Showtime is reviving ‘Penny Dreadful’… well, kind of. A new series called ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ will be set in 1930s Los Angeles and will feature a brand new cast of characters, however original creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner John Logan is back and the new series is described as a “spiritual descendant” of the first. He will be joined by ‘Kidding”s Michael Aguilar.
Showtime states that this new setting is “a time and place deeply infused with Mexican-American folklore and social tension,” and the show will follow characters aligned with the deity Santa Muerte as they clash with the devil and his followers. ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ promises to be a “mix of the supernatural and the combustible reality of that period, creating new occult myths and moral dilemmas within a historical backdrop.
As Logan said:
“Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will have a social consciousness and historical awareness that we chose not to explore in the Penny Dreadful London storylines. We will now be grappling with specific historical and real-world political, religious, social and racial issues. In 1938, Los Angeles was facing some hard questions about its future and its soul. Our characters must do the same. There are no easy answers. There are only powerful questions and arresting moral challenges. As always in the world of Penny Dreadful, there are no heroes or villains in this world, only protagonists and antagonists; complicated and conflicted characters living on the fulcrum of moral choice.”
The first ‘Penny Dreadful’ aired on Showtime for three seasons from 2014-16. It was set in Victorian London and brought together characters from such classic tales as ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. Despite strong ratings, Logan felt the story had run its course and the show ended on a shocking note, the death of lead character Vanessa Ives (Eva Green).
There is little additional information about ‘City of Angels’ beyond the fact that production is being eyed to begin in 2019. The first season of the original consisted of eight episodes, the second of ten and the third of nine. It’s unknown how many the first season of ‘City of Angels’ will contain.
Were you a fan of the original? Are you excited about a new series that has the same name but a completely different premise?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
