Being Human (British TV series)

Being Human
File:Being Human promo.jpg Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow in a promotional image from the show
Genre	Drama, Horror, Comedy
Created by	Toby Whithouse
Starring	Lenora Crichlow Russell Tovey Aidan Turner
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 + 1 pilot (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Rob Pursey
Producer	Matthew Bouch
Cinematography	Tim Palmer (pilot); Nic Morris (series)
Editors	Paul Endacott (Episodes 3 and 4)
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Three BBC HD
Release	18 February 2008 (pilot) 25 January 2009 (series)

Being Human is a British television drama/horror/comedy series, broadcast on BBC Three. It stars Lenora Crichlow, Russell Tovey and Aidan Turner as three twenty-something characters sharing a house in Bristol, trying to live a normal social life, despite being a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire.

Following the success of a pilot broadcast in February 2008, a six part series began on 25 January 2009 on BBC Three.

Commissioning

The pilot episode was broadcast at 9pm on 18 February 2008 as part of the re-branding of BBC Three along with several other pilots (including West 10 LDN). Danny Cohen, the controller of BBC Three, had stated that a full series from either one or two of these pilots would be produced; the other to be commissioned was Phoo Action, a decision which was later reversed.

An online petition lobbying BBC Three commissioning editors to greenlight a full series was set up by a journalist from the Reading Chronicle newspaper as part of a review of the show. The article and petition drew traffic from across the world and with the latter now having been signed by over 3,000 people.

Differences from the pilot

Andrea Riseborough, Russell Tovey and Guy Flanagan from the pilot episode.

Several cast changes have been made for the series, although Russell Tovey returned as George. Mitchell, originally portrayed by Guy Flanagan, is played by Aidan Turner, and Annie is now portrayed by Lenora Crichlow rather than Andrea Riseborough. Jason Watkins replaced Adrian Lester as a "more down-to-earth" version of Herrick. The character of Lauren also returned in the full series, with Annabel Scholey taking on the role from Dominique McElligott.

Producer Matthew Bouch has described the series as "less gothic and slightly more rooted" and "a bit funnier". Bouch has described the series as "kind of a reboot" of the narrative in the pilot. Nevertheless, writer Toby Whithouse said in an interview that he does consider the pilot canon.

Characters

Main characters

John Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a quiet, calm vampire working as a hospital orderly. He does not want to kill anyone and seems to hate his condition, struggling to control his lust for blood and sometimes failing to be human. He looks out for George, particularly around the full moon. Irish by birth, he was originally bitten during the First World War by his commanding officer Herrick. He faces a conflict of emotions as he debates the possibility of saving several people by biting them to prevent them dying as he did with those troops under his command in the First World War. In the 1960s, Herrick gives Mitchell the opportunity to kill a young girl that they have lured into their car. Mitchell shows guilt and anger at the easiness of the kill and lets her go. He tells Herrick that she escaped, prompting the suspicious Herrick to say he will keep a closer eye on Mitchell.

Like other vampires, Mitchell has enhanced strength and smell, and his eyes turn completely black when he has blood-lust or when he wills it; though it appears that he is slightly weaker when he abstains from drinking blood, he can survive without it. He is not reflected in anything "silver-backed", making him invisible in mirrors and on camera, but is reflected in transparent surfaces such as windows. Mitchell has himself admitted that he is over 100 years old. Although he can survive daylight, his eyes are overly-sensitive to natural light, prompting him to wear sunglasses whenever outside in the daytime.

George Sands (Russell Tovey): is less socially adept than Mitchell, despite his high IQ. He became a werewolf when on a holiday to Scotland. He went out for a walk with an American tourist, they get lost and when darkness falls they are attacked by a werewolf. The American was killed but George was only scratched when the rescue services found him. It is later revealed that the werewolf who attacked him is a man called Tully who comes looking for him so that he no longer is alone.

After becoming a werewolf, he left his family, job and fiancee, afraid of hurting them. He works alongside Mitchell as an orderly in the local hospital, unable to hold down a more permanent job due to his monthly transformations which are extremely painful. George can anticipate his transformations fairly well,as they appear to occur at a specific time. According to Mitchell, George suffers liver and kidney failure and a heart attack each time he transforms. When in human form, George has an enhanced sense of smell. As the full moon approaches George's behaivour also becomes more wolfish, prone to violent and animalistic moods. As George starts to transform, he loses higher brain functions and gains claws and fangs, attacking those nearby. When fully transformed, George becomes covered in hair, slightly gains in mass and has an elongated snout. George is Jewish.

Anna "Annie" Clare Sawyer (Lenora Crichlow) is an insecure ghost who haunts the house she and her fiancé lived in while she was alive, and is unwilling to leave it. Annie appears in the clothes she was wearing when she died which change subtly depending on her state of mind. It was recently revealed that Annie was killed by her fiancee, Owen, after he found a thong in her possession. Annie's ability to be seen and heard by normal people depends on her state of mind, though supernatural creatures such as werewolves, vampires and other ghosts can always see her. Annie also seems to be able to teleport short distances. When Annie discovers her cause of death, she becomes a poltergeist, which allows her to move objects without touching them and turn machines on. However, it seems that she can't control these newfound abilities, which only activate in times of extreme emotion (along with her teleportation).

William Herrick (Jason Watkins) is a socially powerful vampire who is interested in the way Mitchell lives his life. They used to be close partners but grew apart as Mitchell decided to try and control his vampire urges. Mitchell has a flashback in Episode 1 which reveals Herrick to be the vampire who bit him having been in the First World War as well.

Episodes

Pilot (2008)

#	Episode	Writer	Director	Original air date	Viewing figure

Series One (2009)

#	Episode	Writer	Director	Original air date	Viewing figure

Reception

Reviews for the series have been overwhelmingly postive, with TV Scoop praising the idea and commending the acting. On the 22nd of December 2008, the BBC Being Human web page launched three prequel videos that introduced the three main characters by explaining their back-stories. Mitchell's was set in the 1960s, George's was a video diary of his visit of Scotland where he got attacked and Annie's involved her as a ghost terrorising a couple who had moved into the house.

External links

• Official presspack at BBC Press Office