Gotta love a good line.
Showcase has a new show called Jeckyll. The premise: the "real" Dr. Jekyll passed his genes down and now, in modern day Britain, a new Jekyll/Hyde has shown up. Tom Jackman is our modern Jekyll. Hyde is...well, Hyde.
Jackman is a married man with two kids and an estranged wife (Hyde happens when Jackman gets turned on, explaining the estrangement) and the series begins as he is coming to terms with his "condition" by hiring a "secretary" to help him keep things straight between his two lives. Jekyll isn't aware of Hyde and vice versa, except that each knows the other exists. Neither has any idea what happens while the other one is in charge of the body they share, except for the odd message they leave each other on a digital voice recorder "they" carry around at all times. Some good chuckles are had when Jackman wakes up to discover that Hyde has had another crazy night of whoring, drinking, drugging and all kinds of other nasty things. Hyde loves leaving Jackman passed out somewhere without leaving a message to let him know where he is. Hyde must think Jackman is completely boring. No wonder he wants out so bad!
Jackman/Hyde is played by James Nesbitt, an Irish actor who has an uncanny ability to appear benign, even sweet, one moment, and completely malevolent the next. As Jackman, he is a nondescript, even homely man with messy curls and green eyes. As Hyde, he is dark, sleek and disturbingly sexy. What a fun role this must be for him!
Of course, Jackman and Hyde can't remain completely separate indefinitely. That would not make for good TV! And so we see Hyde beginning to take over during more and more frequent "unscheduled changes." He even pops out unexpectedly for a moment or two to yell at his kid for not using a tissue for his nose, and then vanishes again just as quickly, leaving Jackman with no clue why his kid is looking at him, terrified. Hyde also figures out how to communicate with Jackman while Jackman is in charge, and is even appearing as a corporeal vision to other people now and then. His power is growing.
Unfortunately, TV being what it is these days, we have to have an evil corporation (EC) lurking in the background, waiting to strike. Jekyll's been aware of their presence because of the black vans that keep following him around, but he hasn't known who they were or why there were following him. In episode two, EC makes their presence known by forcing Hyde out into the open during a family trip to the zoo by putting Jekyll's snotty-nosed kid in a lion pen. The aftermath of the rescue made for a wonderfully campy scene in which Hyde stands over the remainder of the lion pride, blood soaked down the front of his shirt, singing "Lion sleeps tonight" and posing dramatically. Wonderful stuff!
So now we know that EC has been following Jackman all his life, ever since his mother abandoned him at a train station when he was six months old. And while it was seeming for a while that the secretary was working for EC, in fact she is working for Jackman's mother, who's been keeping an eye on him, and has some pretty cool powers of her own.
I've only seen two episodes so far, but this show has me hooked. It has that delicious mix of mystery, humour, great characters and situations for which you gladly put aside your power of disbelief. Good for BBC for making it, and good for Showcase for carrying it here in Canada. I've got episode three four and I think maybe five waiting for me on the PVR whenever I feel like another serving of sweet and sour.
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