Hyde and Seek

The Children's BBC comedy Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde, which starred a young Olivia Hallinan as a schoolgirl who involuntarily transforms into a monster after her chemistry project goes wrong, but was otherwise very very loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's original novella, ran for three series between 1995 and 1998. It manages to get the word "booze" into its first episode, as part of an admirable commitment to pushing back the boundaries of what is acceptable at quarter past four in the afternoon, as well as some genuinely cutting commentary on the education system.

Unlike its contemporary, Out of Tune, a full set of episodes is available for JJaHH on YouTube. Like Out of Tune, though, the Radio Times seems to have been a bit confused about how many episodes were in its first series. See if you can spot the issue with the original listings:

1. TX 29/09/95: A 13-part comedy series in which a girl undergoes a change of identity.

2. TX 06/10/95: Second of a 13-part comedy series in which a girl undergoes a change of identity. Today, Julia's bossy Aunt Cassandra gets more than she bargained for.

3. TX 13/10/95: Third of a 24-part comedy series in which a girl undergoes a change of identity. It's school play time. Julia is to take the leading role in Beauty and the Beast. But what will Harriet Hyde play?

Yes, astonishing as it may seem, there really were a full 24 episodes in the show's first series, airing weekly from September 1995 to March 1996. This is diluted by the fact that each episode was only 15 minutes long, but it's still a big order for a new show with a cast of children. Unlike Out of Tune, the Radio Times' mistake gets corrected pretty early -- assuming it was a mistake. Because it's possible someone saw '17 episodes', assumed that was a typo and must mean '7'; it's hard to see how someone could confuse 13 and 24. The second, fifteen-part series began just six months (with the rather better Radio Times summary "A 15-part comedy series about a little girl who turns into a monster") after the first one ended in September 1996 -- is it possible some episodes got moved from the second series into the first one quite late in the day? The show takes a week's break for Christmas after episode 13, but unless they intended for there to be a slightly longer gap, surely that couldn't be the source of the confusion?

After that, in April 1997, a repeat run of the first series begins, and commits to repeating all 24 episodes in spite of the fact the Out of Tune repeats at the same time couldn't find time to repeat all 17 episodes of the first series. Again, this is diluted by the fact JJaHH was shorter (and was thus able to be repeated at the rate of 2 episodes a week), but it's still a curiosity.

Finally, in January 1998, the show's third and final series begins:

1. TX 08/01/98: A third series of the 13-part comedy drama. Harriet and Julia are invited to tea together - which could be difficult.

2. TX 15/01/98: Second of the 13-part comedy drama. Memphis Rocket hires a private investigator when food keeps disappearing.

3. TX 22/01/98: Third of the 13-part comedy drama. It's Julia's birthday - which means that Harriet will want to celebrate as well.

4. TX 29/01/98: Fourth of the 14-part comedy. Sister Blister holds tests for astronauts at the Rocket Academy.

I give up, you know.

14 episodes was indeed correct... and whilst the first 12 transmit weekly on Thursday afternoons, for the last week episodes 13 & 14 go out on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. But this couldn't have been because the slot was needed for something else, because the week after they begin repeating Series 2 in the same Tuesday/Thursday twice-weekly slot. Series 3 got a similarly scheduled repeat run in early 1999, which was the last time the show was seen on BBC One, although it showed up as filler several times on the CBBC Channel in 2002 and 2003 (with the rather worse Radio Times summary of "a girl's adventures after a mishap with a drink recipe").

In conclusion: