Thats a full plate by anyones standards.

Did I put myself into a fever?

Im too old for that shit!

It did all happen quickly though?

One thing I need to clarify is that I didnt write the whole series.

There was a certain amount of writing as we went along.

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Higsons grateful for the speed, he says.

Because its not the sort of thing theyve ever made in-house before.

Its kind of a return to that.

Scary, funny and packed with punch-ups and action, you’re free to certainly see the connection.

Isnt he worried that all that might be considered too much for the family teatime slot?

In a word, no.

Kids will be happy with it, says Higson.

They love all that stuff.

They want to feel theyre watching something a bit more grown-up.

My feeling is that theres enough of a fantasy element to it.

We dont do squirting blood and gore and torn-off limbs, its very tastefully done.

It certainly wont be the first time ITV has shown scary material pre-watershed either, Higson argues.

The James Bond films have traditionally been shown on ITV Christmas Day afternoon.

Ive always maintained its good to scare children, Higson concludes, In a safe way.

Its good for kids to learn about fear and how to cope with it.

And also fear is thrilling.

What terrified Higson as a child, sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV?

Its like a house of cards.That, I really enjoyed.

It was quite spooky and sinister because it had a sort of nightmare quality to it.

Id love to watch it again.

Someone the other day told me what the episode was called, but I completely forgot.

Nowyou, as Den of Geek, you should know!

lll have to Google it later, I apologise.

For years I couldnt work out why I hadnt seen clips from it and people werent talking about it.

It was only when it resurfaced that I realised it had been wiped.

For whatever reason, hes yet to.

I think thats a shame.

The foreign market is similarly inJekyll & Hydes sights, according to Higson.

We always knew it was going to be pre-watershed, but also something that we wanted to sell abroad.

Has it been written in such a way that all ten episodes could be watched in a single binge?

Yes, says Higson.

Its interesting the way that is changing, he continues.

So I said Does that mean you havent had any new viewers forCoronation Streetin the last fifty years?

Its never good for a show to be moved around.

We always knew roughly what our slot was on this and were hoping to stick to it.

Its an interesting time for ITV to take up teatime family drama, isnt it?

Its tricky, he says, you could still create event television.Game Of Thronesis one example.

and youre going Stop!

You have to watch it when it goes out.

The limitations can be a creative boon, he suggests.

I wanted to do the equivalent of a werewolf episode, remembers Higson.

It becomes quite interesting then.

you might tap into mythology and get round the fact that we couldnt afford a full-on digital black dog!

Its interesting that Higson describes Mr Hyde, Dr Jekylls monstrous alter-ego, as a superhero.

With his violence and drinking and so on, hes not exactly Captain America, is he?

No, hes a superhero in the Incredible Hulk mode.

The idea of good and evil and right and wrong is a very strong thread through the series.

Theres a strong moral core to the series.

How does the show go about making a traditionally evil character seem heroic?

For that very problem, what I did was to create people who areeven worse.

Yet hes still not concerned about making the show too scary for a young audience?

Not a bit of it.

Youve got monsters in there, but kids love monsters!.

Jekyll & Hyde starts on Sunday the 25thof November at 6.30pm on ITV.