A BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the unproduced screenplay

Unmade Movies: Hammer Horror's The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula

Dracula travels to 1930s India in this celebrated unproduced Hammer Horror script, directed by Mark Gatiss 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
In The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula, one of seven 'unmade movies' available on audio, it is 1934, and young Englishwoman Penny is travelling by train across India in search of her missing sister. En route, she meets sibling artistes Prem and Lakshmi, who have been hired by a Maharajah and his wife, the Rani, to entertain their aristocratic European guest. But evil lurks in the hidden caverns beneath the ancient palace, where the acolytes of a fiendish blood cult await their next human sacrifice... 
 
The intended follow-up to Scars of Dracula, this exotic, blood-drenched tale was nearly filmed on location in India in the early '70s, but financing problems meant it was dropped in favour of Dracula, AD 1972. Rescued from Hammer's vaults, it has been resurrected by Mark Gatiss, and is the first new Hammer Horror Dracula production in 43 years. It stars Anna Madeley (All Creatures Great and Small) as Penny, with Nikesh Patel (Indian Summers) as Prem, Ayesha Dharker (The Indian Doctor) as Lakshmi and Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) as the Rani. Lewis MacLeod (Dead Ringers) channels Christopher Lee as the iconic Count, and Michael Sheen (Staged) narrates. Get ready for a terrifying, edge-of-your-seat encounter as the Prince of Darkness rises from his grave once more... 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Anthony Hinds 
Directed by Mark Gatiss 
Produced by Laurence Bowen and Peter Ettedgui 
Original music by Blair Mowat 
Sound design: Wilfredo Acosta 
A Dancing Ledge production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Narrator - Michael Sheen 
Penny - Anna Madeley 
Prem - Nikesh Patel 
Lakshmi - Ayesha Dharker 
Babu - Kulvinder Ghir 
The Rani/Mrs Mukherjee - Meera Syal 
Count Dracula - Lewis MacLeod 
Maharajah/Inspector - Raj Ghatak 
Lucy - Natalie Kimmerling 
Evil Face - Sagar Arya 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 October 2017 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Alfred Hitchcock

Ernest Lehmann

Mark Gatiss

Anthony Hinds

D.M. Thomas

Dennis Potter

Harold Pinter

Karen Blixen

Joseph Conrad

Alexander Mackendrick

Jay Presson Allen

Arthur Miller

Michael Sheen

Peter Serafinowicz

Mark Strong

Hugh Laurie

David Suchet

Vanessa Kirby

Meera Syal

Full cast

Seven BBC Radio 4 Adaptations of Unproduced Screenplays

Seven legendary unproduced screenplays, resurrected and reinvented for BBC Radio 4 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures – spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
Collected here are seven sensational ‘unmade movies’: 
 
Harold Pinter’s Victory, adapted from the novel by Joseph Conrad 
Harold Pinter’s The Dreaming Child, adapted from the novel by Karen Blixen 
Arthur Miller’s The Hook 
Alfred Hitchcock’s unfinished screenplay The Blind Man, completed by Mark Gatiss 
Hammer Horror’s The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula 
Dennis Potter’s The White Hotel 
Alexander MacKendrick’s Mary Queen of Scots 
 
These could-have-been classics are brought to life with stellar casts featuring Hugh Laurie, Bertie Carvel, Rose Leslie, Bill Paterson, Ellie Bamber, Tim Pigott-Smith, Rebecca Front, Anne-Marie Duff, Meera Syal, Vanessa Kirby and Mark Strong. Setting the scene and providing the ‘establishing shots’ – the original stage directions and descriptions from the screenplays – are narrators Simon Russell Beale, Anne Reid, David Suchet, Peter Serafinowicz, Michael Sheen, Simon McBurney and Glenda Jackson. 
 
Moving, mysterious, suspenseful, thrilling and terrifying, these dazzling productions will keep you enraptured from beginning to end. So sit back, grab some popcorn and let them play out on the biggest screen of all – that of your imagination. 
 
NB: Contains strong language and sexual scenes 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Anthony Hinds

Books by Anthony Hinds

Series by Anthony Hinds

Unmade Movies

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