It is a premise that has been done before. For example, Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and I recommend sticking to the comic, and avoiding the film that made Sean Connery say "fuck it" regarding acting) of course teamed up many of 19th Century literature's famous heroes to kick ass together (and, being Moore, he never pulled his punches when these guys were supposed to be bastards.)
Perhaps I am betraying a lack of familiarity with the genre and era, but I don't think every major character in the show is strictly from a famous piece of literature. It might be best to look at the series with fresh eyes, in fact, though that approach might deteriorate as we go on.
The setting is a Victorian London awash with monstrous crimes. And this being cable, we are not shielded from the viciousness of the murders (though with the horrors portrayed on NBC's Hannibal - which is competing with Game of Thrones to be my favorite show on television - being situated on cable is not necessarily a prerequisite to show things that are gruesome.)
Instantly, one of the key strengths to show itself off for Penny Dreadful is its cast. Josh Hartnett, who plays a Buffalo Bill-style gunslinger showman named Ethan Chandler, has always had a somewhat offbeat style that positions him in more interesting roles than the teen-heartthrob leading man he was originally type-cast as (I recommend Lucky Number Slevin as evidence.) Timothy Dalton plays Sir Malcolm Murray, father of Mina, who you might recognize as a major character in Dracula. Malcolm is the tough older gentleman badass, but with a deeply wounded interior that occasionally shows through. Of the core cast, however, by far the person I'm finding most interesting is Eva Green, who seems dangerous and mysterious, with strength and poise, and just seems to be something otherworldly. In Penny Dreadful's first episode's major action sequence, there is a brief shot in which Green's Vanessa Ives stands up to a horrific monster, and it is the monster that is momentarily stunned by her appearance. The second episode enhances her mystery as she becomes the true medium at what was probably meant as a seance that was just for show.
One thing I'll be curious about in the future is to explore in greater detail the relationship between Vanessa and Dalton's Sir Malcolm. Vanessa is the one to recruit Hartnett's Chandler. She analyzes him in a very Sherlockian way, and it really seems like she's the one in charge. I don't know if she will prove to be the outfit's leader (Murray seems poised to take on that role) but I love the strength that Green imbues Vanessa with. Then again, Vanessa is such an enigma, with her terrifying spider-prayer session, floating candles, and seance-induced possession.
A few other main cast members have been introduced. One character, who you will quickly realize is Victor Frankenstein (played by Harry Treadaway) is, as of yet, still somewhat separate from the rest of the cast. We spend a good deal of time with his creation, and his scenes with the being who will come to be known as Proteus are emotionally rich - but don't let me spoil anything here.
Actually, after the first episode, Chandler - an American gunslinger with something mysterious to him - splits off somewhat as well. Chandler meets and befriends an Irish prostitute named Brona Croft, played by Billie Piper (who you may know as Rose from Doctor Who,) a profession that seems a little more dangerous given that there is some Jack the Ripper-like killer going around (though, given the genre, it's probably worse than Jack the Ripper.)
We then also have Dorian Gray, the only other recognizable literary character I'm aware of in the series, played by Reeve Carney. As of yet, Gray's connection to the overall plot is a little nebulous. So far, all he has really done is make sexual/sensual advances on both female cast members.
I really like the mood and feel of the show so far. There is a sense that the show knows what it wants to do, and the cast is good enough to sell the genre stuff (I am a huge fan of sci-fi/fantasy, but I also recognize that it needs to make great efforts to earn the audience's suspension of disbelief.) Still, I feel that we are very much in a table-setting mode. The cast has yet to assemble, and while there are some vague implications of an apocalyptic threat (which, honestly, I think we could downgrade. There's a bit of a stakes-fatigue I feel in a lot of genre fiction these days) I think the series really needs to kick into gear in the next episode. Admittedly, Game of Thrones was still just introducing characters in episode three, but without the foundation of a series of novels, I think Penny Dreadful needs to at least give us some kind of prologue story to resolve if they are not yet ready to get into the meat of the series.
Still, do not mistake this critique as a condemnation. So far, I am very much enjoying the show, and I look forward to more, which is about as good a thing as any you can say about a new series.
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