Nightropolis (UK TV series)

Nightropolis is a 2012 fantasy horror drama television series created by JK Rowling and Kate Cary that aired on 9th November 2012.

It stars Bonnie Wright as Jane Salvatore, and Freddie Highmore as her brother Blake, both of them orphaned and living with their guardian (Samantha Bond), who are introduced to the alternate reality Nightropolis, a world of magnificent but frightening possibilities. It also stars Charles Dance as Count Dracula, the main antagonist of the series and the Mayor of Nightropolis.

Nightropolis itself is a magical realm consistent of a multitude of fantasy creatures including vampires, zombies, witches, wraiths, ghosts, cyclopes, basilisks and werewolves. The arrival of Jane and Blake signifies that they are both powerful magicians, and that their deceased parents had some sort of connection in Nightropolis. As the series progresses, they become familiar with the world they've inhabited and become pivotal in its affairs and the coming war that was prophecised upon their arrival.

The TV series was aired on BBC One at 9pm every Saturday as of 9th November 2012, and there are fifteen episodes per season. Netflix purchased the rights in 2014, but the show continued to air on both BBC One and Netflix either way.

The show was a massive success at the box office and became tremendously popular and publicly well-received by audiences, with praise for the story, drama, characters and the ensemble cast's performances.

Cast

 * Bonnie Wright as Jane Salvatore, Blake's older sister - lazy, arrogant, vain and ferocious, Jane was undeniably highly intelligent but refused to concentrate in class because her and her brother's status as orphans. When she enters Nightropolis, she is revealed to have the potential to be an extremely powerful witch who wields telepathic and telekinetic powers. She is responsible for entering herself and her brother into Nightropolis when she unknowingly transports them there during an argument.
 * Freddie Highmore as Blake Salvatore, Jane's younger brother - strong, patient, stubborn and compassionate, Blake is not particularly intelligent but he is undeniably loyal to his sister, though they battle constantly. He was his school's champion hockey player before he enters Nightropolis, where he learns that he also has the potential to be an extremely powerful sorcerer, but this time he has the ability to manipulate elements of earth, fire, ice, air, electricity and water. He is prophecised to kill Jane during at the climax of the Witching Hour.
 * Charles Dance as Count Dracula, the Mayor of Nightropolis and the most recurring antagonist in the series. Ancient, powerful, mysterious and implacable, Dracula is the oldest vampire alive and seeks to be able to properly enter the mortal world indefinitely, considering that creatures from Nightropolis can only remain there for a short amount of time. He is the archenemy of the Salvatore siblings, and despite being a powerful vampire he is unable to appear outside of daytime.
 * Jude Law as the Watcher, a mysterious ghost who haunts the gateways between Nightropolis and the mortal world and guides Jane and Blake through their adventures in Nightropolis. His true identity is unknown, even to the most ancient of creatures found in Nightropolis, and the exact nature of his death was apparently too terrible for words. The Watcher possesses implacable telepathic powers and can always tell when a person is lying to another person, which makes him a difficult person to trust.
 * Robert Carlyle as Lord Greystorm, the King of the Zombies. A man who was killed during World War One and guided by the Watcher to Nightropolis to serve Count Dracula as the head of his secret police. He has a vast control and authority over zombies, but there are limitations as of Dracula's divine laws of possession. Malevolent, cunning, ruthless and fearsome, Greystorm is the commander of the only creatures that can properly enter the mortal world.
 * Maisie Williams as Lady Stoneglare, a gorgon who had her eyes ripped out when she was a child so that she wouldn't kill her parents when she first looked at them (As was the nature for all gorgons). Young, impetuous, paranoid and cryptic, Lady Stoneglare is the priestess at the Church of the Witching Hour and it is rumoured that she can see into the future in her dreams. Dracula keeps her eyes in the vaults of his castle. When she meets the Salvatores, she experiences a ferocious seizure and prophecises about the Witching Hour, which puts in motion the events of the whole series.
 * Eddie Redmayne as Count Lucien, an immensely powerful witch with divine knowledge of the arcane extremes of sorcery. He is extremely manipulative and Machiavellian, and was once the brother of Count Dracula before he was bitten. Now, he is estranged from Dracula and lives deep underground where Dracula cannot reach him. He is organising a coup d'etat against his brother, in the knowledge that the man is intent on invading the mortal world.
 * Sarah Bolger as Gemma Fray, Jane's best friend in the mortal world and the school's 'prom princess', in that she is the most popular girl in the school. Spoiled, extravagant, attractive and cunning, Gemma's accepting Jane into her social circle was the reason for Blake and his sister fighting and discovering Nightropolis. Throughout the series, she stymies Jane with the threat of not being part of her popular circle, which is one of the reason Jane wants to learn magic in order to smear her opponents.
 * Georgie Henley as Morwenna, a playfully sadistic and unpredictable wraith and the epitome of despair, who torments any who cross the street in the back garden of the Church of the Witching Hour.
 * Andrew Scott as Shane Sparrow, a cyclops who poses as a homeless person in the mortal world, hiding from Count Dracula after the latter purged Nightropolis of all cyclopes. As a cyclops, Shane is incredibly strong, invulnerable to fire and his singular eye can see through virtually anything. He is gentle, empathetic, but headstrong, intelligent and highly imaginative.
 * Ramona Marquez as Melancholia, a fearsome but benevolent wraith and the epitome of hope, who poses as a precocious child in the high school that Jane and Blake attend. She is the antithesis of Morwenna, and the only being besides Count Dracula that Morwenna is genuinely afraid of.
 * Samantha Bond as Mrs. Kiara Reynolds, the guardian of Jane and Blake who remains unaware of the involvement of the children in Nightropolis.