wideawakewesley
10-22-2007, 10:13 PM
The UK's second largest TV network is ITV and this Wednesday they're airing a one off modern remake of Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s classic horror, Frankenstein, is given a fresh new twist, as literature’s most infamous creator, Dr Victor Frankenstein, is re-born in the 21st century as a female biologist.
Multi-award winning actress Helen McCrory (The Queen) is Victoria Frankenstein, the female scientist whose controversial research ultimately spawns a monster. McCrory leads a top-name cast including James Purefoy (Rome), Neil Pearson (Bridget Jones’s Diary) and Lindsay Duncan (Longford) in this tragic tale of obsession.
Frankenstein is executive produced by Tim Haines, best known for his work on the Emmy Award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs. Haines says: "Everyone knows Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but as it’s set in the 19th century we can distance ourselves from its horrors. It’s just a story. However, this adaptation moves the story forward and Frankenstein takes on a terrifying new dimension. Our experience with creating CGI monsters has enabled us to bring to life Shelley’s horrific creation as never seen before."
The story
In 1816, the Year Without Summer, a volcanic eruption filled the sky with ash. The world became dark and cold. That year, Mary Shelley conceived the story of a scientist who created a monster… and now it’s set to be re-born in the 21st century.
At an unspecified time in the near future, the earth’s climate has changed. As water mixes with the volcanic ash in the atmosphere, the rain runs red. While a storm rages overhead, Dr Victoria Frankenstein sits by the hospital bed of her dying son, William. Doctors tell her to prepare for the worst.
Brilliant and committed, Frankenstein is a scientist conducting highly controversial work in the field of stem cell research and biotechnology. Overseen by Professor Andrew Waldman (Neil Pearson) her latest research programme, the Universal Xenograft Project, is pushing her and her assistant Ed Gore (Benedict Wong) to the limit of their abilities.
But for Frankenstein, the incentive is not financial reward or international acclaim. Convinced that the UX Project is her son’s last chance for survival and maddened by grief and desperation, Victoria secretly takes a sample of his blood and incorporates it into the programme. She tells no one what she has done.
In the confines of a purpose built tank, the cells grow quickly. As they diversify, mutate and re-form, Ed is astonished by their progression. When he notes the presence of what can only be a human tooth within the tank, he alerts Waldman. The two men confront Frankenstein and the three then view X-rays of the internal activity. They reveal a large mass of organs and tissue and as she peers into the tank, an eye opens. Victoria realises with horror that she is no longer in control of the experiment. The UX is breeding its own bio-organism and… it’s alive.
Mary Shelley’s classic horror, Frankenstein, is given a fresh new twist, as literature’s most infamous creator, Dr Victor Frankenstein, is re-born in the 21st century as a female biologist.
Multi-award winning actress Helen McCrory (The Queen) is Victoria Frankenstein, the female scientist whose controversial research ultimately spawns a monster. McCrory leads a top-name cast including James Purefoy (Rome), Neil Pearson (Bridget Jones’s Diary) and Lindsay Duncan (Longford) in this tragic tale of obsession.
Frankenstein is executive produced by Tim Haines, best known for his work on the Emmy Award-winning Walking with Dinosaurs. Haines says: "Everyone knows Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but as it’s set in the 19th century we can distance ourselves from its horrors. It’s just a story. However, this adaptation moves the story forward and Frankenstein takes on a terrifying new dimension. Our experience with creating CGI monsters has enabled us to bring to life Shelley’s horrific creation as never seen before."
The story
In 1816, the Year Without Summer, a volcanic eruption filled the sky with ash. The world became dark and cold. That year, Mary Shelley conceived the story of a scientist who created a monster… and now it’s set to be re-born in the 21st century.
At an unspecified time in the near future, the earth’s climate has changed. As water mixes with the volcanic ash in the atmosphere, the rain runs red. While a storm rages overhead, Dr Victoria Frankenstein sits by the hospital bed of her dying son, William. Doctors tell her to prepare for the worst.
Brilliant and committed, Frankenstein is a scientist conducting highly controversial work in the field of stem cell research and biotechnology. Overseen by Professor Andrew Waldman (Neil Pearson) her latest research programme, the Universal Xenograft Project, is pushing her and her assistant Ed Gore (Benedict Wong) to the limit of their abilities.
But for Frankenstein, the incentive is not financial reward or international acclaim. Convinced that the UX Project is her son’s last chance for survival and maddened by grief and desperation, Victoria secretly takes a sample of his blood and incorporates it into the programme. She tells no one what she has done.
In the confines of a purpose built tank, the cells grow quickly. As they diversify, mutate and re-form, Ed is astonished by their progression. When he notes the presence of what can only be a human tooth within the tank, he alerts Waldman. The two men confront Frankenstein and the three then view X-rays of the internal activity. They reveal a large mass of organs and tissue and as she peers into the tank, an eye opens. Victoria realises with horror that she is no longer in control of the experiment. The UX is breeding its own bio-organism and… it’s alive.