Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch has proven himself as a leading man, but according to Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss, he might have some competition.

Gatiss is working with his Sherlock co-creator, Steven Moffat, on a new project called Dracula. They've recruited Danish actor Claes Bang to lead the series as the infamous Prince of Darkness.

When asked by the Radio Times if half the population would "fancy" Bang, Gatiss responded: "Half the population? I would say three quarters. I don’t know what’s wrong with the other quarter to be honest!"

We know the story of Dracula, but what about the actor to play him? According to Gatiss, "He looks amazing and is so up for it, but equally I think he’s asking that question that all people who play big parts like that: ‘Well, what do I bring to it, this iconic part?’ And I think that’s been very interesting for us to explore together."

It sounds like Gatiss is grooming Bang to be the next classic character-turned-TV heartthrob.

Bang recently starred in The Girl in the Spider’s Web, opposite Claire Foy. If you can’t quite place him in the movie, he was the blonde baddie tracking Lisbeth (Foy). 

The show has yet to air, which premieres later this year, so, we shall have to wait to see what viewers' reactions are. But, it does sound like Bang is on the verge of reaching Sherlock/Cumberbatch status... at least according to Gatiss.

They've finished filming the first episode and Gatiss gave a little insight of what to expect of their retelling of the classic story: "We just wanted to find all kinds of ways of doing the horror, you know, a lot of that is psychological. There’s quite a lot of really nasty stuff in it which I’m very excited about."

Like Sherlock, the first season is three 90-minute episodes in total.

Is there room in your TV watching for a new heartthrob!?