Dracula: 10 References And Easter Eggs You May Have Missed

After Nosferatu, the first official screen version of Dracula in which the character was actually called by that name was the 1931 Tod Browning film starring Bela Lugosi (the first of the 1930s cycle of Universal monster pictures). Of course Gatiss and Moffat pay tribute to this landmark screen Drac in their own version.

Lugosi's Dracula look has become synonymous with the traditional style of the character, even if the old fashioned theatricality of it means that it's a look more likely to show up in cartoon and parody versions these days than a more straight-up scary take. Leslie Nielsen, for example, dons a pretty spot on version of Lugosi's cape, white waistcoat and necklet medal in Dracula: Dead And Loving It.

For the most part, Bang's Dracula, intended to appeal to the audience as urbane and stylish, eschews the somewhat camp Lugosi look in favour of simple, highly tailored suits whether Victorian or twenty-first century in style.

For the scene in Episode 2 in which he dines with the ageing Grand Duchess Valeria (Catherine Schell), however, he commits to the full Lugosi cosplay (medal included), a costuming nod perhaps to both the 1931 film and Nielsen in the 1995 parody.

Schell is herself Hungarian nobility (the daughter of a baron) and made her name in the 60s and 70s by appearing in Hammer films and classic Doctor Who, so her casting is in itself a tribute to many of Gatiss and Moffat's influences.