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BEING HUMAN |
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Mitchell - Aidan Turner George - Russell Tovey Annie - Lenora Critchlow Nina - Sinead Keenan II 
OTHER BEING HUMAN SERIES Series 1 Series 3 Series 4 Series 5 Being Human USA OTHER VAMPIRE SHOWS Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel Blood Ties Moonlight Ultraviolet 
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Episode 1 - first transmitted January 10th 2010Following the death of the head vampire Herrick, George is being targeted by any passing vampire with a desire to make a name for themselves. The latest pair, Ivan and Daisy, seem to have agendas all of their own which involve having sex with the werewolf and watching Mitchell's world burn. George's girlfriend Nina is worried that she too might now be a werewolf and Annie has decided to get herself a job at the local pub. And who are the shadowy, but well-funded, folks who are showing such a keen interest in the flatmates. BEING HUMAN was one of the best things about television last year, funny, exciting, fiercely original and never predictable. It can no longer rely on the novelty factor as it goes into the second series, so it will have to rely on its other strong assets. This opening episode of the new series has a lot to do what with introducing new threats, new characters, new plotlines and dealing with the fallout of the apocalyptic events at the end of the last series. It's a tall order and a balancing act that the episode doesn't quite manage to pull off. It goes more towards the dark and dramatic and loses some of the fun and light banter that was a key factor in its success last time around. This is only the opening episode, though, and there is much to enjoy. Annie's quest to get a job at the pub now that she can manifest herself is a lot of fun and a bright spot amongst all the gloom. George and Nina's story means a lot of shouting and not talking about what's really bothering them and Ivan and Daisy make for very interesting, but very dark, characters to mix things up a bit. Difficult first episode over, we await the rest of the series with great relish. Top Episode 2 - first transmitted January 17th 2010Mitchell doesn't drink human blood, but he wasn't always like that, so when the vampire who helped him turns up having fallen off that same wagon, Mitchell feels obligated to help him. When the coroner, no longer living in fear of the vampire that George killed, refuses to hush up the killing or its unusual nature, Mitchell and George have to come up with a plan that means faked suicides and body snatching. These are realities of George's life that Nina has problems reconciling. Annie, however, has bigger problems when the man she is seeing falls foul of a plot by the masters of the afterlife to claim her for the corridor. After an uncertain first episode, BEING HUMAN is right back on form. The heady mixture of ordinary life, silly conversations, dark actions and shocking surprises is just as it should be, just as we remember it from Series 1. The shocks come from Annie's story, which starts off innocuously enough as she gets on with the new customer in the bar, but when he starts getting messages from Terry Wogan on the television and seeing headlines in the paper reflecting what is going on around him then there's clearly something wrong. When the full extent of the plot he is involved in becomes clear it is a scary moment and also raises some interesting questions about Annie's place in the universal scheme of things and who, or what, lies beyond the fabled corridor that has been mentioned before and never with any fondness. George and Nina's relationship continues to be spiky, leading to an inevitable cliffhanger whilst Mitchell finds himself stepping into the power void left by the death of the head vampire simply to keep things secret, making compromises with his morality and humanity that he struggles with even more. It's not all doom and gloom, however, as the script comes up with some very witty, real world dialogue that nicely balances against the darker things that are going on and gives the cast a chance to lighten up somewhat. One thing is clear - on this showing, BEING HUMAN is as unmissable as ever. Top Episode 3 - first transmitted January 24th 2010With dead bodies popping up all over the city, Mitchell has to step into the power vaccuum created by the death of Herrick, but can he bring himself to do the things necessary to control the city's vampire population? George, still mourning Nina's departure, is drawn into Annie's plot to bring her ex-employer back into touch with his old flame. This third episode is exactly what we have come to expect and love in BEING HUMAN, a heady mix of witty comedy and the darker, more dangerous underworld that these characters inhabit. True, Annie and George's campaign to get Hugh his girlfriend back is hardly original, but it is full of great lines and is beautifully performed. Annie's frustration at the way in which men relate is also hilarious. The darker side, though, is equally well-handled as Mitchell is drawn ever deeper into a position that he never wanted as he struggles to put the vampires' protection measures back into place for the safety of everyone. The violence is short, sharp and nasty, but never revelled in and that's what makes is effective. As for the shock reveal at the end, it doesn't come as that much of a surprise really. Top Episode 4 - first transmitted January 31st 2010Mitchell starts up a vampires anonymous circle, but it is only when Ivan joins the group that it really starts to take off. Then Ivan admits that he can't stay on the wagon and forces Mitchell into a terrible deal. Annie is saved from the corridor by another ghost who she persuades to help her learn to defend herself. George gets a cage and uses tranquilisers on the night of the full moon to ensure that he remains asleep throughout his time as a werewolf. Unfortunately, the wolf will not be denied and starts to break through into the new life that he has built for himself. The flatmates are travelling on three separate paths that only occasionally intersect with each other, which is a pity as it is when they are together that the show is at its best. Mitchell's story is proving to be the darkest, with very little humour to lighten it, whilst Annie's story is somewhat lightweight and flimsy. It is George's story that is the closest to the mix of comedy and darkness that best serves the show providing moments of fun, witty one liners and a leavening of tragedy. The stories, though, don't advance very much and you can't help but feel that, were it not done as well as it is, this would be termed 'filler'. Top Episode 5 - first transmitted February 7th 2010As George tries to make steps towards a normal life with his new single mother girlfriend, Annie gets a taste of normality herself when a ghost baby is foisted on her fro a couple of days. Mitchell, though, struggles to keep the hunger at bay as the problems of the world mount up around him. Mitchell's history continues to be revealed as his current struggles to stay on the wagon are contrasted with traumatic events of 1969 that originally led him to give up the blood lust the first time around. This does carry with it echoes of the flashbacks that were an integral part of ANGEL, slowly building up a picture of the past through broken pieces, but the story that it tells is such a British one that we can forgive the structural similarities. It takes the character to some very dark places and ensures that you never quite know where the plot's going to go, something that has always been a joy of watching the show. It also gives us Mitchell in a very 1960s outfit and explains how previous vampire leader Herrick came to favour the police uniform as a disguise. Annie and George's stories are mere sideshows by comparison, but there are several scenes in which the flatmates are together and the dialogue in these scenes shines, making us wonder why there can't be more stories that keep them together rather than splitting them up in their own different story strands. These moments are the leavening comedy that contrasts and relieves the darkness, making the shadows all the blacker as a result.The writing is up to scratch, the central trio are on song with their performances and BEING HUMAN is a show that is most definitely firing on all cylinders. Top Episode 6 - first transmitted February 14th 2010George moves in with his new girlfriend, which means that there are going to be changes in the lives of the flatmates. Mitchell believes that now he has slept with his doctor that she is the woman to help him cope with his bloodlust, but she is still feeding information back to the shady monster-hunters. Annie, meanwhile, helps a psychic actually pass on messages from ghosts to their bereaved relatives and then finds that her own mother is in the audience. BEING HUMAN has never been a show to follow a straight path and Annie's story here is a prime example of that. What starts off as a bit of fluff about her helping out a phoney psychic regain his gift morphs into a moving encounter with her mother that affects her whole (after)life view and makes her think that it's time to cross over. It gives Lenora Critchlow a chance to air her dramatic acting muscles, something that this second series to date has been light on, and she is certainly up to the task. Russell Tovey as George gets some good fun lines, but the undercurrent of danger that threatens the fragile world he is building around himself is always there. Mitchell's story, though, is the one where the miserable drama is laid on thick. He has a new girl, perhaps his saviour, but she is conflicted and working with those that would destroy him. Whilst she struggles with her feelings, he plans his departure from the vampire scene. The episode starts with a harsh explanation of why the head monster hunter is out for revenge (another ANGEL-lite flashback moment) and then builds to an explosive climax that surely means that things will never be the same again. Top Episode 7 - first transmitted February 21st 2010The destruction of so many vampires angers Mitchell, but sends Daisy into a total frenzy. In the hope of calming her down, Mitchell offers to help her find out who really carried out the attack, but when he learns of Lucy's involvement, he loses himself completely and sets about a bloody revenge. George is visited by Nina with word of a cure, but it takes a transformation in the middle of a school to make him realise that the 'normal' life he was hoping for is not possible. Annie hopes for an exorcism to give her the chance to cross over, but finds that it might not be as effective as she hoped. It's the penultimate episode and finally the storylines are coming together, in the case of Mitchell and George anyway. Annie is pretty much an observer to events rather than a participant. Most shocking is Mitchell's fall from grace. He's already slipped, but his madness here is complete and events on a train mark him out as the monster he has always felt he was. It's certainly the bloodiest moment that the show has come up with to date. George's transformation in the middle of a school parents' evening is the tensest moment as it puts so many kids in danger and his break up with the life he was so close to having is heartbreaking. Once again, the show proves itself to be utterly unpredictable and whilst it is coming together at a point that was to be expected, the road it has taken to get there has been a winding one and a joyful one - for the audience at least. Top Episode 8 - first transmitted February 28th 2010Both George and Annie are in the medical facility of religious nutjob Kemp, hoping to find a way to end their separate torments. Little do they know that Kemp will see them ended no matter what the cost. Also inside the complex is Mitchell, though whether to save his friends or rip out Lucy's heart is a matter for questioning. Either way, blood is going to be spilled. So many series finales manage to fall short of the expectations that the set up has created for them. Not so this one. The storylines have come together to bring all the players into one place at one time and matters will be resolved. What they won't be is resolved in any way that you might have expected because this is BEING HUMAN and BEING HUMAN doesn't follow the rules. So the final confrontation in the facility turns out not to be the final confrontation at all, though it proves to be immensely important to one of the central trio. Following that, there is a pause for quiet and reflection before the real final confrontation and the set up for the next series. Oh yes, the next series. The story arcs for that have been set out here, but only at the end and not in a way that undermines the importance of the finale. There is a cliffhanger and it is such that there is no way that we can't come back to find out what happens. BEING HUMAN is the very essence now of unmissable. There are very few shows that we ever say that about, but this is most definitely one. This finale contains more than enough blood and death for the horror angle to be covered, but there are also some nice character moments and very witty lines. OK, sometimes sense is a bit shaky in order not to derail the accelerating action, but that doesn't matter at the time, though it might bother you afterwards. The leads are well up to the job of supporting the shifting tones and pace of the episode, but this is really about the plot, about those carefully woven lines meeting in an explosion of action and event. Whilst the rest of the season might have touched on the flabby at times (but never too much and always with too much good stuff going on to carp about it), but this finale makes it all worthwhile. It is compelling, breathtaking, exciting and satisfying stuff. Rarely does genre television come this good. Top PRESS PREVIEWBEING HUMAN is back with us from January 10th and not a moment too soon. The story of three flatmates who happen to be a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire was one of the best genre shows to hit the screen last year and we're expecting more from this second full series. To whet the appetite, here's what the BBC are saying about the new adventures: "Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow and Aidan Turner return as George, Annie and Mitchell in the critically-acclaimed drama Being Human, in which three housemates try to live normal lives despite being a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire. After the death of vampire leader Herrick at the end of series one, the supernatural friends are hoping that they can now get on with their lives, but an even greater danger is lurking, within the very human world of which they want to be a part. Werewolf George is coming to terms with the fact that he has Herrick's blood on his hands, and a girlfriend who knows his horrific secret. Meanwhile, turning down the door of death has implications for ghost Annie, but her confidence is at a peak and she is determined to stand up and be counted in the real world… And, with Herrick gone, Mitchell must appease the vampire world; can he find a way to lead by example? "Being Human also stars Sinead Keenan as George's girlfriend Nina, who is hiding a dark secret of her own, and Amy Manson and Paul Rhys as Daisy and Ivan, Mitchell's thrill-seeking old acquaintances, who arrive in Bristol in search of chaotic fun…" "To further feed the audience's desire for all things Being Human, BBC Three will launch a host of additional online activity directly involving the fans in the actual TV narrative in a novel, unexpected way. This will compliment the exclusive online prequel by show writer Toby Whithouse, introducing the characters of Daisy and Ivan, which was released online ahead of transmission, generating a buzz among the large online fanbase. The hugely successful Being Human blog has been keeping fans up-to-date throughout filming and will continue to do so during the series, with behind-the-scenes footage, cast videos and breaking news. " Top |
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