplaced . It's corny . Instead of laughing with the character , you're laughing at him ! Dracula at that moment reminds me of David Walliams on Britain's Got Talent , desperate for a laugh. Cringeworthy!

I liked the Van Helsing being a nun but her accent is German rather than Dutch. Big let down! I do however hope her uncle emerges as the male Val Helsing as a Peter Cushing type character .

Overall , it's a brilliant production . It has the creepy vibe. It's enthralling , and exciting at times Claes Bang stamps his mark on Dracula. Shockingly , he does add a bit of a James Bond type of vibe to the character , which surprisingly works ! Claes Bang will be forever remembered of his interpretation of this great legend . He is truly remarkable and an underrated actor. Through him Dracula lives !

The first part of this BBC mini-series is an imaginative twist on the classic Bram Stoker tale. Messrs Moffat and Gatiss demonstrate their love for the source material whilst adding their own playful spin on the proceedings.

The cast are excellent. Claes Bang is mesmerising as the ancient Count Dracula whilst Dolly Wells is brilliant as Sister Agatha. Best of all, in this first episode, is John Heffernan as the innocent Jonathan Harker. Heffernan has the task of playing Harker as the fresh faced individual who first steps into Dracula's castle and the shattered shell of a man who has faced the devil himself.

9 out of 10. Funny, shocking, gripping and thrilling...this is a memorable adaptation.

Great story, acting and story. Wanted to see the next episode immediately

Silly, off- beat humor and gross horror. What's not to like? The first episode has a very spooky, but self- unaware, Jonathan Harker and a light- hearted and silly Sister Agatha. We like what we've seen and will watch further episodes.

The team of Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatiss reconvene to provide us with their own take on the legend of "Bram Stokers: Dracula". With their halo slipping a little after the later episodes of "Sherlock" my anticipation is a little tempered for this, but the opening episode was excellent.

Unconventional nun, Sister Agatha (Dolly Wells) is interviewing what remains of Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) in a convent. Through flashback, we see Harker arrive at the stately home of Count Dracula (Claes Bang). As Harker's heath deteriorates, his host appears to get younger with each meeting. As the truth comes to light, Agatha comes to appreciate that she's not as safe in the holy house as she would have hoped.

I liked this a lot. Tonally, I think its spot on. A true horror story, pushing the limits of the BBC CGI limitations to the fore but not without humour and wit, both for the cutting one liner, from the phenomenal Dolly Wells - or some high camp from the Count himself. I'm not sure how he gets away with some of the lines he does. It's not a straight adaptation, using the bones of the novel as a starting point for taking aspects of the story to different places, but it's all the better for that. I picked up on references to both "Sherlock" and "Dr Who" (is it too much to hope that a Victorian Nick Fury appears in a post credits scene as says that "He's putting together a team).

I do feel like this is a little longer than it needs to be, maybe sticking to that "Sherlock" format a little too rigidly. So it's a bit padded. But this is a minor complaint about a show that comes alive whenever Dracula appears (ironically) and has found an excellent foil for him in its Van Helsing.