SEAN of the DEAD
SEAN BEAN resurrects regency detective john Marlott for a terrifying revenge mission
The Frankenstein Chronicles
wednesday, ITV encore HD, 10pm
VIEWERS WERE LEFT stunned by the finale of the first series of
The Frankenstein Chronicles, which left intrepid London detective John Marlott, played by Sean Bean, in the most gruesome of circumstances.
Having finally discovered scheming nobleman Daniel Hervey (Ed Stoppard) had been killing local children, then using their body parts for medical experiments, Marlott was framed for murder and sent to the gallows.
In an added twist, Hervey then brought Marlott back from the dead in a sinister reanimation experiment that saw the inspector’s head attached to someone else’s body parts.
As the Gothic thriller returns for a second, six-part series, the action has moved on three years. Now chained up inside London’s Bethlem Hospital, Marlott is struggling to remember who – or what – he is, but he knows he wants revenge on Hervey.
We caught up with Bean to find out what’s in store…
WHERE DO WE REJOIN MARLOTT?
He’s now in Bedlam, and he’s been there for a few years. But he’s not quite sure why he’s there, or even who he is. He’s utterly lost and suffering from horrible visions.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE REALISES HE’S NO LONGER MORTAL?
He begins to claw back his memories and wants revenge on Hervey, but he finds there’s a host of problems in his way. Hervey has got his finger in every pie, along with Home Secretary Robert Peel [Tom Ward] and a new character, German aristocrat Frederick Dipple [Laurence Fox]. They’re a bad set, and they wield so much power that Marlott has to be careful.
HOW EVIL ARE DIPPLE AND HERVEY?
I don’t think they’re both being bad for the sake of it. They have burning desires to push forward with their scientific endeavours, which consume them, but they’re not putting their discoveries to good use. Dipple has a very interesting journey, and when Marlott meets him, he discovers he’s not the first person to have cheated death somehow.
HOW IS MARLOTT DIFFERENT AFTER HIS REANIMATION?
He’s definitely stronger, so when he has to defend himself, it’s brutal. He’s also more intelligent and perceptive, and he can see the dead. But the strange and unfortunate thing is that he can’t see his own deceased family. He’s cursed in that way.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS HE ENCOUNTERS?
Marlott feels at home with outsiders and finds friends in seamstress Esther Rose [Maeve Dermody] and gravedigger Spence [Francis Magee].
THE DEPICTION OF 1830S LONDON IS GLORIOUSLY GLOOMY AND GORY. WAS IT A TOUGH SHOOT?
I did get covered in blood a lot – bucketfuls of it! Last series, we concentrated on setting up characters, politics and social structure, whereas there’s now more passion and heartbreak. But you can expect surreal images and scenes. If you want horror, you’re going to get it.