Jekyll and Hyde adaptation was a complete fluke, admits Charlie Higson

JEKYLL AND HYDE is ITV’s big new blockbuster and creator Charlie Higson says it was all a bit of a fluke!

Fast Show favourite Charlie is both the writer and producer of the 10-part all-action series which the channel hopes will be a Sunday night cracker.

“It’s a weird one as I sort of pitched it to the bosses by accident,” explained Charlie as The Sunday Post caught up with him in London.

“ITV called me in for a meeting and said they were looking for an early evening weekend family drama.

“They asked if I had any ideas, which I didn’t.

“They explained they wanted this big fantasy adventure with a bit of horror and some comedy all the kind of stuff I love doing.

“They said they’d like it to be a British period drama with a twist and an existing name so they didn’t have to explain it to viewers.

“In passing I said, ‘You mean something like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?’ and they said, ‘Yes, brilliant, can you go away and write it?’

“I was saying, ‘No I didn’t mean to pitch it, I was just trying to work out what you wanted!’”

The result is a 1930-set epic starring Tom Bateman from Da Vinci’s Demons and The Tunnel, Richard E. Grant and former Corrie star and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Natalie Gumede.

Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel, Charlie’s take focuses on Robert Jekyll, the grandson of the original doctor.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SKPUv6_-2ZA

He initially knows nothing of his family’s history or his inherited condition which is being controlled by medication.

But the “curse” comes to the fore in times of anger.

“The first thing I actually did was go away and read the book for the first time,” reveals Charlie.

“We all think we know the story because of all the screen adaptations he’s the third most filmed character of all time but the book is quite different.

“This thing about it being a monster within us all really struck me as did the fact that it was almost like a superhero, changing into someone else and into a world of freaks.”

Although it’s going to be in the Sunday teatime slot in the UK, Charlie says eyes are very much on an international market and a peak-time 9pm drama.

So ITV were desperate to give it that lavish, big budget feel.

“There isn’t really that kind of slot elsewhere so it has to compete with big dramas and they wanted it big and glossy with lots of action and special effects,” reveals Charlie.

“Every time I wrote something I’d check that it wasn’t too expensive or difficult and they kept telling me it was fine.

“I set the opening episode in Ceylon with elephants thinking we’d probably end up shooting it somewhere in Wales.

“But they said we’d just go to Sri Lanka to film and it looks amazing on screen.

“It was like making 10 mini feature films and a much bigger project than anything I’d ever done before.

“Even now when I look at it I find it hard to believe what we’ve done.”

Charlie says he was pleased there was to be no dad embarrassment, with sons Frank, 22, Jim, 20, and Sidney, 16, giving it the thumbs up.

“They said they’d happily watch it with their mates so I’m taking that as a good thing,” laughs Charlie.

Although he was in The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm last Christmas and is in the follow-up this year, Charlie’s acting options are limited because of his writing these days.

He’s the author of the hugely successful Young Bond series of books.

“I do still like to act a bit and I wrote a part in this especially for myself,” adds Charlie.

“Because I’m also a producer I was told I wouldn’t have time.

“And when I asked who they could get to do it better than me they said Richard E. Grant so that was that!”

Jekyll and Hyde is on ITV on Sunday at 6.30pm.