SHOWTIME(R) SAMPLES THE SEASON THREE PREMIERE OF "PENNY DREADFUL" EARLY ACROSS MULTIPLE PLATFORMS

NEW YORK, NY - April 25, 2016 - Starting today, SHOWTIME is giving viewers an early opportunity to sample the highly-anticipated third season premiere of its critically-acclaimed drama series PENNY DREADFUL ahead of its linear debut on Sunday, May 1st at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green, PENNY DREADFUL is a frightening psychological thriller created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar(R) nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator). Consumers who do not subscribe to SHOWTIME are now able to sample the TV-14 rated version of the premiere for free on YouTube, Facebook and SHO.com. The PENNY DREADFUL premiere is also available for download as a free video podcast on iTunes. Consumers can sample the premiere for free across multiple devices via Hulu, Roku(R) and Sony PlayStation(R) Vue. The episode can also be accessed via multiple television providers' free On Demand channels, websites and applications, including Comcast's Xfinity TV, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, DISH, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS.

SHOWTIME subscribers can watch the premiere episode of PENNY DREADFUL now on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R), SHOWTIME ANYTIME(R) and SHOWTIME (showtime.com), the stand-alone streaming service available through Amazon, Apple(R), Google and Roku(R), as well as through Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and Sony PlayStation(R) Vue.

This season on PENNY DREADFUL, Tony(R) Award-winning star Patti LuPone (American Horror Story), who guest starred last season as the Cut-Wife, returns as a series regular in the new role of Dr. Seward, an American therapist who treats Vanessa (Eva Green) with an unconventional new approach. Wes Studi (Hell On Wheels) joins as a series regular as Kaetenay, an intense, enigmatic Native American with a deep connection to Ethan (Hartnett) who also becomes an ally to Sir Malcolm (Dalton). The third season also adds Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Henry Jekyll (Shazad Latif). Other guest stars include Screen Actors Guild Award(R) nominee Christian Camargo (DEXTER(R), The Hurt Locker) as Dr. Alexander Sweet, a zoologist who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Vanessa; Sam Barnett (2012, Jupiter Ascending) as Dr. Seward's mysterious young secretary; and Jessica Barden (The Outcast, Far from the Madding Crowd) as Justine, a young acolyte to Lily (Billie Piper) and Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), and Perdita Weeks (THE TUDORS), as Catriona Hartdegan, a scholar with expert knowledge of the supernatural. Simon Russell Beale returns as Dr. Ferdinand Lyle and Sarah Greene as Hecate. Rory Kinnear (as The Creature) and Harry Treadaway (as Dr. Frankenstein) also star.

A co-production with SHOWTIME and Sky, PENNY DREADFUL is executive produced by John Logan for Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street Productions and Karen Richards (THE BORGIAS). For more information about PENNY DREADFUL, go to: SHO.com, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and join the conversation using #PennyDreadful. For additional press materials and photos, please visit: https://www.cbspressexpress.com/showtime/.