Not bad, but not great either
I got the DVD box set on a whim, with minimal expectations, and am entertained enough to have stuck with it - just. (I have 2 episodes left to watch).
It doesn't surprise me to see people here complaining about the VAST departure from the source material, and I agree with some of their points (though not necessarily the way they choose to express them).
Personally I don't mind the narrative departure. I've seen many versions of Dracula over the years, and this is just another take.
The things that somewhat spoil my enjoyment of it are more to do with issues of production, which jar me out of any sense of immersion:-
It looks and feels a bit cheap. In places you can see that money has been spent - though not as much as was probably needed. But even over the short course of the eight episodes I've seen so far, I'm already bored with the one cobbled street set (with typical sound-stage cross-street at the back) that looks so fake, though clearly some effort has gone into it within the constraints of the budget. It would be great in a theatre production, but here it just looks...well, like a stage set.
The costumes all look straight off the rail of a theatrical costume hire company. They are okay costumes, but don't feel lived-in. They are also too clean and well maintained.
All the exterior non-studio-based streets are also too clean and well maintained. If you're going to set your drama in Victorian London, you need to add a lot of filth and garbage everywhere! Victorian London was dark, smoky, diseased, and full of horse manure, raw human sewage, and vermin. (Even the clean areas!)
Every exterior scene that isn't on that one cobbled street set looks like it was filmed in Hungary. Hmmmm...
This will be controversial, but the few token ethnic characters are given dialogue and behaviour that just doesn't work in a Victorian period setting. In later episodes, the character of Renfield (who is perhaps my favourite character in this version, btw) is at least acknowledged as being black, and given some back-story that deals with it. But for the first few episodes his race is completely ignored like the worst kind of politically correct "colour-blind casting", as he stomps round Victorian London dressed like a gent, barking orders at upper-class white people. This would never have happened and is jarring enough to break my immersion as a viewer. Other people of colour crop up occasionally and are again costumed, written, and acted like white characters - but with no back-story to explain why. It's a period piece, and in my opinion that means it should ignore political correctness and depict the most accurate version of the era possible. Otherwise, why bother? They may as well have set it in 2015 (and could then have employed many more ethnic actors!) If you're going to do it, do it right!
Seriously, how many more cartwheeling, leather-clad, butt-kicking, karate-chopping, man-beating, unfeasibly strong females must we all be subjected to?!!! (Nuff said).
Lastly, I dislike nearly all of the actors! This is a serious drawback for any drama series. As it is purely a matter of personal taste, I can't really blame the production for this, but it is unfortunate that they somehow managed to cast so many actors that irritate me, all in one series! I have to grit my teeth through many of the scenes.
But apart from all that, I'm actually quite enjoying it.