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".