Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode

Few mythic figures have ever captured the imagination, nor been as enduringly popular, as Dracula, made famous in Irishman Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic novel and sparking the earliest pop culture fascination with vampire folklore. But much confusion surrounds Count Dracula, the fictional vampire, and Vlad “Tepes (The Impaler)” Draculea III (1431-1476), the voivode, Old Slavonic, meaning “one who leads warriors.” A real-life royal, many believe that Vlad III’s violent, six-year rule of Romania and now-familiar surname inspired the famed, fanged figure. Separating fact from fiction, Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode – filmed in Transylvania, Whitby, London and Dublin – was produced in association with the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and features interviews with the leading experts on the subject. Sink your teeth into this intriguing examination of one of the world’s most infamous legends with an unprecedented look at: visits to Stoker’s hometown of Dublin and his (and Dracula’s) London haunts; a vivid account of the real-life count’s arrival in the seaside town of Yorkshire; Vlad III’s reign of terror; debunking the association between any Dracula (a common surname in the former countries of Yugoslavia) and the iconic Castle Bran; retracing Vlad III and Count Dracula’s footsteps through Romania; and a look at how Stoker (who never visited Transylvania) left an indelible impression of Romania on the world. Directed by Michael Bayley Hughes and narrated by Jason Walford Davies.