ITV in two minds over horrors of Mr Hyde

ITV has appeared to admit that its new drama Jekyll and Hyde should have been broadcast after the watershed, after banning under-18s from watching the show on its website.

The first episode of the Robert Louis Stevenson adaptation, which aired in a 6.30pm slot on Sunday, featured violent, sometimes frightening scenes that included a girl being run over and a man beaten to death.

The broadcaster’s catch-up website carries a restricted content notice on the show, warning that it contains post- watershed material, despite its early evening airing.

The guidance note reads: “You must be over 18 years of age to view this content.”

The show, which stars Tom Bateman and Richard E Grant, prompted 263 complaints to Ofcom, the media regulator, while a further 280 viewers have complained to ITV.

Peter Fincham, ITV’s director of television, has admitted that the programme was “quite strong meat”, but Charlie Higson, the creator of the series, replied on Twitter to those who claimed the show was too violent. “Do you think it was more extreme than Harry Potter, James Bond or Indiana Jones?” he wrote. “All been shown at this time.”

The writer added: “My story has a strong moral core. Evil is defeated. No explicit violence or gore. But a scary mood, which kids love.”

The first episode of the 10-part series was watched by 3.4 million viewers. Ceri Radford, The Daily Telegraph’s reviewer, called it “all good family fun”.

An ITV spokesman said: “ITV issued a warning before the transmission of

Jekyll and Hyde advising the parents of younger children they may find some scenes scary.”