Mark Gatiss lands acting role in his new Dracula drama

Mark Gatiss has joined the cast of his new BBC drama Dracula.

The Sherlock creator co-wrote the forthcoming programme and will now have a part too.

Joanna Scanlan, John Heffernan, Dolly Wells, Morfydd Clark and Lujza Richter have also joined the cast.

It has already been announced that Danish actor Claes Bang will have the title role in the mini-series.

Gatiss said: “I’m running out of childhood dreams to come true.

“And what a delight to join this fantastic cast. The children of the night!”

Gatiss penned the drama with his Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat, who said it was “exciting to see an amazing new cast start to assemble”.

“I hope Claes doesn’t eat them all,” he added.

The series, a co-production between BBC One and Netflix, was inspired by Bram Stoker’s classic novel.

The three feature-length episodes will “reintroduce the world to Dracula, the vampire who made evil sexy”, the BBC said.

The drama is set in 1897, with the blood-drinking count in Transylvania drawing up his plans against Victorian London.

Dracula will begin filming this spring.

The series will premiere on BBC One in the UK and on Netflix outside of the UK.