I'm sorry I scared you: Jekyll and Hyde script writer Charlie Higson finally apologises for show 'not being suitable for young children' on day Ofcom begins investigation
- Higson, who penned Jekyll and Hyde, apologised for offending viewers
- Admitted the show - aired at 6.30pm - was unsuitable for young children
- But he claimed to be surprised public took offence at the violent content
- Comments came on day Ofcom launched investigation into programme
The writer of ITV’s teatime drama Jekyll and Hyde has apologised for offending viewers and admitted it is ‘not suitable for younger children’.
His comments came on the day Ofcom began an investigation into the programme after hundreds of viewers complained over its extreme content.
But Charlie Higson, who penned the series, claimed to be surprised that people took offence at scenes of murder, torture and extreme horror before 9pm.
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Horror show: Actor Tom Bateman as Robert Jekyll is seen transforming into Hyde on ITV's Jekyll and Hyde
The Fast Show actor told Stuart Maconie on BBC Radio 6: ‘I’m sorry that anyone got upset by it. It wasn’t my intention to upset people … it was my intention for it to be scary – it’s a scary show.
‘I was expecting more people to complain that it wasn’t scary enough, rather than people saying, “This is a scary show and I found it scary” … that’s slightly the point.’
The first episode of the series, which is aimed at families, had 3.2million viewers when it aired on Sunday at 6.30pm.
Although two-and-a-half hours before the watershed, it contained graphic scenes and terrifying monsters.
Criticism flooded in on social media, and 380 viewers complained directly to ITV and a further 459 to Ofcom.
Despite his apology, father-of-three Higson has continued to defend the show’s content, saying ITV put out a warning about the violent scenes.
Apology: Charlie Higson (pictured), who penned the teatime programme, apologised for offending viewers on the day Ofcom began an investigation into the programme, which hundreds of viewers had complained about
Monday's Daily Mail revealed how more than 500 people had complained after ITV aired the show at 6.30pm before the watershed - while demanding that those who watch it on its catch-up service are at least 18
He added: ‘We worked very closely with a compliance team at ITV … they knew the guidelines so much better than me.
‘Our model for it was something like Indiana Jones, where Alfred Molina gets impaled by spikes … It was Jekyll and Hyde and people must have known that’s a horror story and we worked very hard to make sure it followed the guidelines. And so I do regret some people found it a little bit extreme.’
Higson insisted ‘you can’t make every programme suitable for a five-year-old’, adding: ‘The rugby was out before we went on, and it was one of the most violent things I’ve ever seen on television.
‘In some ways, I think the publicity about it is quite good because people now know it’s not suitable for younger children.’
It is not the first time Higson has been bullish in the face of criticism of the show, previously branding concerned parents ‘scaredy cats’.
He also joked that parents and children might be upset by it but ‘f*** them’.
Broadcasting rules state ‘children must … be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable’.
If the regulator finds Jekyll and Hyde to be in breach of this, ITV could face heavy fines.
The regulator cannot order ITV to move the nine remaining episodes and it is thought Sunday’s will go ahead as planned at 7pm.
Violence: Despite his apology, Higson claimed to be surprised that people took offence at scenes of murder, torture and extreme horror before 9pm Above, a character is fatally shot in episode two of the series
Episode two’s opening scene shows a teenager on the floor with his head bleeding. Later, a man is shot and his dead body is fed to zombie-like monsters.
Last night campaigners urged Education Secretary Nicky Morgan to force ITV to move future episodes to after 9pm. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said that by remaining silent on the issue, the mother of one was ‘giving consent to this programme’.
An Ofcom spokesman said it would investigate ‘whether the programme complied with our rules on appropriate scheduling and violent content before the watershed’.
An ITV spokesman pointed out there had been a warning that children may find the show ‘scary’, and said ITV ‘always considers carefully the content of its programming and suitability for younger audiences’.
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