How the cancellation of ITV's Jekyll and Hyde on ShowMax is helping thousands; show wasn't cancelled because it was 'too violent or scary'.

The abrupt cancellation of the ITV drama Jekyll and Hyde seen in South Africa on Naspers' video streaming service ShowMax is helping thousands of people, while the executive producer revealed the show was cancelled because of low ratings and because nobody was watching - not because it was "too violent or scary".

With Jekyll and Hyde getting the axe, Charlie Higson, the executive producer, went on social media to reveal that the knocked down sets have now been sent to Calais, France to help provide shelter for migrants and refugees flooding into Europe without a place to stay.

According to Charlie Higson, the trashed Jekyll and Hyde sets are used to make refugee shelters as part of a plan by the show's production designer Catrin Meredydd.

Charlie Higson says ITV "still like the show. But sadly not enough viewers. The decision not to make any more Jekyll and Hyde had nothing to do with it being too violent or scary".

Programming changes as M-Net pulls disastrous Wicked City; M-Net's NCIS Los Angeles, Vuzu AMP's Supergirl, FOX Crime's Legends impacted by Paris terror attacks.

M-Net is pulling the disastrous and cancelled Wicked City off its programming line-up while the weekend's terrorism attacks in Paris are also impacting South African viewers with programming changes regarding episodes of several shows across a number of TV channels and services.

After disastrously low ratings and scathing reviews from TV critics, M-Net is dumping the new crime drama anthology series Wicked City that was supposed to start on M-Net (DStv 101) on 30 December.

Meanwhile the horrific terror attacks in Paris saw British and American broadcasters pull this week's episodes of multiple shows set in Paris and dealing with violence or revolving around terrorism themes. The changes are directly impacting what South African viewers will see - or not get to see - this week.

The Britcaster ITV dumped Sunday's latest 4th episode of the visceral shock-drama Jekyll and Hyde with the latest episode which is added to Naspers' ShowMax subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service within 24 hours after it is shown in the United Kingdom.

With no new Jekyll and Hyde episode shown, there's no new episode for ShowMax of the horror series, with no announcement from ITV as to when the graphic episode revolving around a kidnapping with a gun will be shown.

CBS pulled the latest episode of the 7th season of the forensic crime drama NCIS: Los Angeles entitled "Defectors" with no word from CBS on when the episode will be shown.

In South Africa M-Net is 3 weeks behind America with the forensic crime drama shown here on Friday nights at 20:30 and it's a sure bet that South African viewers also won't be seeing the episode in three week's time which revolves around the terror group ISIS recruiting young women as terrorists.

Monday's 4th episode of Supergirl has also been pulled and replaced by CBS impacting Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) in South Africa and Africa which is showing the same episode as in the United States on a weekly basis.

There's been no word from Vuzu AMP, an M-Net channel, but it's absolutely a sure thing that the planned Supergirl episode in which Kara deals with bomb explosions in National City won't be shown on Vuzu AMP on Thursday.

FOX International Channels (FIC) and FIC Africa are changing the episode of Legends which also saw the latest 3rd episode of the second season of the drama series abruptly pulled by the TNT channel in America.

The latest Legends episode entitled "The Legend of Curtis Ballard" was yanked since it's set in Paris and deals with Martin (Sean Bean) looking for someone while a peaceful protest is on the verge of turning violent.

"As a result of the recent tragic events in Paris, the originally scheduled episode of Legends has been postponed. Our thoughts and condolences are with the victims and their families," said TNT in a statement.

The same episode of Legends in the United States is shown in South Africa weekly on Thursdays on FOX Crime (DStv 126 / StarSat 132) at 20:30. FIC Africa is replacing it on Thursday with a repeat of the second season's premiere episode.

"Because Legends is screened close to the U.S. broadcasts and since the episode in question was pulled from the schedule last night in the United States, Africa will be putting replacement programming in Legends' place this week. There is no specific date at the moment when the episode (3) in question will be played," FIC Africa tells TV with Thinus.

Meanwhile viewers have had a hard time keeping up with TV news channels since the electronic programme guides (EPGs) on MultiChoice's DStv and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat have failed to keep up with special reports, and announced and adjusted programming focusign on the aftermath of the Paris attacks.

Over the weekend Infinity Media's ANN7 (DStv 405) dropped its own programming and switched to the channel feed of the French 24-hour TV news channel France24 which is a news channel only available on StarSat. 

France24 has been lauded for its incisive and comprehensive coverage of the Paris attacks since Saturday and has started broadcasting its live channel feed for free on YouTube.

ITV drama, Jekyll and Hyde will be available in South Africa on ShowMax within 24 hours after the Brit drama's debut in the United Kingdom.

The new ITV drama series, Jekyll and Hyde, will become available in South Africa through ShowMax within 24 hours after the new horror series starts in the United Kingdom.

Jekyll and Hyde, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, will start in Britain on Sunday 25 October, and will be available on the ShowMax from Monday 26 October.

A new episode will become available on the South African subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service every week, within 24 hours after its shown in the United Kingdom. The first season has 10 episodes.

Naspers' ShowMax recently acquired the rights to Jekyll and Hyde as part of a new 125 hours content deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

Jekyll and Hyde stars Tom Bateman from Da Vinci's Demons, Natalie Gumede and Richard E. Grant.

Set in 1930's London at a time of Hollywood glamour, aerodynamic cars and monster movies, the new TV drama will pay homage to the Stevenson novel and focus on the young, attractive yet troubled hero, Robert Jekyll, the grandson of the original doctor.

At the heart of the drama is Robert Jekyll's quest to discover his real identity, his true family history and the nature of his "curse". Jekyll transforms into Hyde in moments of extreme anger, stress and when his or the lives of others are threatened.

"Our goal from the outset has been to establish ShowMax as the most comprehensive, high quality SVOD content collection in Africa," says Victor Eckard, ShowMax's head of content, about the ITV content deal.