Jekyll (TV series)

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Jekyll
The Jekyll intertitle.
Written by	Steven Moffat
Starring	James Nesbitt Gina Bellman Denis Lawson Michelle Ryan Meera Syal
Theme music composer	Debbie Wiseman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	6
Production
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Beryl Vertue
Producer(s)	Elaine Cameron Jeffrey Taylor
Running time	55 min. (approx.)
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	16 June 2007 – 28 July 2007
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Jekyll is a British television drama series produced by Hartswood Films and Stagescreen Productions for BBC One. It was written by Steven Moffat and stars James Nesbitt as Tom Jackman, a modern-day descendant of Dr. Jekyll, who has recently begun transforming into a version of Mr. Hyde (also played by Nesbitt). He uses modern technology in an attempt to keep Hyde in check and the two for a while have a peaceful co-existence until it is revealed that they are the key to a secret-organisation's one-hundred year old plot.

The series is described by its creators as a sequel to the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, rather than an adaptation of it, and the Robert Louis Stevenson tale is used within the series as a backstory. The series was first transmitted on BBC One in June and July 2007.

Contents 1 Production 1.1 Development 1.2 Casting 1.3 Filming 2 Episodes 3 Characters 4 Reception 5 Series information 5.1 Broadcast history 5.2 DVD release 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

Jeffrey Tayor of Stagescreen Productions intended to make a sequel to the original story and joined with Hartswood Films when Elaine Cameron was scouting for ideas for a supernatural thriller.^[1] Cameron then approached Steven Moffat for a script, and a six-part series was commissioned by the BBC's Jane Tranter and John Yorke in November 2005.^[2] BBC America signed on to provide co-production funding in March 2006.^[3] Moffat explicitly describes the series as a sequel, rather than an adaptation, stating that the Jekyll of the original story really existed, and Jackman is his "modern-day descendant dealing with the same problems".^[4]

[edit] Casting

James Nesbitt and his agent attended a meeting with Jane Tranter in late 2005 regarding the 2006 series of Murphy's Law. At the conclusion of the meeting, she offered him a script for Jekyll, suggesting that he might like the role. Nesbitt took the script role as a way of putting a distance between his previous work.^[5] He was announced as Tom Jackman and Hyde on 12 December 2005,^[6] but filming was not scheduled to begin until September 2006, increasing his anticipation.^[5]

Michelle Ryan, known for her long-running role in EastEnders, was revealed by tabloid newspaper The Sun to have been cast as "Jekyll's sultry assistant" (Katherine Reimer) in August 2006.^[7] Ryan believed herself to be too young for the part, though that aspect had already been written into the character.^[8] To prepare, she consulted the Royal College of Psychiatry.^[8] The same report named Holby City actor Denis Lawson as having been cast. Lawson consulted his post-graduate son for information on Syme's job.^[9] Gina Bellman had previously appeared in Moffat's successful sitcom Coupling, and approached her role as if Claire had become caught up in Tom's mid-life crisis, an angle that impressed the producers.^[10][11] Meera Syal was attracted to her role because Miranda was not a clichéd private detective and she thought the humour was "fresh".^[12] During the second filming block, Mark Gatiss joined the cast, playing Robert Louis Stevenson in flashback scenes in episode five.^[13]

[edit] Filming

The series was filmed in two blocks of three episodes. The first three were directed by Douglas Mackinnon and the second by Matt Lipsey. Each 55-minute episode was filmed over 12 days^[1] and filming commenced in September 2006.^[7] Nesbitt spent an hour each day being made up as Hyde; a hairpiece lowered his hairline and prosthetics were added to his chin, nose and ear lobes. He also wore black contact lenses to make Hyde "soulless". ^[14] The transformation itself was never shown on-camera in any of the six episodes. Location filming was done at a private zoo^[1], a large country estate near Henley-on-Thames ^[14] and in Bognor Regis for some of the scenes whilst on the run and in flashbacks. Filming concluded on 20 December 2006.^[15]

[edit] Episodes

#	Title	Director	Viewers/share	Original airdate
1	"Episode 1"	Douglas Mackinnon	5.1 million/24%[16]	16 June 2007
Tom Jackman is plagued by strange transformations into a younger, stronger, more animal-like version of himself. To ease the situation he hires an assistant in Katherine Reimer to see to the needs of both himself and his alter ego. He later finds that his estranged wife Claire has employed a detective, Miranda Calender, to find out why he left her. Calender is able to reveal to Jackman that he is apparently the last living descendant of Henry Jekyll, and that they look exactly alike, despite the fact that Jekyll never had children. She is unable to reveal who the other party observing him is. Meanwhile, Hyde continues to grow stronger as this third party introduces itself through Benjamin.
2	"Episode 2"	Douglas Mackinnon	3.9 million/21%[16]	23 June 2007
Tom goes on the run, having met the mother who abandoned him as a baby, and having discovered that an organisation is intent on tracking Hyde down for purposes that he cannot understand.
3	"Episode 3"	Douglas Mackinnon	3.8 million/17%[16]	30 June 2007
Tom returns to his home, and discovers that the organisation tracking him is 'Klein & Utterson', the very company he works for. Hyde kills Benjamin- one of the organisation's leaders-, and is taken away by Klein & Utterson, who place him in a very confined box despite their knowledge of his claustraphobia.
4	"Episode 4"	Matt Lipsey	2.8 million/14%[17]	14 July 2007
When a private detective confronts Klein & Utterson with the theory that Tom is Jekyll's clone, Tom's old friend Peter reveals that they don't know how Tom came to be, while flashbacks reveal how Tom and Claire first met as well as Hyde's first 'awakenings'.
5	"Episode 5"	Matt Lipsey	3.5 million/18%[18]	21 July 2007
Tom is believed dead, with Hyde having taken over after Tom succumbed to terror due to his claustrophobia. Dipping into Tom's memories, Hyde taps into genetic memory from Henry Jekyll, and learns that Jekyll never used a potion, (something that was widely believed, and evidently something that Klein & Utterson were aiming to reproduce). He also discovers that Jekyll's maid looked identical to his wife, shortly before Klein & Utterson abduct his wife and children.
6	"Episode 6"	Matt Lipsey	3.2 million/17%[19]	28 July 2007
With Tom and Hyde having fully combined their personalities- Tom needing Hyde's physical strength while Hyde requires Tom's emotional maturity-, Claire is revealed to be a clone of Jekyll's maid- created in order to stimulate the transformation in Tom that her 'template' triggered in Jekyll-, while Tom is a descendant of Hyde's bastards. Hyde dies protecting Tom's children, refusing to 'share the damage' with his other self after he is shot. The Jackman children appear to have inherited some of the Jekyll/Hyde family genes. It is revealed that the American woman from Klein & Utterson is the Hyde version of Tom Jackman's mother, from whom he inherited the Hyde genes.

[edit] Characters

• James Nesbitt as Dr. Tom Jackman / Mr. Hyde: The main character of the series, Jackman has a terrible curse. When under extreme stress or panic he will transform into the demonic Mr Hyde. While Jackman is a timid, good-natured and unassuming family man, Hyde is a deranged psychopath with the mind of a child who commits obscene murders and acts of violence for pure fun. However, Hyde is not pure evil, as he does love his alter-ego's wife and children, considering them his family and regarding them as the only people in the world besides himself he cares about. Jackman resents this however. It is revealed in the last episode that whilst Jekyll died a virgin, Jackman is a descendant of one of the many women the original Hyde raped. Jackman however is the only perfect copy and the Hyde gene was originally brought out in him by his proximity to Claire Jackman when he fell in love with her. It is revealed that Hyde was not brought out by a potion but by love.

Hyde seems to possess abilities Jackman does not, such as accelerated healing, extremely powerful telepathy/mind control, increased agility, strength and speed. He also seems to have a kind of race memory and is constantly aware of his body (e.g he can feel his own blood). These powers, combined with his nature, causes him to be called "the Devil" in the last episode. Nesbitt also plays Dr Jekyll in flashback scenes in the fifth episode, and the Jekyll Zombies in the sixth.

• Gina Bellman as Claire Jackman: Tom's wife, Claire deeply loves her husband and children and goes to any lengths to protect them from the evil of Hyde. However, she comes to realise at the climax of the series that Hyde is actually out to protect Claire and her children and the real enemy is Klein & Utterson, resulting in Claire coming to view him as a valuable asset in her and her children's fight for survival.

• Denis Lawson as Peter Syme: The head of Klein & Utterson, Peter Syme was originally the best friend of Jackman but it is revealed halfway through the series that he actually only befriended him because he knew about Hyde, seeking all along to capture him to serve as a pawn in Klein & Utterson's one hundred year old plan; to use Hyde's genetic code to develop a cure for every disease known to humankind. Syme can be ruthless and cold-hearted, but he is not pure evil, justifying his actions in manipulating and capturing Jackman and abducting his wife and children as for "the greater good." He also shows great remorse for his deeds and still likes Jackman as a friend. Despite this he still incapacitates him with nerve gas in the last episode, but the gas fails and Jackman becomes Hyde who kills Syme by exhaling the gas into his body. Hyde does, however, close Syme's eyes as a mark of respect after killing him.

• Michelle Ryan as Katherine Reimer: Katherine is the sultry young assistant to both Tom Jackman/Mr Hyde. In episode two we find out she works for Dr. Jackman's mother and in a short time has fallen for him. He is oblivious to her attraction, although it is mentioned to him multiple times.

• Meera Syal as Miranda Calender: A cunning and driven detective who is determined to establish the origins of Hyde and assist Jackman in finding a cure. She possesses a dry acidic wit and is highly intelligent. She and her assistant are lovers, and expecting a child.

• Paterson Joseph as Benjamin Lennox: One of the heads of Klein & Utterson, Benjamin hides his ruthless, sadistic personality and disregard for human life with a light-hearted, jovial sense of humour, able to laugh and joke even in the darkest of circumstances such as when Hyde throws his bodyguard out of the window and later murders a fully-grown lion. He is arrogant and overconfident and makes a fatal miscalculation in thinking he can use Hyde's affection for Jackman's family to control Hyde.

• Mark Gatiss appeared as Robert Louis Stevenson in the fifth episode.

[edit] Reception

James Jackson of The Times rated the first episode four out of five stars, calling Nesbitt's performance as Hyde "as entertainingly OTT as a dozen Doctor Who villains, with a palpable sense of menace to boot". The conspiracy plot is praised as a storyline that distinguishes this series from other adaptations.^[20] The Telegraph's Stephen Pile criticised the script for "veering between Hammer horror and larky humour" and for being "cheesy". He also criticised Hyde's gravity-defying hijinks and mistook Michelle Ryan for a model.^[21] In the same newspaper, James Walton called the first episode a combination of "a good yarn with several nicely thoughtful touches".^[22] David Cornelius of DVDTalk was full of compliments for the series, summing up its review with the statement "six episodes, 300 minutes, not a single one of them wasted. "Jekyll" is this year's finest television event".^[23] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commenting on the series being part of their 2008 line-up, said "This classic horror tale has been given a modern make-over that will leave you on the edge of your seat and begging for more. James Nesbitt is outstanding as the new Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde".^[24]

Nesbitt was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his roles.[1]

[edit] Series information

[edit] Broadcast history

Jekyll was broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights from 9 p.m.^[14] A two-week break occurred between showings of the third and fourth episodes because Live Earth was broadcast during its timeslot on 7 July.^[25] The series began airing on BBC America from 4 August, as part of a "Supernatural Saturday" programming strand.^[26] In Australia Jekyll began broadcasting on ABC1, Sundays at 8.30 p.m. from 2 March 2008 with a double episode back-to-back each week. In Canada, Jekyll began broadcasting on Showcase, beginning at the end of August 2007 and on BBC Canada, Wednesdays at 10:00 PM from 26 March 2008.

Certain edits were made to the United Kingdom broadcasts in order to remove language unsuitable for Saturday night BBC One audiences; for example, a line spoken by Hyde in episode 1 was changed from "Who the fuck is Mr Hyde?" to "Who the hell is Mr Hyde?"^[27]

[edit] DVD release

The BBFC rated all episodes as 15 on 11 June 2007.^[28] Jekyll: Season One was released for region 2 on 30 July 2007 and includes uncut episodes, cast and crew audio commentaries on episodes 1 and 6, and behind-the-scenes documentaries.^[29] The first Region 1 release occurred in the United States on Sept. 18^[30], although the Region 1 Canadian release was delayed until Oct. 9, following the Canadian broadcast of the series on Showcase, which commenced at the end of August 2007.^[31]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jekyll at bbc.co.uk
• Jekyll at Hartswood Films
• Jekyll at BBC America
• Jekyll at the British Film Institute