Michael Caine's Hyde doesn't just transform—he *unleashes* in this gloriously unhinged TV horror.
Henry Jekyll is a troubled man. His wife died of pneumonia. He wants his sister-in-law, but her father forbids any contact. And his experiments into the dual nature of man have yielded a personality-splitting drug that he has tested on himself, changing him into an uninhibited brute who seeks violent and undignified pleasures. Jekyll quickly becomes addicted to the sordid freedom induced by the drug. He can commit the most enjoyably revolting deeds, then return to his laboratory and use an antidote to change back to his original form, so that his lofty persona remains untarnished.
Acting
Caine's Hyde is pure predatory id—no CGI, just commitment.
Costume
Hyde's prosthetic transformation still grossly effective.
Production
TV budget stretched to its limit with fog-drenched London sets.
Director
David Wickes
Michael Caine
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Cheryl Ladd
Sara Crawford
Joss Ackland
Dr. Charles Lanyon
Ronald Pickup
Jeffrey Utterson, Esquire
Diane Keen
Annabel
Kim Thomson
Lucy Harris
Kevin McNally
Sergeant Hornby
David Schofield
Snape
Lionel Jeffries
Jekyll's Father
Lee Montague
Inspector Palmer
Miriam Karlin
Mrs. Hackett
Lance Percival
Beresford Mount, Prince's Private Secretary
Martin Jacobs
Young Man (as Martyn Jacobs)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Caine reportedly did his own Hyde makeup tests at home, terrifying his wife. The studio used his designs.
Aired on ABC opposite the Super Bowl—network executives essentially buried it, though it later found cult status on late-night cable.
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