Jekyll and Hyde on television and film

                                                             

Jekyll and Hyde, coming to ITV this autumn,  is the latest production inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 1886 novella about a good man who transforms into his evil alter ego.

Set in the 1930s, Tom Bateman (Da Vinci’s Demons, The Tunnel) takes the lead role as Robert Jekyll,  grandson of Stevenson's Dr Henry Jekyll. Other leading roles are played by Richard E Grant (made famous in Withnail and I and more recently playing "The Great Intelligence" in Doctor Who) and Natalie Gumede (Doctor Who - Last Christmas, Coronation Street).

The series is written and executive produced by Charlie Higson, star of The Fast Show and celebrated novelist (Young Bond, The Enemy).   It will have ten episodes and is described by ITV as an "action adventure series" which "exudes mystery, fantasy, horror and sci-fi". 

Alongside Dracula and Frankenstein, Jekyll/Hyde is a Victorian gothic horror character who has been adapted and reinvented multiple times.  Around a hundred actors have played variations of the part in film and TV.  The earliest was Hobart Bosworth in a now-lost 1908 film.  Here are three subsequent short silent films which are now in the public domain:

1912

1913

1920

Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 film is still seen by many as the definitive adaptation of the story for its ground-breaking transformation scenes and a brilliant central performance by Frederic March. This film was also remade ten years later starring Spencer Tracey.  Britain's gothic horror specialists Hammer Studios produced two versions of the story: 1961's The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll starring Paul Massie and 1971's gender-switch version Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde starring  Ralph  Bates and Martine Beswick:

In recent decades, the story has been  adapted more often for the small screen, including TV movies in 1990 and 2003 starring Michael Caine and John Hannah, and the Steven Moffat's modern-day series in 2008 starring James Nesbitt.  Sadly, there was no proper resolution to Moffat's series as the BBC decided not to recommission it for a second run: