Young Dracula

Young Dracula
Young Dracula title card
Genre	Children's Television
Created by	Danny Robins Dan Tetsell
Starring	Keith-Lee Castle Gerran Howell Clare Thomas
Composers	John Rea (series 1) Nick Lloyd (series 2)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	41 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Josephine Ward
Producer	Mia Jupp
Editors	Pedr James Bleddyn Rhys
Camera setup	Benjamin Coles Clive Baldwin Joseph Marsden Lewis Bolwell
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	CBBC
Release	21 September 2006 (2006-09-21) – Present

Young Dracula is a British children's television series airing on CBBC, loosely based on the children's book by Michael Lawrence. Directed by Joss Agnew, the first series was broadcast in 2006, and the second series, which started in late 2007, concluded in early 2008. A third series has been commissioned and is expected to air in 2012.

The series follows the Dracula family: Vladimir, his father Count Dracula, and older sister Ingrid. Having lived in Transylvania, they move to Stokely, a small town in Britain after various incidents involving angry peasant mobs.

The programme is set in the UK, and is filmed in various locations around Wales, including Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, Caerphilly Castle, Tretower Court and parts of Llantrisant.

Young Dracula has been nominated for Best Children's Drama in the 2008 BAFTA awards.

Episodes

Main article: List of Young Dracula episodes

Characters

The Draculas

Count Dracula (Keith-Lee Castle) is a 600-year-old vampire who has emigrated to Britain with his family to escape his problems with the local villagers in Transylvania. As a vampire, he sleeps in a coffin during the day to avoid sunlight, and can turn into a bat at will, along with many other supernatural powers: he can command fire, open and shut doors at the click of his fingers, can move at great speed, and even move his soul from his own body into another. Though he has survived by drinking the blood of "breathers" - the vampire term for mortal humans - he has had to resort to drinking the blood of sheep to keep a low profile.

Despite his claims to be "pure evil", he has shown compassion occasionally. He is deeply in love - as much as he denies it - with Magda, the estranged mother of Vlad and Ingrid. He also follows a strict vampiric honour code, such as not killing other vampires and leading a pure vampiric lifestyle. This vampiric tradition favours sons over daughters, and despite Ingrid's obvious vampiric talents, he favours his young son Vlad and is constantly ignoring or otherwise brushing off his daughter Ingrid. However, he has shown signs of changing his ways, such as begrudgingly allowing his son to have "breather" friends.

Vladimir "Vlad" Dracula (Gerran Howell) is the Count's "son and heir". Unlike his sister Ingrid, Vlad would much prefer to be a normal child than a vampire, although he does occasionally show elements of his father's wit and ability to manipulate people. He finds friendship with an outcast boy named Robin Branagh and also becomes friends with Robin's sister, Chloe. Vlad also has a friendship with his loyal stuffed, talking wolf named Zoltan. Vlad often wants to please his father, but also to be a "normal" boy, and much of the series focuses on the conflict of these two ideals.

Vlad continues to "discover" his abilities throughout the series. He accidentally hypnotised his father before learning to control his hypnotic ability; shot fire from his hands at will; and entered the "Dreamworld" to discover more about his powers, an ability not usually gained before a vampire's sixteenth birthday. It is in the Dreamworld that Vlad discovers he is the "Chosen One" - the vampire that will become the leader of all vampires, and guide the vampire race to a new destiny. Though he refuses to believe he is the Chosen One, he accepts his destiny in the final episode when he wears the Grand High Vampire's crown, which destroys anyone unworthy who tries to wear it. This grants him his full powers, which he uses to erase the memories of all breathers present, so that they forget about vampires. Vlad then falls to the floor, weak and unconscious, and the second series ends.

Ingrid Dracula (Clare Thomas) is the elder child of Count Dracula. Unlike her brother, she embraces the vampiric lifestyle and dresses in feminine, black or red Gothic clothes. Ingrid is an attractive but cruel character, spending most of her time taunting people or arguing with her father, whom she wishes to impress, but to no avail. Initially furious at having to move to Britain, she enjoys the popularity at her new school, particularly taunting Ian and Paul Branagh, who follow her around persistently. Her ultimate goal is to become an "all-powerful vampire goddess".

She is not entirely heartless, however; when given a gift by Mrs Branaugh, she becomes quite emotional and ultimately helps to save the Branagh family from being harmed by vampires. Ingrid also falls in love with a breather named Will, initially much to her own disgust; when she comes dangerously close to biting him, she wavers at the idea of transforming into a Princess of Darkness for the first time. She ultimately bites Will when he panics after she reveals she is a vampire, which in turn transforms him into a vampire. It is Will's slaying at the hands of a vampire slayer that cause her to declare all breathers to be her enemy at the end of the second series.

Renfield (Simon Ludders) is the Draculas' servant and dogsbody, a dim-witted, unclean breather who has been in service to the Draculas for his entire life after the death of his servant father, Renfield senior. He does all that he can to help the Count, but tends to get things wrong. Despite appearing to be unintelligent, he is seen to be skilled at alchemy and dentistry. He also appears to have a penchant for cross-dressing. He is not, however, particularly "mad" like the original Renfield from the story of Dracula, but is perhaps comparable with Igor from various Frankenstein films. It is not known whether he will continue to serve the Draculas, as at the end of the second series, Vlad causes him, along with the slayers and the Branaghs, to forget that there are any such things as vampires.

Zoltan (Andy Bradshaw, animatronics by Colin Newman and puppeteer (series two) Garry Rutter) is Vlad's stuffed wolf who speaks in a Russian accent, frequently giving advice to both Robin and Vlad, though his advice is not always heeded. Despite his status as a taxidermy victim, Zoltan gets around the castle very well on his wheels. Zoltan and a group other hellhounds he associated with killed Renfield's father when they thought he was an intruder skulking around the castle. Zoltan is often mistreated by vampires other than Vlad; Zoltan remarks that he was often thrown off the battlement every Saturday when the Count's brother, Ivan, came to visit. Zoltan shares the same name as the Vampiric dog in the movie "Zoltan Hound of Dracula" in 1978.

Magda Westenra (Donna Grant) is Dracula's ex-wife (though by her own admission, she and the count never actually married) who "ran off with a werewolf" named Patrick, much to the disgust of the Count. She is considerably vain and selfish, often manipulating the Count's feelings towards her, and claiming to love him, when she has ulterior motives. The Count seems to love her precisely because she is so heartless. Later, Magda has a part-werewolf son with Patrick, though once again she manipulates the Count by trying to pretend that he is the father. She leaves to return to Patrick after her ruse is discovered.

Krone and Atilla Westenra (Howell Evans and Rosamund Shelly) are Vlad and Ingrid's maternal grandparents, described as being "wicked, spiteful and evil". They are incredibly strict about vampire laws, believing that the traditional vampiric ways should be upheld at all times. Neither Krone nor Atilla think much of the Count, and claim he brought further shame upon the family when he moved them to Stokely. They show favouritism towards Ingrid, but in accordance with vampire tradition share the view with the rest of the family that Vlad should be the one to inherit the title, despite his lack of natural aptitude.

Ivan Dracula (Phillip Brodie) is the Count's younger brother, who lives in America but briefly stays at the Castle with his two children Boris and Olga. Despite being introduced in a flashback as evil and blood thirsty, Ivan has taken up a new way of life, drinking "soya blood" ("blood-free since '93" after meeting a group of new age werewolves), using fake tan, and making his living from real estate using the name "Harvey". However, after he smells a slayer's blood, he returns to his bloodthirsty ways, much to Vlad's dismay, before moving back to America with his children.

Boris Dracula (Ciaran Joyce) is Vlad's cousin who, like Vlad, did not wish to be a vampire. A physically weak asthmatic, he develops a friendship with Vlad, and both attempt to find a way out of transformation before Boris' upcoming sixteenth birthday, the arrival of which is portended by some of his powers manifesting early. Unable to find a way out of transformation, Boris becomes a handsome vampire who manipulates Vlad into believing he has transformed into a "good" vampire. However, he soon reveals his true nature, and attempts to drain power from his father and the Count, and telling Vlad that he too will become evil when his transformation occurs. After Ivan moves his family back to America, Boris returns by disguising himself as the vampiric community's "judge, jury and executioner", slaying the Grand High Vampire and attempting to wear the Grand High Vampire's crown, but as only one who is worth of wearing the crown may do so, he is instantly turned to dust.

Olga Dracula (Maddie Rakic-Platt) is Ivan's daughter and Boris's sister. She acts like a nice little girl in front of her father and uncle, but is fiercely and competitively evil when not in the company of adults, and is obviously spoilt. She is often engaged in verbal warfare with Ingrid, and despite always being very confident, tends to lose.

The Branaghs

Mr Graham Branagh and Mrs Elizabeth Branagh (Aneirin Hughes and Beth Roberts) are the cheery, typically suburbanite neighbours of the Draculas, and a constant annoyance to the Count. Where Dracula does his best to make Vlad a "normal vampire", they constantly do their best to make Robin a "normal boy", finding his fixation with vampires somewhat unhealthy. Though they eventually discover the true nature of the Dracula family, Vlad erases their memories of vampires, and the family leave the castle to return to normal life.

Robin Branagh (Craig Roberts) is Vlad's best friend, and self-confessed "vampire geek", even to the extent of wearing a black cape to school. Robin is the first person outside of the Dracula household to discover that his new friend is in fact a vampire after spotting a hearse from his bedroom and following it up to the castle then climbing inside Vlad's bedroom window. Despite being considered strange, Robin is shown to be a respectable (if morbid) artist and an excellent chess player, as well as a competent football player, much to his shock.

Robin's love of vampire culture is frequently used as a counter to Vlad's desire to be a normal human, often not caring for the "danger" or "significance" of a given situation but prefering the "coolness" of vampirism. Though a loyal friend to Vlad, he often tries to encourage Vlad's vampiric destiny, at times only begrudgingly helping Vlad in his attempts to avoid becoming a vampire; Robin fears that if Vlad does achieve his wish in becoming normal he will no longer speak to Robin leaving him feeling alone once again. Along with the rest of his family, Vlad makes him forget vampires ever existed, but whether he will forget about being his best friend is unclear.

Chloe Branagh (Lucy Borja-Edwards) is Robin's ten-year-old sister, the voice of reason in the friendship between Vlad, Robin and herself, and is often seen as the rival of Ingrid. She describes herself as a "child prodigy", and has a depth of knowledgeable ranging from Egyptian hieroglyphs to psychology. A caring person, she attempts to help Renfield stand up for his rights against the Count, with limited success. She later shies away from her friendship with Vlad after the incident at the castle that nearly saw her family attacked by vampires, but does help Vlad and Robin look for an artifact that would cure the curse of vampirism.

Ian and Paul Branagh (Ben McGregor and Luke Bridgeman) are the not overly-bright twin sons of Graham and Elizabeth. Both have huge crushes on Ingrid, and alternately rival and assist one another in getting near her. Though originally annoyed by their presence, Ingrid eventually learns to manipulate them to her advantage. They do not seem to have a good brotherly relationship with Robin, whom they frequently refer to as the "freak" or the "weirdo goth child".

The van Helsings

Mr Eric van Helsing (Terence Maynard) is an incompetent vampire slayer who originally believed Robin to be a vampire due to his dress and appearance, but turned his attention to Vlad after discovering he lived in a castle and had arrived from Transylvania. His daytime, or "cover", identity is as a woodwork teacher at Stokely Grammar School, which the Branagh and the Dracula children attend. Whilst not a real threat to the much stronger, smarter Count Dracula, he is a constant annoyance to the family, who under no circumstances can afford to have their secret revealed to the world, while his obsession annoys his son Jonathan who initially does not believe in vampires and would rather live a normal life.

Despite entering the castle multiple times in many disguises, he has only once come close to slaying Dracula, when he fired a wooden crossbow-bolt into the Count's heart; unfortunately for van Helsing, it hit a flask of poisoned blood in the Count's waistcoat pocket, which he had given him earlier when disguised (poorly) as a female vampire. He finally manages to slay a vampire when rescuing his ex-wife from the clutches of the Count, but as Vlad erases the memory of the mortals in the castle, he soon after forgets the existence of vampires along with the Branaghs.

Jonathan 'Jonno' van Helsing (Terry Haywood) is the son of Eric and reluctant heir to the traditional vampire-slaying vocation of the van Helsings. Throughout series one, Jonathan is often exasperated by his father's tendency to see vampires everywhere. Despite plenty of opportunities, Jonathan fails to recognise that Vlad, Ingrid (on whom he has a crush, but by whom he is completely ignored) and the Count are vampires until the final episode of the first series.

His father continuously ignores his needs because of his obsession with vampire-slaying. Jonathan occasionally tries to tell his father that his vampire-hunter obsession is the reason Jonathan's mother left him for an estate agent. However, after discovering that the Draculas are vampires, he develops a hatred for Vlad and all the members of the Dracula family, and decides to follow in his father's footsteps. Along with the Branaghs, his memory is erased by Vlad at the end of the second series.

Mina van Helsing (Jo-Anne Knowles) is the wife of Eric who left him and Jonathan before the series began, having become sick of her husband's obsession with vampires, She returns in series two to discovers that Jonathan now shares his father's obsession with vampires and decides to temporarily remain with the pair, in the hope of knocking some sense into them. After the Count is taunted by Ingrid for not biting any "breathers" the Count captures Mina and keeps her in the castle dungeons. She is saved by Eric and Jonathan, and apologises for not believing them, but thanks to Vlad, forgets about vampires and that she was ever a prisoner.

Others

Will Clarke (Harry Ferrier) is Ingrid's love interest in the second series. Will attends Stokely Grammar and appears to be one of the most popular boys there; he proves himself to be different from the other boys at Stokely Grammar as he does not fawn over Ingrid. At first, Ingrid views him as an annoyance, but quickly finds herself falling for him and, after dancing at the Valentine's Ball, the two become a couple, despite the disgust Ingrid had shown in series one at the idea of dating a breather. Will and Ingrid continue to date for the rest of the series.

Later, after Ingrid's transformation, Will and Ingrid arrange to go out on a date to see a film; when Will remarks that he would enjoy dating a vampire, Ingrid reveals her true nature, which terrifies him. She bites him, and he becomes a "Half-Fang" - a vampire that was not born, but bitten as a mortal - a term that Will despises. Whether or not it is known by the school, or his family, who are never seen or mentioned on screen, is unknown. Will seems to enjoy his life as a vampire living in the Dracula castle, providing Ingrid with the attention and love she had needed and wanted throughout her life. Upon becoming a vampire Will becomes more confrontational, and it is this new reckless impulse that costs Will his new life; when slayers attack the castle, he jumps out from behind the safety of the barrier, and is slain. His death drives Ingrid's anger at the end of the series, when she claims the Count's throne for her own, intending to avenge Will's death.

Incorporated themes

The series encompasses a lot of things that many schoolchildren find difficult. On the series' own webpage there is information on moving house, which can be stressful for young people. One of Vlad's early concerns is having to adjust to living away from his native country and speaking a new language in order to pass as a "normal" human, which of course is all he wants to be. There is divorce and adultery in both the Dracula and Van Helsing households and in each, the children despair at how out of touch their respective fathers are on realistic, modern-day life - a complaint of many young teenagers. Vlad, Jonathan and Robin feel isolated not only from outsiders but from the rest of their families, where by contrast Ingrid, who really wants to be a vampire, rages at the preferential treatment her brother receives from their father despite her greater skills and better grades at "vampirism", so that she feels even less at home within the culture she should be flourishing in. Above all, difficult, irregular and complicated family relationships (a trait that Vlad, Ingrid, Robin, Chloe and Jonathan all share, despite being otherwise quite different characters) is an ongoing theme that makes it in yet another way more familiar to modern young viewers, whilst at the same time being unafraid, in the second series, to have an element of darkness in it and so make it different from quite a lot of other children's series of the time.

Awards

In 2008 Young Dracula was nominated for BAFTA Children's Drama Award.

External links

• Young Dracula at IMDb
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