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If you follow along with our DEADtime TV series, in which we review as many currently running horror TV shows as we can, on an episode-by-episode basis, you will know that I am the one that decided to tackle Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. This was a show that turned out to be entirely different than I expected it to be. Penny Dreadful gives new meaning to the term “slow-burning”. If you followed along with my reviews, you will recall that I spent much of it practically begging for something exciting to happen. But, at the end of the day, it started strong, told a strong story, and ended on a strong note. It is a very good show, despite the possibility of turning off some viewers that need to have everything bombard them in the face at a constant rate. I have a feeling that it will be a little more bearable,...

One bit of news from Sdcc that almost slipped under our radar is that Showtime original series Penny Dreadful: Season One will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on October 7th. It you're looking to add a bit of Victorian intrigue to your Halloween season, read on for the details!

From the Press Release:

From Showtime Networks, CBS Home Entertainment, and Paramount Home Media Distribution, the Penny Dreadful: Season One Blu-ray collection will include every episode of the series' first season.

The Blu-ray collection also boasts extensive special features that delve into the gripping thriller.

From three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, Gladiator) and Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall), Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychosexual drama that weaves together classic horror origin stories into a gripping series that is "moody, mystical and wonderfully twisted" (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Penny Dreadful, starring Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton...

Following the Penny Dreadful panel at Comic-Con where John Logan and the cast answered questions on the making of Season 1 and teased what’s ahead, Showtime announced that the first season will be making its way to Blu-ray and DVD in October:

“San Diego, Calif. (July 24, 2014) – The acclaimed Showtime® original series Penny Dreadful – Season One will arrive on Blu-ray Disc and DVD October 7, it was announced today during the Penny Dreadful panel at San Diego Comic-Con International 2014.

From Showtime Networks, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution, the Blu-ray and DVD collections will include every episode of the series’ first season, celebrated by critics as “scary, seductive, surprising, and smart” (NPR) and “solidly entertaining, well cast and oozing with atmosphere” (Variety). Both Blu-ray and DVD collections also boast extensive special features that delve into the gripping thriller.

From three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, Gladiator) and Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty,...

Author and playwright best known for his literary drama Tom and Viv

Michael Hastings, who has died aged 74, shot to prominence in the first wave of new playwrights at the Royal Court in the 1950s. His best known play, Tom and Viv, about the difficult marriage of Ts Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood, was presented there in 1984, by which time he was well established as a novelist, biographer and author of short stories. He was an unclassifiable writer, despite his sporadic allegiance over the years to the Royal Court. Much of his work is imbued with his experience of travelling in Spain, Kenya and Brazil. The fractured domestic relationships which he documented in Tom and Viv, and in his last West End play, Calico (2004), reflect his own difficult childhood and a lifetime interest in psychoanalysis.

Hastings was brought up by his mother, Marie, in a council flat in Brixton, south London.

British cult horror actor Michael Gough has died at the age of 94 after a stellar career playing character roles in over 100 films. Horror fans know him well from his role in the seminal Hammer Horror film Horror Of Dracula (1958) as well as cult goodies such as Horror Hospital, Horrors Of The Black Museum, Legend Of Hell House, and Konga. A younger generation of film fans discovered him when he starred as Alfred the butler in the 90′s Batman franchise and he continued working up to his death, providing voice work for Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride and last year’s Alice In Wonderland.

From The Daily Telegraph:

Michael Gough, the actor who died on Thursday aged 94, achieved cult status for his roles in the Hammer horror films of the 1960s, but became better known as Alfred the Butler in Tim Burton’s Batman films; he was also an accomplished stage actor,...