Frankenstein (2007 film)
Encyclopedia
Frankenstein is a 2007 British
television film produced by Impossible Pictures
for ITV
. It was written and directed by Jed Mercurio
, adapted from Mary Shelley
's original novel
to a present-day setting. Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, a female geneticist, accidentally creates a monster while growing her son's clone from stem cell
s as an organ donor in an effort to prevent his imminent death. The film was broadcast on 24 October 2007, to an average audience of 3.6 million.
s and biotechnology
, is working to advance medical science so her eight-year-old child, William, has a chance to receive organ transplants, and possibly a cure. This is the Universal Xenograft Project, overseen by Professor Andrew Waldman and assisted by her friend, Ed Gore. In the process of an organ-growing experiment, Victoria inserts William's blood into the procedure, and the stem cells begin to grow at a rapid rate. The insertion of William's blood is unknown until Ed discovers a tooth within the purpose built tank in which the stem cells are cultivating, and Andrew is then alerted. X-rays within the tank show that an organism is growing, and for the intention of scientific advancement, it is allowed to live. However, a lightning strike cuts the power within the building, and the creature, referred to as "the UX", escapes. He wanders the sewers and is seen by a small girl when he is close to the exit of the pipes. The UX later kills the girl when she starts screaming. The UX soon returns to the laboratory, however, and kills a security guard. The UX is captured by security personnel, and taken to a different laboratory, in which Victoria's husband Henry is seemingly in authority. Victoria attempts to interact with and calm the UX, but is mostly unsuccessful. In one of these tests, the UX acts similar to William, which convinces Victoria that it really is William. At night, Victoria attempts to free the UX but initially fails, until Henry arrives by helicopter, and they escape to a nearby beach to consider their position. Soon, a team of armed men arrive and request that they hand over the UX. Henry refuses, and is swiftly shot. The armed men then take Victoria and the UX. In the final scene, Victoria is seemingly trying to educate the UX in an unknown facility, where they are being watched by their captors wondering whether it will love or hate Victoria for creating it.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television film produced by Impossible Pictures
Impossible Pictures
Impossible Pictures Ltd. is a London-based independent TV production company founded in 2002 by Tim Haines, creator of Walking with Dinosaurs and Jasper James....
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It was written and directed by Jed Mercurio
Jed Mercurio
Jed Mercurio is a British author; TV and film producer and medical doctor-Biography:Jed Mercurio is a British writer who also writes under the name John MacUre. He created the television series Cardiac Arrest and Bodies and the sci-fi miniseries Invasion: Earth...
, adapted from Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's original novel
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
to a present-day setting. Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, a female geneticist, accidentally creates a monster while growing her son's clone from stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
s as an organ donor in an effort to prevent his imminent death. The film was broadcast on 24 October 2007, to an average audience of 3.6 million.
Plot
Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, a scientist experimenting on stem cellStem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
s and biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, is working to advance medical science so her eight-year-old child, William, has a chance to receive organ transplants, and possibly a cure. This is the Universal Xenograft Project, overseen by Professor Andrew Waldman and assisted by her friend, Ed Gore. In the process of an organ-growing experiment, Victoria inserts William's blood into the procedure, and the stem cells begin to grow at a rapid rate. The insertion of William's blood is unknown until Ed discovers a tooth within the purpose built tank in which the stem cells are cultivating, and Andrew is then alerted. X-rays within the tank show that an organism is growing, and for the intention of scientific advancement, it is allowed to live. However, a lightning strike cuts the power within the building, and the creature, referred to as "the UX", escapes. He wanders the sewers and is seen by a small girl when he is close to the exit of the pipes. The UX later kills the girl when she starts screaming. The UX soon returns to the laboratory, however, and kills a security guard. The UX is captured by security personnel, and taken to a different laboratory, in which Victoria's husband Henry is seemingly in authority. Victoria attempts to interact with and calm the UX, but is mostly unsuccessful. In one of these tests, the UX acts similar to William, which convinces Victoria that it really is William. At night, Victoria attempts to free the UX but initially fails, until Henry arrives by helicopter, and they escape to a nearby beach to consider their position. Soon, a team of armed men arrive and request that they hand over the UX. Henry refuses, and is swiftly shot. The armed men then take Victoria and the UX. In the final scene, Victoria is seemingly trying to educate the UX in an unknown facility, where they are being watched by their captors wondering whether it will love or hate Victoria for creating it.
Cast
- Helen McCroryHelen McCroryHelen Elizabeth McCrory is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both the 2006 film The Queen and the 2010 film The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films....
as Victoria Frankenstein: A scientist in the fields of biotechnology, Victoria is a member of the Universal Xenograft Project, which aims to advance medical science with use of stem cells. She was also married to Henry Clerval, but he "walked out on [them]", and has since divorced her. Her son, William, is terminally illTerminal illnessTerminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
, motivating her to create the UX as a future organ donor. - James PurefoyJames PurefoyJames Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.-Early life and work:...
as Henry Clerval: Henry seems to be a figure of authority or a supervisor at a secret lab, where the UX has been moved. People around Henry have believed him to be a doctor, including his wife Victoria. He "walked out" on Victoria and his son William, but has been more involved with them now that William has become ill. He is killed by a squad of armed men after he escapes with Victoria and the UX. - Neil PearsonNeil PearsonNeil Joshua Pearson is a British actor best known for his work on television.-Biography:Pearson grew up in Battersea, London, the son of a panel beater, who left home when he was five, and a legal secretary, and was educated at Woolverstone Hall School, Suffolk, a boarding school, where he first...
as Andrew Waldman: Victoria's colleague and friend. The two work together in the lab. He's killed by the UX when it returns to the Laboratory. - Lindsay DuncanLindsay DuncanLindsay Vere Duncan, CBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actress. On stage she won two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her performance in Les Liaisons dangereuses and Private Lives , and she starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Her most famous roles on television include:...
as Professor Jane Pretorius: Victoria's boss, who finds out about the project but refuses to terminate it. When the monster is unleashed and later captured, it is revealed that Jane has been working with Henry. She wants to use the UX to help humans, and suggests that creatures like the UX would make good soldiers. Her men kidnaps Victoria and the UX at the end of the film. She is based on Doctor Septimus PretoriusDoctor Septimus PretoriusSeptimus Pretorius is a fictional character who appears in the Universal film Bride of Frankenstein . He is played by British stage and film actor Ernest Thesiger. Some sources claim he was originally to have been played by Bela Lugosi or Claude Rains...
from Bride of FrankensteinBride of FrankensteinBride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
. - Benedict WongBenedict WongBenedict Wong is an English actor and comedian.Wong was born in Manchester and attended school in Salford. His first role was in a 1993 BBC Radio play called Kai Mei Sauce, written by Kevin Wong. He appeared alongside Sean Lock in the situation comedy 15 Storeys High, and as Dr. Franklin Fu in the...
as Ed Gore: Victoria's assistant who helps her (unintentionlly at first) create the UX. He is killed by the UX when it returns to laboratory after escaping. His name is a parody of IgorIgorIgor is a given name derived from the Norse name Ingvar, that was brought to ancient Rus' by the Norse Varangians, in the form Ingvar or Yngvar...
. - Julian BleachJulian BleachJulian Bleach is an English actor who is best known as co-creator and "M. C." of Shockheaded Peter, a musical entertainment based on the works of Heinrich Hoffmann, which won the 2002 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.Bleach trained at LAMDA...
as The MonsterFrankenstein's monsterFrankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
: The creature Victoria creates, called the UX project. He has Victoria's dead son's DNA in him due to Victoria adding her son's blood into the capsule it was being made in. He escapes due to a power cut and goes on a small killing spree. However Victoria comes to love it. She tries to show it love and appears to succeed. The UX and Victoria are taken by Jane's men to an unknown facility, where Victoria attempts to educate it. Its left up to the viewer if The Monster will love or hate Victoria as it matures. Julian Bleach has a preponderence for playing monsters in television and also played DavrosDavrosDavros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
in Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. - Anna TorvAnna TorvAnna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
as ITU Nurse - Michael WildmanMichael WildmanMichael Wildman is a British actor who appeared in the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He played the role of aggressive, feisty centaur Magorian, who plays a small part in the eventual outcome of the plot....
as Connolly - Fraser James as Joe
- Cally Hamilton as Little girl
- Bruce Johnson as American Intelligence Agent
- Richard Betts as Vicar