The new TV series Dracula, which is currently showing on the BBC, has brought the tale back to life for many - but do you know the connection to Keinton Mandeville?

The TV series is based on the novel by Bram Stoker who used his tutor, Henry Irving, as his inspiration for the character of Dracula.

Irving was born in Keinton Mandeville and it is generally accepted by Stoker experts that the characterisation and mannerisms of Dracula are based on him.

Born John Brodribb Irving in the village near Glastonbury, Henry was added as a middle name at his Christening.

Born to a working class family, Irving's cousin was the celebrated poet W H Davies.

The connection with Bram Stoker happened from 1878 when Stoker was working for Irving at the Lyceum Theatre in London.

Stoker idolised Irving to the point that: "As one contemporary remarked, 'To Bram, Irving is as a god, and can do no wrong.' In the considered judgement of one biographer, Stoker's friendship with Irving was 'the most important love relationship of his adult life'."

When Stoker began writing Dracula, Irving was the chief inspiration for the title character.

In his 2002 paper for The American Historical Review, "Buffalo Bill Meets Dracula: William F Cody, Bram Stoker, and the Frontiers of Racial Decay", historian Louis S Warren said: "Scholars have long agreed that keys to the Dracula tale's origin and meaning lie in the manager's relationship with Irving in the 1880s.

"There is virtual unanimity on the point that the figure of Dracula, which Stoker began to write notes for in 1890, was inspired by Henry Irving himself.

"Stoker's numerous descriptions of Irving correspond so closely to his rendering of the fictional count that contemporaries commented on the resemblance.

"But Bram Stoker also internalised the fear and animosity his employer inspired in him, making them the foundations of his gothic fiction."

The final episode of Dracula, which has been developed by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, will be shown this evening (January 3).