Being Human (British TV series)

Being Human
File:Being Human promo.jpg Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner 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 series	2
No. of episodes	14 + 1 pilot
Production
Producer	Matthew Bouch
Production location	Bristol
Cinematography	Tim Palmer (pilot) Nic Morris (series)
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Three BBC HD

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

It is one of the most popular shows on BBC’s iPlayer and the creator Toby Whithouse has said he is thrilled that the BBC has decided to commission a second series.

The first episode of the second series will premiere on BBC Three at 21:30 on 10 January 2010. The BBC have announced that a third series is to be made.

Pilot

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

Danny Cohen, the controller of BBC Three, commissioned the Being Human, West 10 LDN, Mrs In-Betweeny, and Phoo Action pilots as part of the re-branding of BBC Three. The Being Human pilot starred Guy Flanagan as Mitchell the vampire, Andrea Riseborough as Annie the ghost, and Russell Tovey as George the werewolf, and it featured Adrian Lester as Herrick and Dominique McElligott as Lauren; with the exception of George, these parts were recast when the series went into full production. Set in Bristol and filmed on location, Being Human features views of Clifton Suspension Bridge and Clifton Village. Windsor Terrace, Totterdown, Bristol (51.442383°N 2.579566°W / 51.442383; -2.579566) is the location of Mitchell, Annie, and George's home and the pub shown in the pilot. Scenes set at the hospital where Mitchell and George work are filmed in and around Bristol General Hospital.

Lighting trucks at Being Human film shoot, College Green, Bristol

The pilot episode was broadcast at 9pm on 18 February 2008. As part of her review of the pilot, the Reading Chronicle's Narin Bahar began an online petition to lobby BBC Three commissioning editors to greenlight a full series. Over 3,000 people signed.

Episodes

See also: List of Being Human episodes

Characters

Main characters

John Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a quiet, calm, very handsome vampire working as a hospital Porter. He often wears dark clothing, lots of rings and fingerless gloves. Irish by birth, he was originally bitten by Herrick (the antagonist) during the First World War when he stumbled upon him and several other vampires who were picking through piles of bodies for anyone living to feed from. Mitchell agrees to become a vampire in exchange for Herrick leaving the rest of his men alone. After 'converting' Lauren into a vampire, Mitchell, infuriated at himself, decides to give up the blood, his attempt at 'Being Human' once more. He looks out for George, his werewolf friend, particularly around the full moon when he transforms. At several points, he faces a conflict of emotions as he debates whether to 'convert' people dying around him to prevent their deaths. 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.

In his early years as a vampire however, Mitchell was quite a hero among those that knew him. Stories of his exploits are still spoken of among Herrick's men. These seem to be a cause of great guilt for Mitchell who asks Herrick in Episode 5 to stop their retelling, preferring to be forgotten. 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. His image can't be captured on film and he has no reflection in mirrors.

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 often to wear sunglasses outside in the daytime.

George Sands (Russell Tovey) is less socially adept than Mitchell, despite having an IQ of 156 and being able to speak French, German, Italian, Spanish and Croatian. He became a werewolf when on a holiday to Scotland he went out for a walk with an American tourist, getting lost prior to being attacked by a werewolf who kills the tourist and scratches George, who survived 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.

George resents being a werewolf, so much so that he is essentially in denial about his condition, often referring to it as 'that thing that happens to me once a month'. He sees his wolf side as an entirely different entity, never using 'I' or 'me' to describe it, only ever 'it'.

After becoming a werewolf, George left his family, his job and his fiancée, afraid of hurting them. He works alongside Mitchell as a porter in the local hospital, unable to hold down a more permanent job due to his monthly transformations, which are extremely painful. George is also Jewish and wears a Star of David pendant. The pendant is able to hold back one or two vampires, but in greater numbers it becomes less effective; Mitchell is apparently immune to it due to the personal connection between him and George. It was mentioned in the pilot, however, that George is a lapsed Jew as he believes the faith frowns upon someone turning into a werewolf.

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. In publicity photos, to highlight her condition Annie is shown with a glowing, transparent effect, but in the series itself she has no such effect, appearing just as corporeal as the other characters around her. It was believed that Annie simply 'fell awkwardly' down the stairs but it is revealed that Annie was pushed by her fiancé, Owen, after she found a thong in his possession. She confronted him, and he pushed her down the stairs to her death. Owen then flushed the thong down the toilet, causing the rattling in the pipes.

Annie's ability to be seen and heard by normal people depends on her state of mind, although 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. At first, it seems that she can't control these newly found abilities, which only activate in times of extreme emotional distress (along with her teleportation).

However, in episode five, after resolving the issue that was keeping her here on earth, the door to death appears for Annie; but before she goes through it, Mitchell is stabbed, and she decides to stay to help him. Because of this, she missed her chance to leave and has to stay on earth in her state. She can now hear dead people, teleport further distances, and has greater power with regards to her telekinesis, which she describes as "a whole, new skill set".

Supporting characters

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. Herrick was the vampire who "recruited" Mitchell, during World War I. Herrick is the leader of the vampires based in Bristol, their headquarters being a funeral parlor called B Edwards. He works as a police sergeant. He is leading a vampire styled Final Solution, which sees the whole world either turned into vampires, or kept like cattle as food. Their motto is 'No one gets left behind'. Watkins's portrayal of the character was designed to be "more down-to-earth" than that of his predecessor in the role. In the final episode of the first series, Herrick agrees to a showdown with Mitchell. However, due to Herrick's powers, both George and Annie believe Mitchell is going on a suicide mission. Because the showdown is scheduled on a Full Moon, George takes advantage of the situation arguing that as a werewolf he has a much better chance at bettering Herrick. George, in werewolf form, faces off against Herrick, killing him quickly by decapitation.

Nina (Sinead Keenan) is a senior staff nurse at the hospital in which Mitchell and George work. She has a fiery and strong manner that can be intimidating. Her first meeting with George sees her berate him for following the orders of a doctor. George tries to ask her out unsuccessfully as she thinks he's an arrogant player. However, she falls for him after she sees his caring side with patients. When they start going out, Nina reveals burn scarring over a large portion of her stomach. George finds it hard to have her in his life and tries on many occasions to push her away; believing that he cannot have a relationship because he is a werewolf and will eventually hurt her. In episode 6, Nina sees George turn in an isolation room, she runs to him, only to be knocked away before being dragged out by Mitchell and Annie. At the end of the series, it is revealed that when werewolf George pushed her away, she was scratched, meaning she may also become a werewolf.

Owen (Gregg Chillin) is the landlord of the property occupied by Mitchell, George and Annie, as well as being Annie's ex-fiancé. After Annie realized Owen had killed her, she unsuccessfully attempted to haunt him, as he simply dismissed her presence as pathetic. She also discovered that during their relationship, Owen had been having an affair with his now-girlfriend Janey. After a confrontation with Annie - during which she revealed what George and Mitchell really were and whispered a 'secret' to him about what death really was, a secret which was not heard by the viewer - Owen found himself confessing to the police, driven at least partly insane by fear of what Annie told him. In the final episode of series one, it is revealed that he was sent to a secure unit. It is unclear whether he went insane before he was put in there, but it is clear that now he is no longer stable, constantly obsessing about being safe from 'them'.

Lauren (Annabel Scholey) is a vampire turned by Mitchell in the pilot episode. She used to be a nurse at the hospital. She was abandoned by Mitchell after she turned, but was taken under Herrick's wing. She tries to first convert Mitchell back to the vampires, and then attempts to give up blood through Mitchell's help, unsuccessfully. She helps Mitchell, George and Annie escape the vampire headquarters before pleading with Mitchell to kill her as she hates what she has become. Mitchell then reluctantly shoves a stake through her heart, killing her at the end of Episode 5.

Seth (Dylan Brown) is a vampire henchman of Herrick. He and Mitchell know each other but never get on. He seems intimidated by Mitchell at times and resorts to taunts to be seen as superior. He was one of three vampires that beat up George two years ago when George and Mitchell first meet. Seth is killed by Lauren with a stake through his heart in episode 5 when he is about to attack a cornered Mitchell, George and Annie in the vampire headquarters funeral home.

Janey (Sama Goldie) Owen's current girlfriend. Annie says that she works in a tanning salon, and has an orange complexion because she 'thinks it looks classy'. When haunting Janey, Annie reveals to her that Owen was the one who killed her, and that she has to stop seeing him, before it’s too late. Janey says that he does make her feel scared sometimes, but she loves him. When Owen comes home, Janey says that she met Annie, and he tells her that is a figment of her imagination, and that it is guilt for sleeping with him when he was engaged to Annie.

Josie (Clare Higgins) used to date Mitchell in the 1960s and has now developed lung cancer. She warns George of the vampires' plan after Mitchell asks Herrick to recruit her. She visits Mitchell in hospital where they talk about their relationship. She then offers her blood (meaning her life also) to Mitchell to help him recover from the stake in his heart; she is found dead the next morning.

Bernie (Mykola Allen) is a boy who lives in the same neighborhood as Mitchell, George and Annie. Mitchell makes friends with him after he stops him being bullied. Mitchell lends him a Laurel and Hardy DVD , but the boy accidentally takes the vampire porn/snuff film DVD that Lauren had sent Mitchell previously. When Bernie's mother finds it, Mitchell is branded a paedophile. Later one night, while the people from the street are rioting against George and Mitchell, Bernie is hit by a car and slips into a coma from which the doctors say he will never recover. Mitchell feels so much guilt he offers to Bernie’s mother the option to turn him into a vampire, which she accepts. At the end of that episode, Bernie is seen at a train station, meeting his mother. Bernie goes to thank Mitchell, who walks away from him because he feels guilt for either leading Bernie to his coma, resulting in his death, or for dooming him to the life of a vampire.

Tully (Dean Lennox Kelly) is a werewolf who arrives in Bristol and becomes a potential role model for George. Unlike George, he appears to be at ease with his condition, has developed strategies to deal with its effects and has a "seize-the-day" outlook. He is later revealed to have been the werewolf who originally attacked George and is therefore responsible for George's condition. He had befriended George in a desperate attempt to remain connected to the human world.

Series lore

Vampires

In the series, vampires are created by a human, at the moment of death, drinking the blood of a vampire. A vampire, after nearly, but not quite killing a human by biting their neck and drinking their blood, lets their own blood into the human's mouth; if the vampire does not do this, the human simply dies. The vampire blood then overwhelms and eventually infects the entirety of the human's blood, a process which takes up to several days. During this time, a funeral or memorial service is held for the person; the apparently dead body is collected by the vampires. In the series, Seth poses as an undertaker to collect the bodies of any recruited humans, whilst Herrick poses as a police officer to cover up any suspicious circumstances. Other vampire clans presumably have similar set-ups. It is an unwritten rule that vampires should be present at the 'reawakening' of any vampire they have personally recruited, and the fact that Mitchell did not do this for Lauren is seen as poor form.

Unlike in most other media, vampires in Being Human can survive in daylight, although their eyes are over-sensitive to direct sunlight and they almost always wear sunglasses. However, they also have a low body temperature, often wearing gloves and heavy coats, even in summer and when inside. They can be badly affected by religious symbols (such as George's Jewish Star of David), but the effect is subjective depending on the symbol's owner (George's Star of David does not affect Mitchell because of the friendship between the two men). It is also hinted several times that another instant way of killing vampires is by decapitation, also one of the ways supposed to kill Dracula.

Although vampires can survive without blood, they have an intense craving for it, especially when young. What satisfies them is the life that is in the blood as they drain a human; for this reason, packaged blood from a blood bank does not work as well and is not seen as a viable alternative.

Vampires cannot cross a threshold into a private building unless they have been invited. In episode five, Herrick is shown pushing against an invisible barrier of a house to which he hasn't been invited.

The vampires of Being Human can be killed by a wooden stake through their heart, although it has not been specified whether this is the only object or means by which it can be done. When killed in such a manner, they experience a human-like death which can include blood loss and organ failure, before finally turning to ash, leaving just their clothes behind. Their death is not instantaneous, and they can be saved if the stake is removed fast enough. The wound is no different from a regular one, and will heal quickly, like all vampire wounds. However, the vampire will still die without a fresh infusion of blood from a living person. In episode six, Mitchell's wound healed at an accelerated rate in the hospital, but despite several transfusions, he did not recover until his old girlfriend allowed him to drink her blood.

According to Mitchell, the first vampire in the Being Human universe, or first vampire to lead a double life was called Richard Turner. He arrived in 1630 and lived in Bristol, leading to the strong vampire presence in the modern day city. Turner became a slave trader and ran for British Parliament. It is rumoured he killed over one thousand people, and at the time of the series it is not known whether he is still alive.

Ghosts

Ghosts occur when a person dies with unresolved issues that keep them from wanting to 'move on'. This can be due to the circumstances of their death (such as is the case with Annie), or an experience they missed out on in life (such as Gilbert's need to learn to love another before he is allowed to pass on). Passing on is kept unspecific, but when the ghost is ready, the passage to the afterlife takes the form of a door appearing from nowhere. When Annie's door finally appeared, she chose not to pass through and it disappeared again - it is remarked that Annie might be the first ghost to have done this, and it is not clear what the implications of this are for her.

A ghost's abilities are linked to their emotions, fluctuating with their emotional state. When Annie is feeling vulnerable or scared, she becomes invisible to humans. This can be interpreted as her subconscious wanting her to disappear as a form of defense. However, at times when she is completely accepting of her condition as a ghost and feels comfortable with herself, she is visible to normal people. This can be seen by the fact that by the first episode of series one she could be seen by a pizza delivery man. However, having invited Owen to the house (disguising the invitation as a call for some plumbing help from George), she cannot be seen by him or indeed by anyone. The fact that she became invisible when Owen came back shows that although she could not remember how she died, her subconscious was aware that Owen had killed her and felt the need to 'hide'. Once she discovers his role in her death, effectively coming to terms with it and starting to move on, she can once again be seen by everyone. However, George and Mitchell as well as other supernatural creatures can see her at all times, being as Mitchell puts it in the pilot that they are all 'from different parts of the same country'.

Annie can also teleport at will. She has moved from one room to another in the flat as well as teleported to a street when she was frightened by advances from another werewolf, Tully, in the house. In the opening trailer, Annie is seen walking through the front door while George and Mitchell argue outside their house about losing the key. This is the only time that she is seen doing this however, normally physically opening doors to get through them. She is able to pick up and move things about. She cleans the house, hands Mitchell and George teas on numerous occasions as well as other things. It hasn't been explained however, if these things can be seen by humans when Annie is carrying them when they cannot see her.

Ghosts can sometimes become poltergeists. This can occur when an event that happened while they were alive causes immense trauma, leading to them becoming emotionally angry, vulnerable and unstable. They can then move or smash objects without touching them, the level of the damage or violence directly relating to the ghost's instability. Ghosts appear in the clothes they were wearing when they died. This is the case with Annie, although her outfit changes slightly depending on her mood. When 'haunting', Annie's eyes turn violet.

Werewolves

George in his werewolf form.

Werewolves only change during the one night when the moon is at its fullest. They cannot cross water and can be identified through sight and smell by other supernatural creatures including themselves, ghosts and vampires. Vampires have a strong hatred towards werewolves, seeing them as dirty, crude and inferior. The following voice over narrative by Mitchell at the beginning of the second episode of the series, describes the physiological changes that a human (George in this case) undergoes during the transformation into a werewolf:

"He should be dead within 30 seconds. The werewolf heart is about two-thirds the size of a human's. But in order to shrink, first it has to stop. In other words, he has a heart attack. All of the internal organs are smaller, so while he's having his heart attack, he's having liver and kidney failure too. If he stops screaming it's not because the pain has dulled, his throat, gullet and vocal chords are tearing and reforming. He literally can't make a sound. By now the pituitary gland should be working overtime, flooding his body with endorphins to ease some of the pain, but that too has shut down. Anyone else would have died of shock long ago. But it won't kill him and that's the thing I find most remarkable. It drags him through the fire and keeps him alive and even conscious to endure every second. Nothing like this could just evolve. This.......is the finger print of God. An impossible lethal curse spread by tooth and claw, victim begets victim begets victim. It's so cruel, it's... perfect."

It has also been shown throughout the series that, as the full moon approaches, all the senses are enhanced. Indeed they remain enhanced even after reversion to human form, probably returning to baseline human levels as the time goes on until the cycle begins again. Confidence and even a tendency towards aggression may be evident, given the occasion. This is seen in the pilot episode, when George quite easily overpowers an aggressor, strangling the man while describing the changes he's experiencing in his life. He then turns to his ex-fiancée, who is the subject of the aforementioned aggression, and says "Stay away from me" while smiling rather dangerously. There also appears to be an increased appetite for sex, as is seen in the fourth episode where he has sex with Nina while on the cusp of a transformation. Indeed, George is later shown to be concerned that he may not be able to reach the same levels of performance later and fears Nina might lose interest in him if that happens.

As George starts to transform, he loses higher brain functions and attacks those nearby. When fully transformed, George becomes covered in fur, slightly gains in mass and has a very wolf-like head and snout instead of a more traditional Wolf Man look, although Tully does bear a slight resemblance to the Lon Chaney Jr. Wolf Man mid-transformation, as well as bearing a pentagram tattoo on his chest. He also appears to walk on his hind legs and has clawed hands, as opposed to being a four legged werewolf like in An American Werewolf in London. Once the change happens, George has a blackout and does not remember anything that happened while he was a wolf. If he is out in the woods, he could have traveled for miles and he would not know where he has ended up. Werewolves are seen as a low form of life by the vampires and are often called dogs by them.

Death

Death is not seen as a happy thing in Being Human. Conversations between Annie and Mitchell and Mitchell and Herrick allude to the fact that while they were briefly dead, they saw people holding sticks and rope. It is referred to with dread and fear. While Mitchell is waiting for one human to wake up as a vampire, he refuses to leave saying that the person will need comfort after the things he's seen. In another instance Annie tells Owen a secret that 'only the dead know.' The horror which she whispers, which is unheard to the viewer, leaves him despairing and tormented, driving him to turn himself in to the police.

In contrast, Josie, in episode 6, says death is not an unwelcome guest when the body starts to wind down.

When ghosts have fulfilled what keeps them on earth, a door appears leading to the other side. This is their 'death'. When George asks Annie what is on the other side of the door, 'is it something good or something else?' She replies 'it's probably something else.' But it is referred to as a good thing because it is seen as an end as stated by Mitchell in episode 1. Annie then asks George not to look inside the door once she opens it. However, when Gilbert finally dies in episode 3, the open door is shown to the viewer as giving light—much like the common interpretation of heaven—and he smiles when he looks inside.

Finally, in the first episode, Mitchell lets the nurse die rather than become a vampire, and George says that Mitchell saved her in his own way.

Being Human Unearthed

On 28 March 2009, BBC3 began a two-weekend reshowing of the first series, preceded by a 60-minute documentary about the series featuring interviews with series creator Toby Whithouse and actors Aidan Turner, Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Jason Watkins, Annabel Scholey and Sinead Keenan.

Remake

Syfy has ordered a 13-episode first season of an Americanised remake of Being Human.

Books

In 2010, BBC Books published the first set of Being Human books.

• Goss, James (4 February 2010). Bad Blood. BBC Books. ISBN 9781846079009.
• Michalowski, Mark (4 February 2010). Chasers. BBC Books. ISBN 9781846078996.
• Guerrier, Simon (4 February 2010). The Road. BBC Books. ISBN 9780091914172.

External links

• Being Human at BBC Online
• Official press pack at BBC Press Office
• Template:Tv.com
• Being Human at IMDb