blood-suckers for kiddies

[masquedbunny]

This is a significant break from the graphic violence and sexual content of True Blood. There's absolutely nothing serious about--and not too much actual danger involved in--Young Dracula, so it's a kind of tongue-in-cheek breath of fresh air from the usual vampire fare. This would not have interested me much when I was a child, because I was a purist and liked my vampires irony-free, tragic, and dramatic. Anne Rice was the order of the day. Then, I finally watched Buffy ... Buffy can get pretty silly at times; this is sillier than that, really all of the time. Stupid, yes. But very funny, too.



Synopsis: The Dracula family--

• two children:
  • Vladimir [more often "Vlad" or "Vladdie"] (Gerran Howell), a 12 year-old not-yet-vampire who would rather lead a good and normal life than become a vampire
  • Ingrid (Clare Thomas), a 14 year-old not-yet-vampire who wants nothing more than to gain her full vampiric powers and follow in her father's footsteps
• the single dad, a blood-thirsty 600 year-old vampire known only as Count or Countie (played by the wonderful show-stealing Keith-Lee Castle) who dotes on his reluctant son and heir while ignoring or being actively cruel to his daughter
• their dim, dirty, demented manservant, Renfield (Simon Ludders)

--is uprooted from their homeland of Transylvania due to trouble with the locals (the oft alluded to "angry peasant mob"), and move into an empty castle in suburban Wales. Yes, Wales. Stokely, Wales. Vlad makes friends with their neighbors down the hill, the Branaughs--

• four children;
  • Robin (Craig Roberts), a boy of Vlad's age, bored with the normalcy of suburban living, and having a penchant for vampires, horror, and gore; he's often seen wearing a cape to school
  • Chloe (Lucy Borja-Edwards), the youngest of the Branaghs and something of a child prodigy
  • Paul and Ian (Luke Bridgeman and Ben McGregor), often called "the twins", these eldest siblings are a pair of jocks
• mother and father, Elizabeth and Graham (Beth Robert and Aneirin Hughes), decidedly normal parents; Elizabeth is overly understanding and eager to accept the neighbors, whatever their odd customs; Graham is more cautious, but just as conveniently blind to the Draculas oddities where it counts

As one might expect, the writers make thin references to Bram Stoker's Dracula wherever possible.

... I have a lot to say about the show, probably more than is called for. It's mostly written out already, but it needs reordering. In the meanwhile, if you're curious (or just bored and looking for something funny to watch), all 27 episodes are available to watch on YouTube:

ydracula.webs.com