TV is the New Reading

‘Jekyll’ is astonishing

If you’ve been thinking about expanding your lineup to include BBC America but have just been waiting for a better excuse than just to do so, might I recommend Steven Moffat’s dark fantasy “Jekyll”?

The show is brilliant, dramatic, suspenseful, beautifully photographed, wonderfully cast and compelling in a way that dramatic series about people with average run-of-the-mill bipolar disorders simply aren’t.

Playing the title role is James Nesbitt as Dr. Tom Jackman, a direct descendent of author Robert Louis Stevenson’s college roommate. Stevenson, of course, penned the original manuscript, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

That’s just one of the exciting “ooooooo” moments included in Steven Moffat’s richly drawn teleplay.

Another is the depth of evil Nesbitt appears to have successfully plumbed in playing the dual role of Billy Hyde. Mr. Hyde ...

Well, let me lead up to that. The pilot episode introduces us to the lawful side of his personality first, as Jackman hires a psychiatric nurse to look after him ... I mean ... um ... them.

The ground rules are laid out. Jackman and Hyde communicate via dictaphone. If Jackman looks for a cure, Hyde will commit suicide, taking out both of them. And if Hyde does anything especially naughty, like murder someone, Jackman will turn himself in.

He’ll find out because he’s wired to a GPS locator and because Jackman will strap himself into a chair for a week if he feels a change coming on.

The change

When Jackman changes into Hyde, he gets a bit taller. His hair becomes fuller and blacker. His eyes get quite a lot darker, and so do his appetites.

In the pilot episode, a mugger draws a knife on Jackman as he feels the change coming over him. Jackman pleads for Hyde to spare the mugger’s life. Hyde listens to the dictaphone message and considers.

He fires up a smoke – Jackman is very annoyed to discover that Hyde smokes – and tells the mugger he can have three slashes at him with the knife. The mugger does, and Hyde – blessed as he is with superhuman dexterity (which has attracted the attention of a secretive paramilitary organization) eludes him easily, and then kills him in apparent self-defense.

Hyde, we discover, is a complete sociopath. The only thing that keeps him in line is the reality that Jackman will punish him if he does anything especially naughty.

But Hyde is also incredibly charming and quite a lot of fun in a dark and deeply disturbing sort of way. He has a conversation with the nurse Jackman hired that must be experienced to believe. He’s quite comfortable saying ... well ... anything at all.

Other pressures are that Jackman is trying to shield his family from any contact with Hyde, but with the unscheduled changes along with the scheduled ones this becomes more and more difficult. As the show progresses, they learn how to communicate without the dictaphone, and ultimately, it becomes clear that in their own very different ways, they are, in fact, looking out for one another.

This is one of the most exciting new shows I’ve run across recently and I’ve gotta say, if there’s any way to access it, you’re well-advised to do so. “Jekyll” airs 9 p.m. Saturdays on the BBC America. Enjoy!

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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