Wonderland: Gothic (TV news).
Darker nights are creeping in, and so is the splendidly ominous Wonderland: Gothic, a four-part series returning to Sky Arts this Autumn for 2023. This glossy telly treasure, delivered to you by the crafty hands at Odyssey Television, will lead you down the twisted lanes of the Gothic world, with its shadows thick with mystery, romance, menace, and the sort of emotions that send shivers racing down your spine faster than a cuppa going cold.
This new series kicks off at 9pm on the 7th of November, an evening best spent wrapped in a cosy blanket, with your eyes fixed on the telly, as the Gothic unfolds its inky wings. It’s all there, from the candle-lit corners of Dracula’s castle to the storm-lashed moors of Wuthering Heights, across misty graveyards and into haunted mansions, with the ghosts of slavery and colonialism whispering through the corridors. If you have a thirst for the darker tales, be they painted, penned, filmed, or built, this is your golden – or perhaps, more appropriately, your moonlit – ticket.
The first episode sets the stage with a sweeping view of the Gothic realm, with its towering architecture and tales spun by the likes of Horace Walpole, William Beckford, and Matthew Lewis, who were none too keen on the straight-laced world of their day. And who could forget the fair ladies of Gothic, Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters, who stitched together tales of monsters and moody anti-heroes, from Frankenstein to Heathcliff.
Episode two leans in closer, peering at the fog-wreathed figures of vampires, werewolves, and zombies, these ever-changing symbols of societal fears and anxieties. From Anne Rice’s seductive bloodsuckers to the shambling undead in George Romero’s classics, there’s a creature for every shadow, every whisper of dread, every chill wind that makes the curtains stir in the night.
As we move into episode three, the spotlight falls on Angela Carter, Hilary Mantel, and the great Toni Morrison. It listens to the echoes of the ‘other’, the Gothic outsider, and dives into the haunting world of ‘Black Gothic’. From Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man to the uneasy reflections of Jordan Peele’s Get Out, it’s a fascinating, eerie ride through tales where the strange and the familiar dance in a macabre ballet.
The series draws to a close with the fourth episode exploring Imperial Gothic literature, Gothic art that ranges from the sublime to the nightmarish, and the haunting aesthetic of Gothic Revival architecture. It’s a veritable feast of the senses, set against the backdrop of narratives both grand and intimate, stories of empires and individuals, all woven together with threads of darkness and light.
And orchestrating this symphony of the eerie and the sublime is none other than Adrian Munsey, who not only writes, produces, and directs but also conjures an original orchestral score that will make your heart thump and your soul stir. With a cast featuring expert minds and creative spirits, including Tim Burton, Wonderland: Gothic is here to enchant and unsettle in equal measure.
So, dear reader, as November approaches with its misty mornings and early nights, make sure to set a reminder for 9pm on Tuesdays. Sky Arts is where the magic – dark, thrilling, and utterly irresistible – happens. And remember, it’s not just a series; it’s a journey. A journey into the Wonderland: Gothic, where every shadow has a story, every tale has a twist, and the things that go bump in the night are waiting to whisk you away on an adventure like no other.
