Ofcom has ruled that ITV broke UK broadcasting rules for airing “violent and frightening” drama Jekyll and Hyde early in the evening when children were watching.
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom received 504 complaints, while ITV was contacted by almost 400 people, about the drama’s violent scenes and disturbing imagery.
The first episode of Jekyll and Hyde aired at 6.30pm on a Sunday featuring potentially disturbing images from the start, with one character bludgeoned to death within the first minute, and further violent deaths including someone being set on fire and another being shot in the stomach.
“We found this programme broke our rules requiring children to be protected from unsuitable material by appropriate scheduling,” said Ofcom. “The cumulative effect of violent and frightening scenes made this programme – the first in the series – unsuitable for children when scheduled to start at 6.30pm on a Sunday, and without a clear warning before it started.”
ITV, which argued that the violence was “limited and fantastical”, refused to move the show to after the 9pm watershed despite the mounting complaints.
“ITV notes that Ofcom said this was a ‘finely balanced’ decision on their part, and that the programme was suitable for pre-watershed transmission, but not suitable for 18.30,” said an ITV spokeswoman. “We have taken this decision on board for future programming.”
Earlier this month, ITV decided to axe the drama following disappointing viewing figures across its debut series.
An episode had previously been postponed following the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November.
ITV moved Jekyll and Hyde around over the festive period, and aired the final two episodes as a double bill on the Sunday after Christmas. After opening with 4.8 million viewers, ratings fell to 1.8 million for the final episode.
Sets from the show will be sent to Calais to be used as shelters for refugees, the show’s creator, Charlie Higson, confirmed earlier this month.
One small good thing to come out of #JekyllandHyde cancellation. Our sets have been shipped to Calais to make refugee shelters. True.
— charlie higson (@monstroso) January 6, 2016
