The critically acclaimed Showtime drama Penny Dreadful has slayed its final demon - last night's jaw-dropping finale marked the series finale of the three-season opus envisioned by creator, writer and executive producer John Logan, it was announced today by Logan and David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc. This unique mash-up of literary horror has followed Vanessa Ives (Eva Green, in her Golden Globe-nominated role), Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) as they've worked together, at all costs, to vanquish the evil that relentlessly pursues them. Here's what Penny Dreadful creator John Logan had to say in a statement about ending the show after Season 3.
"I created Penny Dreadful to tell the story of a woman grappling with her faith, and with the demons inside her. For me the character of Vanessa Ives is the heart of this series. From the beginning, I imagined her story would unfold over a three-season arc, ending with Vanessa finally - and triumphantly - finding peace as she returns to her faith. To have had fans that have embraced us so passionately has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my career. This has been a very personal project for me and I will be forever grateful to have worked with the incredible cast led by Eva, Josh and Tim, our amazing Irish crew, and with our wonderful partners at Showtime and Sky."
Over its three seasons, Penny Dreadful developed an incredibly loyal fanbase, lovingly called "The Dreadfuls," that have followed and rabidly commented on every twist and turn of the series. John Logan has shared a special message addressed to the series' fans through YouTube. Additionally, Logan, Josh Hartnett and Eva Green take a look back at three wonderful seasons and how they came to a closse in another video. Here's what Showtime's David Nevins had to say in his statement.
"John Logan deftly created a truly beautiful, brilliantly-written, epic drama series that has drawn a passionate fanbase to our network. After three fulfilling seasons, John has told the story he set out to tell and brought the series to a close in an incredibly poetic way. It has been an honor to work with him and this amazingly talented cast, and we're thrilled that we can continue to work with John as he transitions to write and produce his next project for us, Just Kids, alongside Patti Smith. Together with our partners at Sky, we celebrate John's vision and the thrilling finale of Penny Dreadful."
In Penny Dreadful, some of literature's most famous characters - including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, all brilliantly reimagined in a whole new light -- came together in Victorian London. Penny Dreadful, was created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator. The ensemble cast was led by Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill) and Eva Green (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Casino Royale). Simon Russell Beale (My Week with Marilyn), Reeve Carney (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Patti LuPone (American Horror Story), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl), Wes Studi (Hell On Wheels) and Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger) also starred.
In addition to these videos, series creator John Logan also spoke with TV Line after the shocking series finale, which brought the shocking death of Eva Green's Vanessa Ives. Showtime's David Nevins revealed in the interview that they never considered promoting Season 3 as the final season, since they wanted it to be a surprise for the fans. Here's what John Logan had to say when asked when he knew for sure that Season 3 would be Penny Dreadful's last.
"[The decision] was made a while ago. The show, to me, has always been about Vanessa Ives and her struggle with faith. I knew, sooner or later, it would get to a point of apotheosis, where she would either accept her God or deny her God. Midway through [Season 2] - so, two years ago - as I was planning a third season, I realized, 'Oh, I see exactly where this is heading. She's going to have that moment, and the only way she can truly have it is at the moment of her death.' So, in my mind, I began shaping the third season thinking about all the characters and how I could lead them to a place that felt like a fitting conclusion. And it was very difficult to do as a writer. I'm deeply attached to these characters. I feel like I created them, even the ones I didn't, like Victor Frankenstein and the Creature; they're real parts of me. That's particularly the case with Vanessa Ives. I felt like it was the graceful, perfect way to end her story and therefore the story of all the characters."
David Nevins also admitted that he tried to talk John Logan out of ending the series after Season 3, while contemplating ideas on how to continue the show without Vanessa Ives. He eventually let John Logan close out the show on his own terms, but the series creator revealed it wasn't very easy to do. Here's what he had to say about how closely he had grown to these characters.
"To me, the show was always going to achieve closure with the death of Vanessa. And all the storylines this season were meant to be leaving characters at a place of appropriate and beautiful stasis. So, in the last episode, Dorian Gray is left alone staring at his portrait; Sir Malcolm finds the family he lost with Ethan; Ethan finds the surrogate father he lost with Sir Malcolm; the Creature realizes that he can't be part of the human family or the human community and he's left kneeling on a grave, which is, poetically, where he belongs. So it was apparent that this season was leading toward the ending... And along the way, what makes a show interesting is vibrant characters. I loved [Weeks' character] Catriona."
Penny Dreadful has been honored with three Primetime Emmy nominations and has won three BAFTA Awards. Eva Green was recognized for her brilliant work as Vanessa Ives with Golden Globe and Critic's Choice Award nominations. Patti LuPone and Helen McCrory also received Critics Choice Award nominations for their work in the series. A co-production with Showtime and Sky, Penny Dreadful was executive produced by John Logan for Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street Productions, and Karen Richards (The Borgias). The series was shot on location in Dublin, Ireland. Take a look at these new videos where the cast and crew thank fans for three seasons of Penny Dreadful.