Penny Dreadful: Season One

[mredman]

can't wait to own this hope there is some good making of features on this and some clues to season 2

[pro-bassoonist]

Penny Dreadful: Season One Blu-ray



NEWS
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=14574

The acclaimed SHOWTIME original series Penny Dreadful: Season One will be released on Blu-ray on October 7, it was announced today during the Penny Dreadful panel at San Diego Comic-Con International 2014.

From Showtime Networks, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution, the Blu-ray collection will include every episode of the series' first season, celebrated by critics as "scary, seductive, surprising, and smart" (NPR) and "solidly entertaining, well cast and oozing with atmosphere" (Variety). The Blu-ray collection also boasts extensive special features that delve into the gripping thriller.

From three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, Gladiator) and Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall), Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychosexual drama that weaves together classic horror origin stories into a gripping series that is "moody, mystical and wonderfully twisted" (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Penny Dreadful, starring Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights) and Eva Green (Casino), completely reinvents literature's most famous characters. Icons of terror such as Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and timeless figures from Dracula join a core of original characters in a dark and brutal quest to save a soul - even as they grapple with their own monstrous temptations.

The series also stars Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Danny Sapani (The Bill) and Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger). A co-production of Sky Atlantic, Penny Dreadful was created, written and executive produced by John Logan and executive produced by Logan's Desert Wolf Productions, along with Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street.

Penny Dreadful Season One includes the first eight episodes of the series as a three-disc collection. The Blu-ray release is presented in 1080p high definition with English TrueHD 5.1, and Spanish 2.0 Stereo with English subtitles and English SDH. The Blu-ray is Not Rated in the U.S. and rated 18A in Canada. The total running time is approximately 7 hours and 15 minutes.The disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc One

Night Work
Séance
Resurrection

Disc Two

Demimonde
Closer Than Sisters
What Death Can Join Together
Possession

Disc Three

Grand Guignol

Special Features:

Ray Donovan: Season One, Episodes 1 & 2
What is a Penny Dreadful?
Literary Roots
Coming Together
The Artisans Pt. 1
The Artisans Pt. 2
The Grand Guignol
Prostitution and Sex in Victorian Times
British Exploration & The Search for the Nile
The Science of Medicine

Pro-B

[StingingVelvet]

8 episodes? Man, TV shows are getting shorter and shorter.

Really want to blind buy this though, I love the Victorian aesthetic with supernatural elements.

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

8 episodes? Man, TV shows are getting shorter and shorter.

Really want to blind buy this though, I love the Victorian aesthetic with supernatural elements.

It's co-produced by Sky Atlantic. So you could look at it as a short American season, or long British series (6 episodes is standard per series/season here)...

[mredman]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

8 episodes? Man, TV shows are getting shorter and shorter.

Really want to blind buy this though, I love the Victorian aesthetic with supernatural elements.

Next season will have 10 episodes like Game of Thrones. Little more normal for cable shows in US

[StingingVelvet]

The only UK show I watch is Doctor Who and it was 12-14 episodes per season. I didn't know 6 was more the standard there.

In any event, I hope the lower count is reflected in the price.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

8 episodes? Man, TV shows are getting shorter and shorter.

Really want to blind buy this though, I love the Victorian aesthetic with supernatural elements.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I think one reason the first season is so short is that the production values are very high and they didn't have the spread the budget over more episodes. It is one of the most expensive looking series I've ever seen. You rarely get a lot of street crowd scenes in period dramas like you do here and the recreation of Victorian London is stunning, it's comparable with a feature film.

I just watched the whole series over the last week and if you like gothic horror go for it, it's great!

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

The only UK show I watch is Doctor Who and it was 12-14 episodes per season. I didn't know 6 was more the standard there.

In any event, I hope the lower count is reflected in the price.

Doctor Who for several years aired in 2 distinct blocks of 6/7 episodes and a Christmas special. We're not like the Americans we don't put up with gaps or midseason breaks if we can help it, which is why there were Part 1 and 2 releases of series that were split.

Anyway, the creators pitched the series in the US, apparently everyone liked it but (at the time) no one was interested, so then they went to the UK and pitched it, which is presumably why the episode count was reduced, and nobody was interested over here at the time. Then Showtime picked it up, and then British broadcaster Sky Atlantic came on as co-producer...

[LaBoeuf]

finished the series yesterday. i give it a 8.5 or 9 out of 10.
Very good show.
Its a combination of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Dorian Gray, Exorcist, all in one.

-My only complaint is the character of Van Helsing is too old and underused.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by LaBoeuf

-My only complaint is the character of Van Helsing is too old and underused.

In the novel it is implied that he is an older man.

[Show spoiler]I too was surprised in his early exit though.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by mredman

Next season will have 10 episodes like Game of Thrones. Little more normal for cable shows in US

From what I've read Starz really pushed for 10 to 12 episode seasons, but because of the cost and overseas co-production they compromised with 8 episodes for the first season. Personally with genre shows like this small, action packed episode orders work in the show favor so they don't burn out in just a year or two...

[iGlide]

Flashback:I heard about GOT about 3/4 of the way through season 1 from a couple of co-workers. Instantly became a huge fan based on gossip, and from there accounts; however, I did not watch the series until season 1 came out on bluray.
Current Day: Those same co-workers have been raving about Penny Dreadful all season. So, i put my faith in their word once again! Looking forward to the release!

[Doc Phibes]

Amazon just announced October 7 as the release date!

Oops, never mind.

[Majin Blu]

Amazon has October 14th as the new release date.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

The only UK show I watch is Doctor Who and it was 12-14 episodes per season. I didn't know 6 was more the standard there.

In any event, I hope the lower count is reflected in the price.

Ha....the Gillian Anderson series The Fall was only 5 episodes.

[bowlingbilly10]

I'm confused on the release date for this. On the October calander, it says October 7th but when I click onto amazon it says October 14th. So which is which??

[IroquoisPliskin]

looks like ill be blind buying it day one along with x-men days of future past.

[Luke B.]

I really hope it comes with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles, I loved this show and I want it in my blu collection.

[Monroville]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

In the novel it is implied that he is an older man.

[Show spoiler]I too was surprised in his early exit though.

And that is when I checked out of the show. I was hoping they would have worked in an alternative take on DRACULA, as they had the Texan and the other suitors of Mina, with Frankenstein popping in the finale to do the autopsy on Dracula's body, which then could have led to season 2 being Frankenstein's story.

Hell, they even set up the voyage to Africa to start introducing the Mummy's story.

Instead, they are throwing everything in in a hodge-podge way that isn't really making a whole lot of sense.

[Show spoiler]I kind of figured Josh was a werewolf after the wolf sniffing scene, but they really dropped the ball on that. I suspect he was the one who killed the little girl and mom in the first episode, as well as the random prostitute by the street lamp in the mid-season point... yet, you don't see him acting remorseful or happy or ANYthing, so when he does change in the finale, it's almost like.. "oh,wow.. he was a werewolf after all (snore)." Same thing with the Mina plot - she talks about The Master and we never see him? There are 2 bald, albino super vampires? And where did all of the "brides with white hair" come from? Didn't anyone in the playhouse notice?

Then throw in the whole EXORCIST bit and I just don't care what the show does, as it's going to do whatever it wants at random intervals just for.. whatever. Hey! Let's randomly kill a well known literary figure! Why? Because it's unexpected!

Great production values, decent to good acting (and it's always good to see Tim Dalton doing anything), but they really need to plot a better arc through each season.

[Majin Blu]

Any guesses as to how much this will be on release day?