# The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015)

> In 19th century London, Inspector John Marlott hunts a killer who may be reanimating the dead.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57005

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 52 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, science fiction, mystery
- Created by: Benjamin Ross
- Network: ITV Encore
- Cast: Sean Bean, Richie Campbell, Ed Stoppard, Anna Maxwell Martin, Samuel West, Eloise Smyth, Kate Dickie, Tom Ward
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4206804/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gothic, atmospheric, melancholic, grim, tense

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, with a strong first season and a somewhat weaker second.

## Synopsis

The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015-2017) is a British period drama series created by Benjamin Ross for ITV Encore. Sean Bean stars as Inspector John Marlott, a weary policeman in 1830s London who investigates a run of gruesome crimes that may be the work of a scientist intent on bringing the dead back to life. Richie Campbell plays Joseph Nightingale, a figure tied to the city's underworld, and Anna Maxwell Martin appears as Mary Shelley, whose novel hangs over the proceedings. Across two seasons of twelve episodes, the series builds as a serialized mystery, with each case peeling back another layer of the city's class divisions, body trade and hidden institutions. Marlott's engine is a need to understand a crime that defies explanation while the powerful around him prefer it stay buried. The tone is gothic, atmospheric and melancholic, with grimy candlelit streets, a brooding score and a persistent sense of dread. Fans of Penny Dreadful and The Alienist will find resonance in its blend of period procedure and speculative horror. The result is a dark, thoughtful puzzle that treats its supernatural premise as a question about mortality and moral limits.

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