Jekyll - What do people think?

[the_fours]

Just watched the first episode of the new BBC series, Jekyll.

First impressions, its good. Has a good background story, whilst leaving some mysterious gaps. You also have a sinister group of Americans trying to get M.r Hyde.

James Nesbitt plays the part of Dr. Jackman. He plays the part wonderfully, actors always like to vary their roles, playing good parts in some shows, bad parts in others. It is rare where you get a show where they are at both ends of the scale. James Nesbitt does it wonderfully. Portraying the family man, and also portraying his sinister alter-ego in a convincingly scary way.

I have high hopes for this series, what did you all think?

[Matt G]

Hmmmm...

1. Fair enough about Jackman bailing on his family. I wouldn't trust a Hyde in that situation!

2. Hyde's movement reminded me more of The Mask than anything.

3. OK, who are the dodgy Yanks, even assuming that this is an all-US set up?

4. "You'll have to throw both of us through that window..." and sure enough...

Pretty good set up, ep 2 will be worth a look.

[Anubis69]

I caught a bit. James Nesbitt was royally creepy as Hyde. Does anyone know if that rumoured BBC on demand thing is up and running? I did some searching and found nothing so far...

[Missster.Freeman]

Wooo! That was bloody good! I'll definitely be checking out episode two. Jimmy Nesbitt's slightly nuanced approach to Hyde really worked for me. He reverted back to his raw Ulster accent to give Hyde that extra bit of menace and I liked how there was only the odd flash of his true hideous face. It's better not to have too much reveal so early on in the series.

The little dictaphone plot device is a neat touch as well. Not so sure what the dodgy Americans are all about and I don't think the series really needs this third party, IMO.

Good start. Can't wait to see part 2.

[ShadowMaat]

Hmm... I wonder what it says about me that I completely missed the fact that the "sinister group" was American. I kept thinking, "Huh... is it just me or does Lenox have a funny accent? I wonder what it is..." *sigh* It's probably an indication of how massively unobservant I am. No wonder the FBI rejected my application.

Watched the first ep, but while it's an interesting concept and Nesbitt does brilliantly with what he's given I just don't think it's the show for me. I find nothing particularly likable about either Jackman or Hyde and can't really get drawn into the family drama beyond understanding why Jackman was freaked.

I might give the second ep a go just to see how things develop, but I was mostly left with a feeling of "meh."

[Matt G]

OK...

1. Eddie in cage with lion. Woah!

2. "Tom Jackman brought tickets, we brought the zoo". OK, but who are you?

3. Come to think of it, who is "Mum".

4. What I do know is that Hyde may be a sick freak but he does put a grin on my face!

And Jekyll is another show that has started to seriously rock!

[Missster.Freeman]

I taped tonight's episode and I missed about five or ten minutes of it. Frak! I'll have to see if it's repeated on the telly or elsewhere. I saw a picture of Hyde covered in blood in a lion pen, so this week's ep does look a bit interesting to say the least.

[Hulabaloo]

Oh wow, such an awesome program. Missed the first ep, but saw the rest. James Nesbitt is amazing.

[The Signal]

I noticed your edit there, Sig. Have you watched all the episodes of Jekyll so far? What is your opinion of this modern take on Robert Louis Stevenson's original story?

Bumping this up to reply to a question in another thread so that one doesn't go off topic.

I've seen all of them so far, and I can't really make an honest or detailed comparison with the original version because it's been a good five or six years since I read the book. That said, the way this has been made makes it possible for anyone to follow, regardless of any prior knowledge of the story.

The take on the story is an interesting one, it's more a sequel to the original tale than a re-imagining. James Nesbitt's portrayal of Jackman and Hyde is better than I could have imagined, from the big changes in how he acts with the two characters, to the subtle ones.

Though I like the idea of the antagonists, who have essentially been trying to re-create Doctor Jekyll's experiment (big shock twist to that in the last episode, which I won't spoil), I don't like the faces behind the organisation. The American characters all seem to "mwahahaha"ish to me, panto villains at best, and that's a shame considering the work that has gone into crafting the characters of Hyde and Jackman.

To be fair though, I am quite disappointed in a number of the characters, once you get past Nesbitt's characters, the rest seem to be a little two-dimensional and undeveloped. If this was anyone else's show, it wouldn't bother me so much, but come on, this is the man who gave us Captain Jack Harkness!

Overall, the series has some good, and some bad, though the bad doesn't necessarily hinder the rest of the series, it will do if it continues beyond S1 (if we get any more). I think they have perfectly captured the key theme of the original story, which wasn't a man turning into someone else, but his internal struggle, a fight for control over his inner darkness. The end of episode 5 has, at least temporarily, resolved that issue (those three words, delivered perfectly, I got goosebumps ) brilliantly, but I'm not convinced it'll work out.

I look forward to the finale, and hope we get more next year.

[Missster.Freeman]

Since I had missed episode two and other things got in the way, I almost gave up on this series until I read the small preview for last Saturday's episode.

I'm going to catch up with the series this week.

Thanks for the summary, Sig!

[Matt G]

OK...only just managed to get fully caught up.

1. Having Claire turn witchy with Hyde was fun in a warped way.

2. Exit Benjamin, was fairly surprised as I wasn't prepared to buy Simes as the main bad guy - turned out I didn't have to though the new woman seems flat.

3. Only WTF - Hyde knew that Claire's incarnation was responsible for his creation in some way and "made him weak". So what was the his gameplan, kill her but his own feeling for her got in the way.

4. Still...from the whole "Daddy...why aren't I a Superman" to "We are coming...Jekyll and Hyde". You really do get the feeling that the institute should be cacking their pants.

Eps 3 and 4 were slight dips from ep 2 but this series should end on a high!

[MasySyma]

So far, I'm a enjoying this series. We just got episode 4 here tonight, and while I agree that it was a bit slower, it wasn't bad.

I agree that Hyde is wonderful, and his character plus the acting makes the show. Hyde gets all the best scenes: Billy, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the fight with Mrs. Jackman, etc.