© ITV Pictures
This Sunday sees ITV marking their comeback to weekend teatime drama with the first of a ten part action fantasy series from the pen of Charlie Higson. Set in the glamourous 1930s, rather than the Victorian era of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, the drama centres on the young, devilishly handsome Robert Jekyll (Tom Bateman), grandson of the original doctor. Having been abandoned as an orphan at an early age his only memories are of his foster parents and his life in Ceylon, but his world is about to change forever as he starts upon his quest to find out who his real family were, and uncover the true nature of his curse.
We do get a brief tease of Victorian London before being whisked away to the glorious vistas of Sri Lanka where we meet Robert and his foster family, the Najaran’s. In a scene lifted directly from the novel, Edward Hyde has a run-in with Sir Danvers Carew one moon-lit night, and when their argument turns to blows, a woman screams from an upstairs window as she witnesses the incensed Hyde beats his opponent to the cobbles.
That’s where we leave ‘The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, though there will be more of it to come as Higson weaves the backstory in through the rest of the tale as young Robert learns the truth about his family history piece by piece. For now though, he is living a quiet life out in Ceylon, controlling his ‘condition’ by taking pills which curb his dark side from taking over during times of stress or other emotional triggers. A near tragic incident at a local clinic is going to bring his whereabouts to the attention of quite a few people however, and as you may guess, not all of them are going to have his best interests at heart.
Firstly we have Max Utterson (Christian McKay), son of Gabriel John who is Stevenson’s narrator for much of the novel. He has taken on his father’s law firm, and shares his trustworthy & loyal nature, only wanting what is best for Robert when he summons him to London in order to finally clear up the considerable estate left behind after Edward Hyde’s criminal activities back in the 1880s. The superb Ruby Bentall is his sidekick, who is a far cry from her demure Poldark character here as tomboyish Hilary, or Hills as everyone calls her. Much of the episode’s exposition is provided once Robert meets up with Max, which does well in bonding the relationship between the pair in a similar manner that their novel compatriots are also known.
Two underground organisations have also become aware of Robert’s existence too, unfortunately for him. The first is the more formal, government sanctioned, MI0 – the difference between them and MI6 is that their department is a truly Secret Service - headed up by Mr. Bulstrode (Richard E. Grant). They will be keeping a close eye on events as they believe that his appearance in London is a sign of increased enemy action, of which they must be prepared for. This is possibly not a case of paranoia, as the second of these organisations is an ancient and mysterious group called Tenebrae. Their top agent is Captain Dance, rather delightfully played by Enzo Cilenti, who appears to have only a tenuous grip on sanity at best. They may only appear briefly in this opening episode, but their actions will have drastic consequences; if this is the mayhem they will be spreading throughout the series I am looking forward to seeing what else the Captain has up his sleeve.
The Harbinger airs on Sunday 25th October at 6.30pm on ITV 1, below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then, if you want to have any guesses on who said what I will fill in any correct answers before the episode airs. Don't forget to come back to vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.
“He is coming. The all-powerful one. You will be helpless before him”
“What about your wife, are you happy for her to die? I really don’t mind shooting her too”
“Keep that fire in your belly, or you’re a dead man”
“My words exactly Hills, in the same order. Good, followed by lord. And an exclamation mark”
“You’re a pain in the arse, is what you are”
“Yes, I already signed the Official Secrets Act on my first day at MI6 actually”
“It was rather unexpected. But not totally unpleasant”
“This is too ridiculous, it’s written like something from a cheap adventure story – his muscled arms were trembling with the superhuman effort”
“Edward Hyde? You want to leave everything to Edward Hyde?”
“I didn’t create a monster, I merely woke one up!”
Trailer Teaser
“Tenebrae, mean anything to you?”
About the Author - Sandi
Sandi is part of the Senior Staff at SpoilerTV having been a contributor from back in the Lost days of DarkUFO, and who now writes previews for Banshee, The Musketeers, Poldark, and other UK shows. She also enjoys watching and commenting on shows such as Vikings, Orphan Black, Game of Thrones and The Flash.
