TOGETHER they played one of TV’s greatest villain-and-hero acts on the reboot of Dracula – now Claes Bang and Dolly Wells are being reunited.
He was the bloodsucking count in the BBC1 horror story which aired last year, while she was fearless vampire hunter Van Helsing.
Claes and Dolly will be brought back together in The Offenders, Stephen Merchant’s star-studded comedy drama.
A TV insider said: “Fans of Dracula will be thrilled to see the show’s two main stars on the same show together – even though it’s a very different kind of drama.
“One similarity is that Claes is taking on the mantle of a baddie again, this time as a terrifying London gangster called The Dean.
“And once again Dolly plays a good character – the daughter of an elderly man on a community payback scheme which is at the heart of the show."
Stephen not only wrote and exec produced The Offenders, which is set to air on BBC1 later this year, he also stars in it.
And the cast also includes Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Christopher Walken as Frank, the father of Dolly’s character, Margaret.
They’ll be joined by Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Oscar-nominee Richard E Grant.
But despite the stardust, The Offenders is far from glamorous.
It’s all about seven people who get to know each other’s hidden deaths as they take part in a community payback scheme in Bristol.
They find themselves in debt to Claes’s evil gang leader.
They’ll be signing the Danish actor up as a Bond baddie next . . .
READ ON FOR MORE OF ROD McPHEE's BIZARRE TV COLUMN
A TEASER trailer for the much-anticipated science fiction series Invasion has been released. The big-budget Apple TV+ series, which stars Peaky Blinders star Sam Neill, will premiere globally in October and tells the story of an alien invasion from different viewpoints around the world.
It's Dirty business for Julia
GAVIN & Stacey star Julia Davis has landed a serious acting role on the BBC’s steamy new drama, The Dirty Duchess.
The show tells the story of the first woman to be publicly slut-shamed after she allegedly had 88 lovers.
The Crown’s leading lady Claire Foy will play the Duchess of Argyll in the BBC1 show, which explores the scandalous divorce case of 1963.
Her name was dragged through the dirt by her husband the duke, played by Paul Bettany, who was far from monogamous himself.
It’s a far cry from her comedy roles, which have not only included Gavin & Stacey – as Dawn Sutcliffe – but also Sky Atlantic’s Hunderby, where she played eye patch-wearing housekeeper Dorothy.
However, to me Julia will always be Jill Tyrell in Nighty Night.
PENNY Lancaster, wife of rocker Rod Stewart, revealed on Good Morning Britain how she helped talk a woman down off a bridge after becoming a special constable with the City of London Police. She said of her work: “We’re out there to help the most vulnerable.”
Fashion guru: My taxi rage
TV fashion guru Susannah Constantine admits she has no qualms about standing up for herself.
Speaking in her latest My Wardrobe Malfunction Podcast, she detailed a road rage incident with a taxi driver in London.
Susannah said: “He stopped and got out of his cab and I got out of my car and he came up to me. He grabbed my ponytail, pulled my head down and said ‘do you want to suck my c***, you f***ing bitch?’
“So I just, instinct – booooffff! – punched him in the face. That rage, when it overtakes you, it is so terrifying and you put yourself in such a vulnerable position.”
Nic's Strictly agony
BOXER Nicola Adams opened up about how hard she found being forced off Strictly Come Dancing last year because her dance partner Katya Jones tested positive for Covid.
Speaking yesterday on Lorraine, she said: “Being the first same sex couple, it was just a shame for me because I am a fighter.
“I like to go out on my shield and I would rather go out in a dance-off than by Covid.”
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