Jonathan Rhys Meyers to star in Dracula series

The former star of The Tudors, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, is to play the infamous Count Dracula in a US version of Bram Stoker’s classic tale.

NBC have ordered a ten-episode run of the show, which is also being produced by UK channel Sky Living, according to reports in Deadline.

Dracula, which was bought by NBC in January, is set in the 1890s and has been described as “Dangerous Liaisons meets The Tudors”.

It follows the iconic vampire as he arrives in London seeking vengeance against those who wronged him hundreds of years ago, all the time pretending to be an American entrepreneur extolling the virtues of modern science.

However, his plans go awry when he falls in love with a woman who appears to be the reincarnation of his dead wife.

NBC boss Robert Greenblatt said at the Television Critics Association Press Tour on Tuesday that the show would be a “new version of the classic Bram Stoker” story.

He added: “In the world of Twilight and True Blood and all the contemporised stories, we thought we’d go back to the original.”

The drama will be developed by producers Tony Krantz and Colin Callender and writer Cole Haddon.