Chanel Cresswell joins Dracula cast

Chanel Cresswell has joined the cast of \'Dracula\'.

The \'This is England\' actress is to star in the hotly-anticipated three-part BBC series - in which Claes Bang will star as the titular character - alongside the likes of fellow cast newcomers Matthew Beard, Lydia West, Paul Brennen, Sarah Niles and Sofia Oxenham.

The show has been written by Sherlock\'s Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, and will also feature previously announced cast members John Heffernan, Joanna Scanlan, Dolly Wells, Sacha Dhawan, Jonathan Aris, Morfydd Clark and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett.

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Mark, Steven, Sue Vertue and Ben Irving will executive produce the project, which will tell the story of the titular blood-drinking vampire who is drawing plans against Victoria London from his base in Transylvania in 1897.

Claes previously admitted he cannot wait to get his teeth into playing the character.

He said: "I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Dracula, especially when the script is in the hands of the incredible talents of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and the team responsible for \'Sherlock\'.

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"I\'m so excited that I get to dig in to this iconic and super-interesting character.

"Yes he\'s evil, but there\'s also so much more to him, he\'s charismatic, intelligent, witty and sexy.

"I realise that there\'s a lot to live up to with all the amazing people that have played him over the years, but I feel so privileged, to be taking on this incredible character."

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Dracula was created by Irish author Bram Stoker in his 1897 gothic horror novel of the same name.