Hungary 1897 and British lawyer Jonathan Harker seeks refuge in a convent, recalling the horrific treatment he suffered at the hands of the undead Count Dracula.

A reinvention of a literary classic by the makers of Sherlock was always going to be a big deal, and Steven Moffat’s and Mark Gatiss’ three-part adaptation of Bram Stoker’s horror story certainly merits its ‘event television’ status.

Covering the opening chapters of the book, specifically Harker’s time at the castle, it’s told in flashback by an emaciated John Heffernan to Sister Agnes (a joyous Dolly Wells) and her chaperone. But because it’s prime Moffat/Gatiss, nothing is as straight forwards as it first appears, and while they might not currently be producing a fifth series of Sherlock, they have plenty of opportunity here to play Baker Street detective.

That’s not to say it doesn’t create its own identity, the production values excelling on every level, from location shooting in Slovakia (the same castle used in 1922’s Nosferatu), to the labyrinthine sets built at Hammer’s old haunt, Bray Studios, and David Arnold/ Michael Price’s creepy score. There’s plenty of gory moments, from a gloopy transformation to stakings to a fly scuttling under an eyelid.

But what of Dracula himself? How does Claes Bang measure up against a formidable litany of interpretation from Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee? He’s rather good actually, displaying an arrogant confidence and panache that comes from years of getting your own way. We first see him as a wizened old man before rapidly de-ageing at the same time Harker loses his hair and fingernails.

At just over the hour mark, the feature-length episode goes completely off-Stoker with an impressive sequence set in the convent. At times the nuns are one step away from the Good Omens’ Chattering of St Beryl, and some of the humour is broad to the point where you say – ‘really? – but a schoolboy chortle is then followed by a clever zinger or gush of blood… it’s never boring.

Verdict: I’m sure that Dracula would be spinning in his grave if he wasn’t pinned down by a stake in his coffin, but hurrah for Moffat and Gatiss for breathing new life into this chestnut of a story, proving that there really still is life in this bloody tale. And he hasn’t even left for England yet. 8/10

Nick Joy