If television were an accurate barometer of the vampire risk faced by the general population, we’d all be wearing neck guards and stringing up the garlic with every sunset.
The little screen teems and froths with bloodsuckers – The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, True Blood, Being Human and Hemlock Grove – who open more throats than an emergency tracheotomy team, then conveniently "compel" us to forget the mayhem we saw so they can continue to get away with bloody murder.
That all of the above takes place in our modern world – an era that pooh-poohs the paranormal and puts the sum of human knowledge on tap via palm-sized smartphones – shows just how far today's misguided vampires have strayed from the mysterious, gothic roots so ably planted in our collective consciousness by the Irish author Bram Stoker when he wrote Dracula in 1897.
Purists, take heart. Your dark prayers have been answered with Dracula, a provocative new drama that brings the bat-winged sexy back to Victorian England.
Expect a "new version of the classic Bram Stoker tale", says Bob Greenblatt, the chairman of NBC Entertainment. "In the world of Twilight and True Blood and all the contemporised stories, we thought we'd go back to the original."
The Irish actor and Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors, Velvet Goldmine) stars in this twisty, sophisticated hour as one of the world's most iconic demons, who slips into London in the guise of the American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson.
He’s not there for the crumpets, either. He hopes to exact revenge on those who cursed him with immortality as Dracula, back in his dark medieval days when he was known as Vlad Tepes, a prince of Wallachia.
“His anger and his fury have been building up for hundreds of years,” says Rhys Meyers. “He’s a manifestation of pain and loss. He’s a tempest.
“It’s what happens when you ‘break’ somebody to that extent. When you completely demolish their spirit, when you completely demolish their environment and take away those things that they love. Not only taking away his wife, his kingdom and his power – but taking away his life and not allowing him the peace of death. It’s the ultimate cruelty. It’s torture on an epic level.”
His revenge plan is derailed, however, when he falls for the go-getter medical student Mina Murray (Jessica De Gouw) – who appears to be the reincarnation of his wife.
"When she sees Grayson for the very first time, she is overcome by this sense of knowing, of déjà vu. She recognises him instantly – but cannot place why," says De Gouw, an Australian actress who also portrays The Huntress in Arrow.
“Grayson has a very different experience of Mina. He knows her as Ilona, his wife who was murdered in front of his eyes centuries ago. His response to her? He’s completely caught off guard and completely knocked off his feet by it, because his love for Ilona was so intense.”
While Dracula does indeed stay true to its time period, it also looks towards the future.
Grayson’s mission is to bring modern science to Victorian society. He’s above all interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night – useful for someone who shuns the sun.
Dracula serves up “hints of modernity and bits of the past”, adds De Gouw. “There’s a bit of blood, guts and gore. And some sex. It’s got everything. And it looks so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
The sweeping period sets and ornate decor "contain the majesty of Downton Abbey or Boardwalk Empire", says Rhys Meyers. "It's very, very lush and very, very beautiful.
“I think using beautiful sets and putting people out of their time comfort zone is a way of allowing them to embrace the fantastic-ness of what is happening – the brutality, but also the beauty. It’s easier to digest in a historical setting.”
• Dracula is on at 10pm tomorrow on OSN First HD
artslife@thenational.ae
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Southampton 0
Manchester City 1 (Sterling 16')
Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Super Saturday race card
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Kibsons%20Cares
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Company%20Profile
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
