5 Best TV Shows Based on Fairy Tales Because October Should Be Magical

5 Best TV Shows Based on Fairy Tales Because October Should Be Magical
Image credit: Showtime

Familiar characters in the most unusual settings.

The 2000s saw a boom in unusual reimaginings of the most famous fairy tales, from English folk tales to the works of the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll.

We have chosen five series based on fairy tales that will not only take you out of your usual reality, but also put you in a good mood.

1. Merlin, 2008-2012

The young wizard Merlin arrives in the kingdom of Camelot. Here magic has been banned by King Uther Pendragon. The local guards persecute and execute all magicians for using it. The man enters the service of the court physician, who becomes his mentor.

Merlin soon learns that his fate is inextricably linked to that of Prince Arthur, Uther's son, who is destined to become a great king. Merlin agrees to protect Arthur from all threats.

The BBC fairy tale fantasy project is based on the Arthurian legends about the famous wizard Merlin. At the same time, the images of the main characters, as well as the events that take place in the series, differ significantly from the classic versions of the legend.

2. Beauty and the Beast, 2012-2016

As a teenager, Catherine witnessed the murder of her mother, and the girl herself was saved by an unknown creature. Traumatized by this event, Catherine grows up and decides to dedicate her life to maintaining law and order – she becomes a homicide detective.

Another investigation leads Catherine into confusion. The collected evidence points to a certain Vincent, a man officially presumed dead. But Catherine finds him alive. It turns out that Vincent is a former participant in a secret genetic experiment to create super-soldiers.

3. Tell Me a Story, 2018-2020

Three men, desperately in debt, set out to rob a bank. During the robbery, an innocent woman dies, and her fiancé decides to get even with the criminals.

High school student Kayla, who has moved in with her grandmother, spends the night with a stranger. The next morning, when Kayla arrives at her new school, she discovers that the stranger was one of her teachers. Such a relationship poses a serious threat to a teacher's career, but Kayla is unable to end the relationship.

Gabe, a promising dancer, gets into serious trouble because of his drug addiction. His sister Hannah, trying to help her brother, commits a crime and desperately searches for a way to escape justice.

This is a dark, modern take on classic fairy tales applied to the realities of the big city. Creator Kevin Williamson has turned children's stories into a psychological thriller about coping with trauma.

4. Penny Dreadful, 2014-2016

In Victorian London, traveler Malcolm Murray is searching for his missing daughter, Mina Harker. The traveler is joined by Ethan Chandler, a talented marksman and con man; psychic Vanessa Ives, who has access to a parallel dimension; Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who created a monster named John Clare; and Dorian Gray himself, an eternally young, handsome man hiding a terrible secret.

It turns out that a group of vampires are behind Mina's disappearance, using her as a vessel for a demonic creature.

5. Locke & Key, 2020-2022

Nina Locke and her three children move into the old family estate Keyhouse in the small town of Matheson, Massachusetts. Soon after moving in, the children begin to find mystical keys with amazing and sometimes dangerous properties.

By accident, they release a woman named Dodge, who intends to collect all the keys and become the most powerful person. That is, of course, if the children do not interfere with her.

Locke & Key is an adaptation of the comic book series of the same name by Joe Hill, Stephen King 's son. The emphasis in this show is more on the fairy-tale fantasy component and the strange objects that get the kids into trouble.