Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.
This tv show contains 62 potentially triggering events.
Roughly 40 mins into s1 ep 5 we see Vanessa having s*x with an invisible man? It's unknown whether she's aware of it and consenting to it or not but I personally assumed she did.
In season 1 episode 4 during a play, one of the characters announces she is only 15
In season 3 episode 3 about 38 minutes in, Justin is asked if she recognises a man. She explains that he bought her as a sex slave at twelve years old and then "whored her out"
We know that Vanezza Ives does not have DID but in s3 ep7 about 32 mins in, her therapist describes her as having a "truly split personality" and assumes that it manifests itself as three distinct people.
S1 ep4: Roughly 20 mins in, Brona describes her violent ex and talks about how they would have sex (its not an obvious indication of sexual assault but it is still clear she didn't want to have sex with someone she was scared with)
S1 ep5: Vanessa forcefully kisses Peter at roughly 15 mins in when they're walking through the maze
S1 ep 7: At the very beginning of the episode, Vanessa talks about dead women being photographed and men mastubrating to the photos. She then goes onto mention how Sir Malcom and his son r*ped his way through Africa.
Season 1 ep 8: Roughly 18 minutes in, Caliban dresses himself up and forcefully kisses Maud (she clearly does not like it)
S2 ep1: Roughly 30 mins in, Victor Frankenstein starts to carress/grope a dead body. Its right after he says "has this hand ever known love?"
S2 ep3: Roughly 5 minutes in, when the witch finally approaches Vanessa it looks like she suddenly and non-consensually grabs/penetrates Vanessa's vagina with her hand. Then says "take your pretty little cut elsewhere" The witch does this for witchcraft purposes but still it's SA.
S2 ep3: Roughly 36 mins into the episode, when Vanessa is walking the woods and comes across sir Geoffery, he threatens her and then attempts to SA her but she stops him.
Season 2 ep8: At the very beginning, Lily fucks someone she just killed. (Its implied)
S3 ep1: At the end (Roughly 50 mins in) a man pulls a prostitute to the side and he gets rough with her. It's obvious that she doesn't like it and seconds later she is brutally killed.
[SPOILERS FOR ALL SEASONS!!!]
- When Vanessa is possessed, she channels Sir Malcolm's son Peter, who died on a journey to Africa with his dad. While it's later revealed he was a grown man, some viewers may initially take him to have been a child who died because of Vanessa's voice when she channels him.
- When John Clare goes sailing with a group of strangers (with a child onboard), the ship crashes in a frozen wasteland where most of the sailors have frozen to death. The captain says the child has only a few days to live, so John Clare mercy kills him by snapping his neck.
- Brona/Lily had a baby named Sarah, and froze to death when Brona had to leave for s*x work one night. While Sarah is not shown on screen, we do see her grave and Lily explains the story in-depth to Victor.
- John Clare's son dies of an illness. While Marjorie suggests that John should take him to Victor to be revived, he refuses since he doesn't want to put his son through the same pain he did. He puts his son to rest at sea instead.
The same character uses needles to inject serum into people he deems "mentally ill", with the intention of removing their trauma and tendencies towards violence.
A large part of Vanessa's backstory takes place in an asylum, and there's episodes that go into full-depth about this. There's several other episodes that take place at Bedlam, which was a real asylum, known for abusing neurodivergent people.
Dorian offhandedly says Angelique isn't female (for context, Angelique calls herself a "defenseless female" while Dorian jokingly says she's neither), but he otherwise accepts Angelique for being a trans woman and never misgenders her.
there is ableism typical of the time period the show is set in. there is violence against people with mental disorders (such as Vanessa, who is locked in a padded room for months and subject to several cruel medical treatments), and John Clare is ostracized because of his deformed appearance. there is also a brief use of the r-slur, but it had a completely different context in Victorian England and back then, was used as a medical term.
Victor refers to Lily, his love interest, as his cousin, but they are not actually related. in the time period the show was set in, romantic relationships between cousins was seen as normal.