British fantasy drama television series
Jekyll and Hyde is a British TV fantasy drama based loosely on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Set in 1930s London and Ceylon, it follows the character of Dr. Robert Jekyll, a grandson of the Victorian Dr. Henry Jekyll, who has inherited his grandfather's split personality and violent alter-ego.
The series aired on ITV in the United Kingdom from 25 October to 27 December 2015 and it consisted of ten episodes. On 5 January 2016, creator Charlie Higson announced on Twitter that ITV had decided to pass on a second series.[1]
Production
The series was based at 3 Mills Studios and also filmed in Kent – Rochester High Street doubles as the exterior of the Empire music hall and The Guildhall Museum features as the hotel where Dr. Jekyll (Tom Bateman) first lodges when arriving in England. The Historic Dockyard Chatham was used as location for the scenes used for Gravesend Docks, Tenebrae offices and factory and various areas of the site feature as London Streets and markets. Elmley Nature Reserve features in episode three as the setting for Maggie's (Niamh Walsh) country house and the Fort Amherst tunnels are used in episodes 9 and 10 where Jekyll finds out about the powers of The Incubus.
Controversies
The opening episode attracted 459 complaints to the UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom in regard to the level of violence contained within a programme shown at 6.30pm. Ofcom subsequently announced that it had launched an investigation,[8] which ultimately ruled that the show had breached the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, as children were not "protected from unsuitable material by appropriate scheduling."[9]
After the November 2015 Paris attacks, episode 4 was delayed for a week as it was felt that the subject matter would be upsetting with the fresh memories of the experience.
Cancellation
On 5 January 2016, ITV confirmed that it would not be renewing Jekyll and Hyde for a second series. Reasons included poor and decreasing viewing figures,[10] unfavourable comparisons to Doctor Who[11] and public backlash following "hundreds of complaints" regarding the appropriateness of the content for a teatime family show.[12]
Unmade second series
On 8 July 2016, Higson explained in a tweets thread what would have happened in Series 2: "We had lots of great stories already written for series 2 of Jekyll & Hyde. Robert was going to find out a lot more about his mother and find his father. He was going to reluctantly work for MIO. Robert & Ravi were going to return to Sri Lanka & uncover some buried secrets. Bella’s family history was going to come into play. There were going to be some shocking deaths and reversals. And we were going to find out a lot more about Lord Trash... Instead, since ITV didn't want to make any more, they’re all dead!"[13]
