ITV’s Jekyll & Hyde ‘aired too early’

Jekyll and Hyde was deemed unsuitable for young children

UK media watchdog regulator Ofcom has ruled that ITV’s recently cancelled series Jekyll and Hyde was broadcast too early given its “violent and scary” content.

The teatime fantasy drama made headlines when it debuted last November after more than 800 people complained to Ofcom that some of its content, including a scene that showed a man being beaten to death, was unsuitable for pre-watershed audiences.

ITV, which cancelled the show earlier this month, was also forced to postpone one of the episodes following the Paris terrorist attacks in November and moved the show around in its schedules during the festive period.

Yesterday Ofcom concluded that six scenes in the first episode, broadcast at 18:30 (GMT) on October 25, “were likely to frighten and disturb younger children.”

Despite ITV’s argument that most of the violence depicted was “fantastical,” Ofcom said the “scenes of fantasy noted depicted relatively realistic and brutal acts of violence.”

“Viewers may not have expected this programme to contain violent and scary scenes… and in the first 30 minutes,” Ofcom said in a statement.

The watchdog also noted it “did not consider the pre-broadcast warning in this case was adequate.”

However, the organisation believed the content was “not so strong that, with the appropriate scheduling, it could not be broadcast pre-watershed.”

Overall, Ofcom ruled that ITV had breached a rule stating “children must be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.”

The ITV Studios-produced show, created by Charlie Higson (The Fast Show), was commissioned by ITV director of drama Steve November and head of drama series Jane Hudson. It followed the story of Robert Jekyll, the grandson of the original doctor, in 1930s London.