Victorian drama, horror mix in eerie, lurid Penny Dreadful

What is it? Penny Dreadful, Season 1, eight hour-long episodes on three discs from CBS DVD How much? $48.99 When? Now What is a penny dreadful? Penny dreadfuls were cheap, sensationalist, lurid books in the late 19th century. It’s also the name of a Showtime series whose content is a bit like its namesake literature.

Well then, what is it about? It’s late 19th- century London, the era of Jack the Ripper, incredible wealth and poverty and a distinct sense of unease. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) is a visitor, a sharp-shooting American of dubious morality who’s on tour with a Wild West show when he’s approached by a mysterious woman who wants to hire him for a job. His skills with a gun will come in quite handy for a project she’s working on.

Her name is Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and she and an explorer named Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) make frequent trips to and through London’s seedy underworld, searching for Sir Malcolm’s daughter Mina, who was also Vanessa’s closest friend. The young woman disappeared — kidnapped by a vampire — and they, along with Sir Malcolm’s servant Sembene (Danny Sapani), are determined to find her at all costs.

Chandler isn’t the only person they rope in to help them on their quest. They also reach out to a brilliant, if arrogant, doctor by the name of Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and an eccentric Egyptologist (Simon Russell Beale). Then there’s a mysterious young man named Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney).

They’re all people with dark secrets, darker pasts and their own obsessions that play into the plot as they work together and encounter a host of curses and creepy creatures — some of them closer than they could have expected.

How is it? Dark. Creepy. Twisted. Gothic. At times, it’s even poetic. There’s some philosophizing in between the folklore lessons and bursts of violence.

As should be obvious from the character list, the story is a mix of original and classic (public domain) characters, all tossed together and plunked down in Victorian London. The production values and depiction of that time and place are excellent. It’s by turns luxurious and grimy, though sometimes so dark it’s hard to see what’s really there. Of course, that could be intentional. It makes things creepier.

Because it’s on Showtime, it’s no-holdsbarred when it comes to graphic sex and violence, so sensitive viewers should consider themselves warned. While some of it fits, at times it can seem gratuitous. But then, considering the nature of penny dreadfuls, that’s probably appropriate. It’s a pretty wild, outlandish show, not one that adheres strictly to logic. Again, consider the source.

Are there extras? A long list of brief behindthe-scenes video production blogs about the creation and production of the series as well as the ideas and cultural history behind it.

For non- Penny Dreadful extras, there are the first two episodes of Ray Donovan.

New this week: Annie Oakley, Complete Series; Mad Men, Final Season, Part 1; Married … With Children, Seasons 5-6; Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Seasons 1-2; Silent Witness, Season 1; The Soul Man, Season 2; Square Pegs, Complete Series.

Next week: The Big Valley, Final Season; Breaking Bad, Complete Series 2014 Barrel (Blu-ray); WKRP in Cincinnati, Complete Series.