The entertainment world really doesn't need any more vampires, but if we absolutely had to add one more, we'd cast Tom Sturridge as Dracula. Sturridge is currently in the new adaptation of On The Road and generally sticks to independent films—just the sort of actor who could benefit greatly from a high-profile television show.

Executives involved with the show have described Penny Dreadful as "highly erotic." We're assuming that means there will be a sexy cast doing devious things, à la True Blood. Ben Barnes already had his shot, so we'd cast cutie Alex Pettyfer as Dorian Gray the narcissistic, never-aging hedonist.

Professor Abraham Van Helsing is a vampire hunter and Dracula's nemesis. We've seen many actors portray Van Helsing, from Anthony Hopkins to Christopher Plummer to Hugh Jackman. We'd like to see Clive Owen in the role. He recently starred in the HBO movie Hemingway & Gellhorn, so perhaps he'll be more amenable to the idea of a television show.

The showrunners haven't named all of the main characters yet, so we'd like to fill in the blank with a hopeful entry—Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. Mark Strong, known for his bad guy roles in Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass, would be great in this.

Frankenstein's Creature is not completely human, but he's not a total monster either. We suggest Welsh actor Iwan Rheon for the part of Frankenstein's Creature, best known for his anti-hero character in the British TV series Misfits. Rheon brings a quiet sensitivity to his roles—a nice way to balance out the rages of the traditional Frankenstein monster. 

For all of you who actually read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in high school, you'll know that Victor Frankenstein is the creator of the monster and not the monster itself. The character is a scientist obsessed with creating life and then horrified by the results of his experiments. In a perfect world, if he wasn't so busy playing Sherlock Holmes on BBC, we'd cast Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein.