The debut of ITV’s new supernatural horror series Jekyll & Hyde has sparked hundreds of complaints due to the “violent” and “scary” nature of its content, Sky News reports:
The first episode of the show, which follows the story of Jekyll’s grandson, Dr Robert Jekyll, who struggles to suppress a monster within himself, aired on Sunday.
But its scenes involving murder and violence led to 212 complaints to Ofcom.
ITV said that 280 people have complained to ITV Viewer Services so far.
The first episode featured a half-human half-dog creature called a Harbinger, the physical transformation of saintly Jekyll into evil Hyde, and the brutal murder of Robert’s foster parents in Ceylon.
It also showed a violent bar fight and a punch-up in an alleyway.
One Twitter user, @grannie–bb, asked: “ITV why are you showing Jekyll and Hyde pre watershed? Too violent and scary when young children still up.”
With future seasons hinging heavily on the show’s global revenue/success, the broadcaster will hope the complaints don’t tarnish the show’s survival hopes.
In the meantime, a spokesman for the broadcast regulator said:
“We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not.”
Stay tuned to find out whether Jekyll & Hyde survives the Cancellation Reaper…
Good1701 says
I didn’t think this was too bad great series in my opinion maybe 6.30 is early for it try for a 8.30 or 9.00 slot these would work best but with the X factor live shows and downton abbey on at the moment this will not happen. Maybe show an edited version at 6.30 and put the uncensored version on say after downton and the news at 10.30