Other roles included Paterson Joseph as Benjamin Maddox, Linda Marlowe as Ms Utterson and Al Hunter Ashton as Christopher.
The series was filmed in two blocks of three episodes. The first three were directed by Douglas Mackinnon and the second three episodes by Matt Lipsey. It took an hour of make-up each day to turn Nesbitt into Hyde; a hairpiece lowered his hairline and prosthetics were added to his chin, nose and ear lobes. He also wore black contact lenses to make Hyde "soulless". The producers decided that Hyde's imminent arrival would be indicated by the flash of a black eye. The eye imagery evolved during filming, and did not appear in the script.
Filming began in September 2006 with the zoo sequence from the second episode. Benjamin's team have set Tom up to force out Hyde by placing his son, Eddie, in the lion's den. Writing the sequence at a late stage in the production, Moffat wanted to compare Hyde's natural instinct to kill to that of a lion. This was shot on location at Heythrop Zoo, a private zoo in Chipping Norton run by Jim Clubb, whose firm Amazing Animals specialises in training animals for cinema and television. The Norman Foster-designed building in Chertsey, Surrey, which then housed the European Headquarters of video game designer and publisher Electronic Arts, was used as The Klein & Utterson Institute. A large country estate near Henley-on-Thames and in Bognor Regis was used for some of the scenes. A disused Boys' school in Gloucestershire, and the Hammer House in Wardour Street, Soho were used in episode six. Filming concluded on 20 December 2006.
The production team had twelve days to shoot each episode. Director Douglas Mackinnon says this was the biggest challenge of the project. The required amount of material was shot for most of the episodes. However, an extra twenty minutes of material was filmed for episode six. Director Matt Lipsey recalls that the team struggled to cut the extra material whilst maintaining the integrity of the episode. Lipsey credits Moffat for not "being precious" over his material during the editing process. His willingness to cut superfluous material meant that he was taken seriously when he argued for something to be retained.
The music was composed by Debbie Wiseman.
"Jekyll" was shown on BBC One on Saturday nights at 9p.m. A two-week break occurred between showings of the third and fourth episodes because the Live Earth benefit concert was broadcast during its timeslot on 7 July.
The series began on BBC America from 4 August 2007, as part of a "Supernatural Saturday" programming strand.
In Australia, "Jekyll" began on ABC1, Sundays at 8.30 p.m. from 2 March 2008. There was a double episode back-to-back each week. In Canada, "Jekyll" began on Showcase, at the end of August 2007 and on BBC Canada, Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. from 26 March 2008. In Hong Kong, Wednesday at 11:55 p.m. from 11 February 2009 on TVB Pearl. In the Netherlands, "Jekyll" was broadcast in the summer of 2009 on Sci-Fi Channel.
Certain edits were made to the United Kingdom broadcasts in order to remove language unsuitable for Saturday night BBC One audiences. For example, a line spoken by Hyde in episode one was changed from "Who the fuck is Mr Hyde?" to "Who the hell is Mr Hyde?"
James Jackson of "The Times" rated the first episode four out of five stars, calling Nesbitt's performance as Hyde "as entertainingly [over the top] as a dozen "Doctor Who" villains, with a palpable sense of menace to boot". The conspiracy plot is praised as a storyline that separates this series from other adaptations. "The Daily Telegraph's" Stephen Pile criticised the script for "veering between Hammer horror and larky humour". James Walton called the first episode a combination of "a good yarn with several nicely thoughtful touches". David Cornelius of "DVDTalk" said "six episodes, 300 minutes, not a single one of them wasted. 'Jekyll' is this year's finest television event".
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commenting on the series being part of their 2008 line-up, said "This classic horror tale has been given a modern make-over that will leave you on the edge of your seat and begging for more. James Nesbitt is outstanding as the new Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". Nesbitt was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his roles. Paterson Joseph received a mention in the nominations for the 2008 Screen Nation awards.
The BBFC rated all episodes as a 15 certificate on 11 June 2007. "Jekyll: Season One" was released for region 2 on 30 July 2007 by Contender Home Entertainment. It includes uncut episodes, including restoration of some swearing cut from the BBC broadcasts. As DVD Verdict says about this uncut version, "the language is saucier, the violence a bit more bloody, and the sex more primal." The disc contains audio commentaries on two episodes: producer Elaine Cameron, writer Steven Moffat and first-block director Douglas Mackinnon comment on episode one, while executive producer Beryl Vertue, second-block director Matt Lipsey and actress Gina Bellman comment upon the sixth episode. The set also contains two documentaries: "Anatomy of a Scene" focuses upon the production of the zoo sequence in episode two, while "The Tale Retold" covers the evolution of the series. The first Region 1 release occurred in the United States on 18 September 2007, although the Region 1 Canadian release was delayed until 9 October, following the Canadian broadcast of the series on Showcase, which commenced at the end of August 2007.
In May 2016, Variety reported that Lionsgate will develop an adaptation of the BBC miniseries with Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman In July 2016, it was announced that Chris Evans would play the leading role. In December 2016, it was announced that Ruben Fleischer will direct the film.
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