Their modern take on Sherlock Holmes reincarnated him from a fusty literary detective to one of TV’s most enigmatic and compelling characters.

Now Bram Stoker’s Dracula is to be the next project for Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, who are to write a series on the Transylvanian vampire for the BBC.

Dracula, which was written by Stoker in 1897, tells the story of the count who travels from his home in Transylvania to Whitby, North Yorkshire, in search of new blood and to spread the curse of the undead.

While Gatiss and Moffat have not even begun writing the script, the mini-series will take a similar format to Sherlock, with feature-length episodes, and will again be produced by Sue Vertue. It will be the pair’s first collaboration since Sherlock. They have not ruled out a fifth season of the detective show entirely, but the schedules of its in-demand stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman make filming a challenge, and this new project may take priority,

The BBC will be hoping the collaborative efforts of Gatiss and Moffat, who recently finished his final series as the showrunner of Doctor Who, will bring the same magic to screens as Sherlock. As well as drawing in a large British audience – 8.1 million people watched Sherlock’s finale on New Year’s Day – it was the BBC’s biggest export success, sold to 216 international broadcasters.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Cushing as Van Helsing in Dracula, 1958. Gatiss says the actor provided his favourite portrayals in horror films. Photograph: REX/Courtesy Everett Collection

It also propelled Cumberbatch into the public consciousness in 2010 and acted as the launchpad for his Hollywood career.

Gatiss is well known for his love of Victorian gothic, and has recalled how his first horror film was the 1960 Hammer horror The Brides of Dracula, which he watched age five. It filtered into the humour of The League of Gentlemen, which he co-wrote, and even into the darker elements of his and Moffat’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. In 2010 he presented a BBC4 documentary about the history of horror in which he discussed his fascination with Dracula.

Writing in the Guardian in 2001 about the 1958 film version starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, Gatiss said the “climax of Dracula – in which Cushing’s marvellous Van Helsing tears down the castle curtains, letting in the sun and condemning the count to dusty death – has a tremendous visceral power. And all in absolutely glorious colour.”

Dracula has been explored and interpreted on screen for decades, most famously by Lee and Vincent Price. But Gatiss said his favourite portrayals in horror films were Cushing’s.

“He’s always brilliant,” said Gatiss. “He’s so immaculate and lovable, even when he’s playing the villain. He brings an amazing physicality, he’s got this real muscular energy.”

As well as Stoker’s original novel, Gatiss and Moffat have plenty of on-screen material to draw inspiration from. As of 2009, an estimated 217 films feature Dracula in a major role, second only to the 223 films featuring Sherlock Holmes.