The gothic horror TV series Penny Dreadful, which is the product of a collaboration between Skyfall‘s Sam Mendes and John Logan, has been given the greenlight for a second series.
According to the popular industry journal Variety, the unusual and darkly scary eight-part TV series has proved a big hit with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, and US TV bosses at Showtime, which backed the series, have expressed keen enthusiasm for a second season of the show.
David Nevins, of Showtime, told Variety that the show had ‘exceeded his expectations at all levels’. Showtime has apparently ordered 10 episodes for the new season two, with production set to resume later this year in Dublin, Ireland, for a TV airing in 2015. The series has seen very solid viewer ratings in both the US and UK, and there are various plans to air the show in other key markets across the globe.
The series is executive produced by Mendes, Logan and Pippa Harris (who is part of Neal Street Productions, the company set up by Mendes, Harris and Caro Newling). It is thought that John Logan, who penned all eight episodes of Penny Dreadful and has also penned the story for Bond 24, will also write the next ten episodes for the renewed season two.
This will make the Skyfall writer a very busy man, as he has been working on a new musical for the stage (The Last Ship) for the musician Sting, and is also due to work on the plot for Bond 25 at some point in the next year or so.
The Penny Dreadful series has proved especially popular with 007 fans, not just for the quality of writing from Logan but also because of the various Bond stalwarts who have appeared on screen, including Timothy Dalton (as Sir Malcolm), Eva Green (as Vanessa Ives), Helen McCrory (as Madame Kali) and Rory Kinnear (as The Creature).
Former two-times 007 Timothy Dalton, who recently gave a detailed interview to avclub.com, when asked to describe his character in Penny Dreadful, said Sir Malcolm is obsessive, determined, ruthless and manipulative ‘and as you can see, I’m one of the good guys!’