Fox's new drama Sleepy Hollow appears to have come out of nowhere. It premiered this week to rave reviews from critics, though can it maintain the quality and eclipse - or at least match - the likes of Game of Thrones?

It stars Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane, who wakes up over 200 years in the future and meets Sleepy Hollow police lieutenant Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie). Together, they attempt to stop the headless horseman who is actually a very famous horseman - the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelations to be precise.

Viewers of the first season premiere will already know that Sleepy Hollow tells a very different story to Washington Irving's classic tale.

"It's been done," executive producer Len Wiseman said dismissively at TCA Summer TV Press Tour 2013, when asked why Fox didn't just repackage Irving's Ichabod. "We knew from the beginning we really wanted to show a different version. He's tied to the apocalypse and part of a greater war. Yes, Ichabod will still be a professor but our version is like the Clark Kent." 

Sleepy Hollow seems to have hit at the right time, following the success of Game of Thrones. Different eras, though the audience will be similar.

"Obviously, the success of the fantasy of stuff recently has whet the appetite of people," executive producer Mark Goffman told Deadline.com. He insisted that the team are simply "revising" the Icabod Crane story "in a way that's really new and fresh." 

The Sleepy Hollow story is a popular one - everyone loves the idea of a headless horseman. Tim Burton's 1999 big-screen movie, starring Johnny Depp as Ichabod, was relatively well received and holds a solid score of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Reviews of the TV version are stronger.

"Sleepy Hollow works because it approaches everything with a relatively straight face, yet never seems to be taking itself too seriously," said David Sims of The A.V Club.

"It's fun, it's entertaining, it's got some scares and some action and plenty of secrets to unveil," wrote Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter. 

Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times continued the praise, writing, "Plenty of places for this series to take its engaging leads, one of the odder crime-fighting pairs on TV, doing battle against one of TV's creepier-looking if expressionless bad guys."

In Monday at 9.00pm, Sleepy Hollow has a perfect time-slot. The direction and acting appears to be in-place, let's just hope the writers don't lose their heads. 

Sorry.

Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Katie Winter Sleepy Hollow Stars Tom Mison [L], Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Katie Winter [R]

Len Wiseman
Executive Producer Len Wiseman Was Bullish Ahead of Sleepy Hollow's Premiere