You might know Vanessa Kirby for her roles as Princess Margaret on "The Crown," the White Widow in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, or, most recently, her turn as the Invisible Woman/Sue Storm in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."
In truth, however, Kirby has been acting since 2010, having gotten her start via supporting roles in British TV and theatre. Her last television role before her breakout work on "The Crown" was in the 2015 period piece horror/crime series, "The Frankenstein Chronicles."
But if you think you already know what the show is about based on its title, guess again.
Created by Benjamin Ross and Barry Langford, "The Frankenstein Chronicles" is not the story of ambitious medical student Victor Frankenstein playing God. (For that, you've got plenty of movie versions of "Frankenstein" to choose from.) Rather, it's a murder mystery set in 19th-century England. The tale begins with Thames River Police Inspector John Marlott (Sean Bean) discovering a child's dead body washed upon the river shore ... or, to be more precise, bodies. Yes, it soon comes to light that the corpse is actually mutilated pieces of several dead children stitched together, and Marlott is assigned to find the butcher responsible.
Hanging over the story is the ongoing passage of the 1832 Anatomy Act in the British parliament. This law restricted medicine to licensed doctors and cracked down on grave robbers by giving licensed surgeons the use of unclaimed corpses. The legislation hardly sounds controversial today, but as "The Frankenstein Chronicles" documents, the public was split back then. The 1800s were a more superstitious time, after all. As the show reveals, those who rallied against the bill argued that it would deny the poor proper rest and reserve the right to Heaven for the wealthy.
This subplot is where Kirby comes in. She plays noblewoman Lady Jemima Hervey, the sister of Anatomy Act opponent Lord Daniel Hervey (Ed Stoppard). Lord Harvey's opposition to the bill lands him on Marlott's suspect list, since the stitched-together corpse is assumed to be the work of someone trying to expose the "butchery" that surgery is. Marlott only sees the Anatomy Act as a crime prevention bill, and during the first season, Jemima tries to sway him to her side.
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The Frankenstein Chronicles Was A Mary Shelley-Inspired Gothic Murder Mystery
"The Frankenstein Chronicles" is a most unconventional adaptation of the story, but trust me, the title isn't there just for brand recognition. You could argue the show itself is made in the same fashion as Victor Frankenstein's Creature or Marlott's river corpse were; disparate pieces stitched together into something new.
As the series' lead, Bean channels his performance as Ned Stark from "Game of Thrones," an honorable (but firm) man in a corrupt world. He is excellent as Marlott even if you've seen tortured detective characters like him before; he's even got the requisite "haunted by a dead wife and child" backstory.
What's more unique than the series' protagonist is its metatext. The show is not set in the world of the "Frankenstein" novel. Instead, Marlott stumbles upon one of the major clues to delivering the mystery when he discovers and reads that book in episode 2. Mary Shelley (Anna Maxwell Martin) is similarly a recurring character in season 1, along with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley (Richard Clements). They're not the only 19th-century British writers on the show either. A dying William Blake (Steven Berkoff) briefly appears in episode 2 and his "The Little Girl Lost" poem is another one of the clues Marlott uncovers. Likewise, a young Charles Dickens (Ryan Sampson) is a recurring character, working as a journalist pen-named "Boz."
"The Frankenstein Chronicles" ultimately ran for two seasons, concluding in 2017 after 12 episodes. While the show appears unlikely to get a shock back to life and walk again, the two seasons it has are worth any "Frankenstein" fan's time.
"The Frankenstein Chronicles" is currently streaming on Prime Video. Season 1 is also streaming for free (with ads) on the Roku Channel.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
