Being Human - Pilot Episode
New BBC3 Drama About a Flat-Sharing Vampire, Werewolf and Ghost
Feb 20, 2008
As part of BBC3's new drama remit, a season of pilots is to be broadcast throughout February 2008. On 18th Feb it is Being Human's turn. Being Human follows the lives of three unusual flatmates, a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost. The programme begins with the gory transformation of a young man, in the light of the full moon, into a savage howling beast. In the morning he wakes up naked and blood spattered, next to a slaughtered deer he spent the night snacking on. This poor unfortunate soul is George, a reluctant werewolf.
While George is running amok in the forest, his best friend Mitchell is battling demons of his own. He is attempting to enjoy a romantic evening with a new beau, whilst concealing something terrifying. As their conversation turns into flirting, Mitchell's natural instincts rise up to suppress his humanity, and his blood lust becomes manifest. Mitchell is a guilt ridden vampire.
United by their desire to overcome their curses, George and Mitchell decide to get a flat together. This is where they encounter Annie, a ghostly former resident. She is not immediately happy to have her flat invaded, and tries to get rid of the new tenants. This leads to a funny moment on the stairs when George and Mitchell are both apprehensive about investigating the noise Annie is making. “What could be scarier than us?” George asks. “Umm, a bigger one of us”, Mitchell replies.
Doctor Who...Torchwood...Being Human
Writer Toby Whithouse is au fait with bringing the supernatural into the living room, having previously scripted episodes of Doctor Who and Torchwood. Being Human builds on this experience, successfully combining the mundane and the metaphysical. It is unusual to see a British TV series attempt something so ambitious, especially in a realistic setting. This sort of thing is much more common in America, what with Heroes, Buffy, Reaper and the like. But Being Human is undeniably British, right down to the ghost with a penchant for making tea, despite being unable to drink it.
The script is a corker, with clearly defined voices for each character and a light dusting of self deprecating humour to temper the carnage. Add to this mix a pitch perfect cast, and a soupcon of sexual magnetism and Being Human has all the elements a successful series requires. During the pilot, hunky Russell Tovey, who plays George the werewolf, is stripped to the buff three times. Nevertheless, it is Guy Flanagan, as Mitchell the vampire, who really gets to play at being sexy. Irrefutably charismatic, Mitchell is all dark, smouldering looks and laconic, laid back cool. Small wonder Annie has already begun to express an interest.
Being Human to get Green Light?
There are a few criticisms to aim at Being Human. It sometimes kills suspense in favour of rushing the plot through to conclusion, and it seems clear that the budget was eaten up by the werewolf transformation, without a smidgen left for ghostly special effects. Poor Annie (Andrea Riseborough) has a hard job convincing as a ghost without subsidy from visuals. Her character was also forced to overcome agoraphobia rather too quickly to ring true, and went from being seen by no-one to being seen by everyone much too easily. Such pitfalls are common with pilots, where there's only one chance to cram in everything. Being Human does its best to showcase the main characters, and delivers something so new and exciting it warrants the inclination to forgive its minor shortcomings. The characters are flawed, but lovable and the show manages that rare achievement of leaving the audience wanting more. The premise offers plenty of scope for future development, so fingers crossed it gets green lit for a series. The campaign for approval starts here.
Further reading: Short interviews with the cast of Being Human online at BBC Press Office.
UPDATE: Being Human new series airs on BBC 3
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