'Frankenstein' writer had to be cautious

Screenwriter Jed Mercurio has admitted that he had to be cautious when tackling ethical issues raised by science in his modern take on Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley's novel gets a new twist in the one-off ITV1 show, as Dr Victor Frankenstein (Helen McCrory) becomes a 21st century female biologist.

The Bodies creator said: "I think people look at science now with the feeling that the story is possible, and therefore it throws up ethical questions which are worth considering.

"When [Frankenstein] was first written, the idea of creating life was something that was magical, it was the age of alchemy, of people trying to turn lead into gold. And obviously it was complete fantasy. But what we now have is a world in which the first steps to create a brand new species have been taken. The story of Frankenstein gets closer to reality than it ever was when it was first written."

However, Mercurio revealed that despite his version featuring a malformed human rather than the monster of the movies, he did look to the earlier films for inspiration, saying: "The novel is obviously the starting point for the story, but the images that people conjure up all come from those first two movies of the '30s, Frankenstein and The Bride Of Frankenstein."

Frankenstein airs tonight at 9pm on ITV1.