Follow TV Tropes

Following

Series / Jekyll and Hyde (2015)

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jekyll_and_hyde_2015.jpg

Jekyll & Hyde is a 2015 ITV fantasy drama that ran for a single season of ten episodes. Created by Charlie Higson (The Enemy, Young Bond) and based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it follows Robert Jekyll, grandson of the late Dr. Henry Jekyll, as he grapples with his violent alter-ego, Mr. Hyde. Vowing to discover the secrets of his identity and his family legacy, Jekyll becomes entangled in a web of secrecy that threatens his life as well as those he loves.

Not to be confused with the 2006 TV series Jekyll, which is also a British Jekyll and Hyde-based series.


This show contains examples of:

  • Action Girl: Multiple occurrences: Bella is a good example; Olalla when Hyde, Lily after her reveal as an MIO agent and Robert's distant relative Renata Jezequiel who can transform into a giant black dog. Even Hils to some extent, shown visibly in a scene in the finale.
  • Aerith and Bob: Olalla and Robert Jekyll.
  • All Myths Are True: And most of them appear to be evil, according to Bulstrode:
  • Betty and Veronica: Lily Clarke and Bella Charming, respectively.
  • Big Damn Heroes: In the first episode Robert saves a young girl pinned under a lorry with a superhuman show of strength.
  • Body Horror:
    • The Harbinger in the first episode is quite literally a grotesque dog-like creature with a human head.
    • The way the Reaper Bug - effectively a giant spider - exits its hosts: by crawling, very slowly, out of their mouths.
    • In Episode 2, we get a lovely shot of Captain Dance stripping off his shirt, only to reveal a skeletal, translucent torso, complete with a visible beating heart.
  • British Brevity: Ran for ten episodes, before a second season was cancelled by ITV.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Some local ruffians accosting Hyde under the belief he's Spring-Heeled Jack in Episode 6 get what's coming to them. One of them even flips almost 360 degrees because Hyde hits him so hard.
  • Call-Back: In Episode 5, Robert muses about seeing "the face of the Great God Pan," after finding the Pan mural in the Jezequiel Crypt, something Dance said to him in the previous episode.
  • Canon Foreigner: Basically everyone in the show, apart from the rare appearances of the original Jekyll/Hyde, Gabriel Utterson and Sir Danvers Carew.
  • Collateral Angst: Robert's foster family is killed in episode 1 to motivate him into learning about his past, and also to facilitate his first transformation into Hyde.
  • Combo Platter Powers: Hyde possesses inhuman strength, speed, durability, and a healing factor.
  • Cut Short: While plans for season 2 were made, the series stopped at season 1 on a cliffhanger.
  • Downer Ending: Due to the series ending abruptly, the final episode ends with everyone apparently dead.
  • Famous Ancestor: Robert is the grandson of Dr. Jekyll, Max is the son of Gabriel Utterson, and Lily is the granddaughter of Sir Danvers Carew.
  • Femme Fatale: Olalla appears to be portraying one, being the 'vampire' from the beginning of Episode 8, seducing and murdering young men. However, she soon drops this.
  • Flashback: Flashbacks to the original story are sometimes shown, such as Edward Hyde's murder of Sir Danvers Carew and Henry Jekyll changing his will.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Lord Trash, an unseen evil entity that the villains are trying to resurrect.
  • Healing Factor: Hyde can heal injuries Jekyll receives.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode is named after a prominent feature, such as a monster ("Mr. Hyde", "The Cutter", "Spring-Heeled Jack) or an object ("The Calyx", "The Heart of Lord Trash").
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: At first Robert just wants to be a good, ordinary doctor and wants nothing to do with his grandfather's estate or lineage.
  • Jekyll & Hyde: Robert involuntarily transforms into Hyde when his emotions (especially negative ones) peak. He later discovers he can both suppress and induce this transformation via his grandfather's monocane potion.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Episode 8 revolves around Robert finding his sister, who can also become a Hyde.
  • The Medic: Robert is first seen in Ceylon treating sick children.
  • Offhand Backhand: Hyde does this in the series trailer, taken from a clip in Episode 3.
  • The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Jekyll runs into two of them early one, one a good monster-hunting organization and the other a sinister cult. Both sides try to use him as they see fit.
  • Our Demons Are Different: They appear in the form of the person you love most, before sucking out your life force.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Ordinary humans capable of turning into enormous black dogs, and distantly related to the Jekyll bloodline.
  • Parental Abandonment: Robert was abandoned as a baby and raised by a foster father. This turns out to be (somewhat) untrue, as he was definitely older when delivered to the Najarans, although he can't remember it.
    • Additionally, his sister Olalla was also abandoned by their father, who could only save one when Tenebrae cornered them both.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: The Reaper Bug is an enormous spider capable of impregnating a human before seemingly dying and allowing its offspring to take over the body and repeat the cycle ad infinitum. It's the culprit of the Spring-Heeled Jack murders, whilst the real Jack is a monster-hunter out to stop it and restore his family legacy.
  • Secret Underground Passage: There's one leading from Dr. Jekyll's lab farther into the city.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Spring-Heeled Jack: Appears in Episode 6 and 7, although it turns out he's actually an engineer's apprentice named Burton, who invented a special suit to hunt monsters like his grandfather, the ''original'' Spring-Heeled Jack, and restore the family name.
  • Wham Episode: Episode 5, where Max Utterson dies.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Curiously averted; despite Silas' repeated displays of incompetence, Dance never gets around to killing him for it, and even gives him a seeing toad, a mystical creature that grants him remote viewing abilities.

Top