Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde = Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Episode number 4 of Series “Nightmare: the birth of horror”.
As legend would have it, Robert Louis Stevenson would awake from a nightmare one night in 1885 inspired to write “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde,” a tale that many critics have viewed at various times as an aberration to an otherwise successful literary career of writing adventure stories. It wasn’t the first of his nightmares though, as this informative documentary traces RLS’s childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was fraught with his own medical problems, absent parents, and a very close relationship with his religious zealot Nanny. It was a time permeated by nightmares. Researched, written and presented by Professor Christopher Frayling, this episode in “Nightmare: the birth of horror” series focuses on the inspiration behind Stevenson’s tale of a divided self with a heart of darkness, its questionable sexuality, the influence of Jack the Ripper and deviance from the original work, and the impact that fans and family - in particular his wife who oversaw his authorised biography - have had on influencing the cult of Robert Louis Stevenson that is perpetuated today.