![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkwithheroesAges ago I watched a 'one-off' pilot for a show called Being Human. It was a fairly straight-forward concept - three 20-somethings live together in a house and cope with life. There was, however, a twist - the 20-somethings were a vampire, werewolf, and ghost. The creator of the show, Toby Whithouse, originally envisioned the show being about a sex-addict (the vampire), a man with anger issues (werewolf), and a woman suffering from Agoraphobia (the ghost). He later changed it to include the sci-fi/fantasy/horror elements. Whithouse decided that all the horror stuff - vampires, werewolves, ghost would be used as metaphors for the addicts and issues that people face.
The pilot, which was meant to be a sixty minute one-off, (if it was popular there would be a chance for a pick-up, but it could stand alone) aired in early February of 2008. It became a huge hit with fans and critics alike.
So, BBC 3 picked up for a series of six episodes that aired from January 2009 until March of that same year. (Some changes to the cast were made as the creators decided to 'go less Gothic' with the vampires and some of the actors' options had expired.) The show returned for a second series of eight episodes in January of 2010 and ended in February of 2010. Filming has begun on series three, which should air in January of 2011.
Now, I'd like to give my thoughts on both series. I watched the pilot a week after it aired and watched series one as it aired. But, I didn't watch series two until this past week for various reasons which I'll mention.
Series One:
Series one starts off assuming that you've watched the pilot. Mitchell, a 116-year old vampire, and his best friend George, a werewolf who was bitten two years ago, live in a house with Annie, a woman who died a year ago. The three of them live together very much trying to be normal.
Mitchell struggles with his blood lust, but for the most part he's normal. George struggles with the 'wolf inside', but he's normal. Annie struggles with the fact that she's dead and really only supernatural beings can see her, but she's normal. They each have their own little quirks and that each have problems, but at the end of the day, they are just trying to live their lives - un or otherwise.
What I really enjoyed about the first series was that it was about the friendship between these three supernatural beings. George and Mitchell worked at the local hospital and were bbfs. Annie wondered around the house making tea and coffee - which she can't drink - while watching over "my boys" and generally being the sweetest girl ever.
Each character had a storyline: Mitchell dealing with the other vampires; George dealing with his wolf-like nature while courting co-working Nina; Annie dealing with her feelings for her boyfriend Owen, who may or may not know more about her death than he's saying. All three of their storylines were well written and well played by the actors. The show also made a point to go back and explore the friendships forming and changing between the three housemates.
That was what I really loved about the first series - at the end of the day it really was all about Mitchell, George, and Annie. With series two things changed and I think that's why I waited so long to watch it.
My Score: 9/10
Series Two:
I guess it was natural - friends do move apart and they do reach outside their circle of friends, but with series two, it felt like the three main characters were all off in different shows. Scenes between the three were either angsty, full of anger, or much too short.
Most of the series focused on Mitchell with the vampires in the city and his new love interest or George and his love life and doubts about having a normal family life due to his 'condition'. Most of the time Annie felt forgotten and her storylines were mostly episodic in nature - though she did have the underlying series long storyline of her not wanting to move on, despite those on the other side wanting her to.
Mitchell, who has a habit of falling for the worse women, falls for a doctor called Lucy and spends most of the series secretly stalking/courting her. All while going off the deep end while dealing with the vampires of Bristol and trying to get them to stop feeding off humans. Yes, Mitchell went to new places of angst, but overall his storyline with Lucy didn't interest me. I did enjoy him going into a darker place with the vampire stuff, however.
George loses Nina, as he accidentally made her a werewolf at the end of series one. He angsts and cries a lot during this series. And, he even rebounds with a single mother and has sex with a vampire, but at the heart of this series is still George trying to deal with his werewolf nature. It makes him angry and it makes him really really freaky in the bedroom. Honestly though, a lot of George's storyline this series is him dealing with his werewolf nature and the way it can make him a darker person. I did like that they explored that more, but disliked how emotional he was at times. Granted, it was called for,but - I guess he just needed his BBF Mitchell, who was busy stalking Lucy and breaking a vampire's fangs.
Annie. Poor Annie. Yes, the other side is stalking her. But, other than that, she really doesn't have much to do this series. She worries about Mitchell and George while fighting off those of the other side of the Door. And, she does see her mother - whose been deep in grief for over a year - but, Annie really does spend a lot of series two just floating around. She loses the ability to let normal people see her and while her boys spending more and more time outside the house, Annie spends a lot of the series alone or hanging with other ghosts. I did like her storylines in their episodes - her babysitting the baby ghost and naming him Tim - was sweet. But, overall Annie needed more to do.
I guess with series two, I just disliked the new characters of Kemp and Lucy - creepy and weird and just evil. But, I did enjoy Ivan and sometimes Daisy. Series two felt like they had too much storyline and too many new characters.
At the heart of the show, it's about the roommates. Series two just felt like they were moving too far apart. It was like watching a couple during those last three painful months of their relationship - angst, fights,and loneliness.
My Score: 7/10
Overall I recommended this series to those on my flist. Though, I think I'm a bit late as I believe most on my flist have watched this series. My overall score for both series (and the pilot) is a solid B+.
The pilot, which was meant to be a sixty minute one-off, (if it was popular there would be a chance for a pick-up, but it could stand alone) aired in early February of 2008. It became a huge hit with fans and critics alike.
So, BBC 3 picked up for a series of six episodes that aired from January 2009 until March of that same year. (Some changes to the cast were made as the creators decided to 'go less Gothic' with the vampires and some of the actors' options had expired.) The show returned for a second series of eight episodes in January of 2010 and ended in February of 2010. Filming has begun on series three, which should air in January of 2011.
Now, I'd like to give my thoughts on both series. I watched the pilot a week after it aired and watched series one as it aired. But, I didn't watch series two until this past week for various reasons which I'll mention.
Series One:
Series one starts off assuming that you've watched the pilot. Mitchell, a 116-year old vampire, and his best friend George, a werewolf who was bitten two years ago, live in a house with Annie, a woman who died a year ago. The three of them live together very much trying to be normal.
Mitchell struggles with his blood lust, but for the most part he's normal. George struggles with the 'wolf inside', but he's normal. Annie struggles with the fact that she's dead and really only supernatural beings can see her, but she's normal. They each have their own little quirks and that each have problems, but at the end of the day, they are just trying to live their lives - un or otherwise.
What I really enjoyed about the first series was that it was about the friendship between these three supernatural beings. George and Mitchell worked at the local hospital and were bbfs. Annie wondered around the house making tea and coffee - which she can't drink - while watching over "my boys" and generally being the sweetest girl ever.
Each character had a storyline: Mitchell dealing with the other vampires; George dealing with his wolf-like nature while courting co-working Nina; Annie dealing with her feelings for her boyfriend Owen, who may or may not know more about her death than he's saying. All three of their storylines were well written and well played by the actors. The show also made a point to go back and explore the friendships forming and changing between the three housemates.
That was what I really loved about the first series - at the end of the day it really was all about Mitchell, George, and Annie. With series two things changed and I think that's why I waited so long to watch it.
My Score: 9/10
Series Two:
I guess it was natural - friends do move apart and they do reach outside their circle of friends, but with series two, it felt like the three main characters were all off in different shows. Scenes between the three were either angsty, full of anger, or much too short.
Most of the series focused on Mitchell with the vampires in the city and his new love interest or George and his love life and doubts about having a normal family life due to his 'condition'. Most of the time Annie felt forgotten and her storylines were mostly episodic in nature - though she did have the underlying series long storyline of her not wanting to move on, despite those on the other side wanting her to.
Mitchell, who has a habit of falling for the worse women, falls for a doctor called Lucy and spends most of the series secretly stalking/courting her. All while going off the deep end while dealing with the vampires of Bristol and trying to get them to stop feeding off humans. Yes, Mitchell went to new places of angst, but overall his storyline with Lucy didn't interest me. I did enjoy him going into a darker place with the vampire stuff, however.
George loses Nina, as he accidentally made her a werewolf at the end of series one. He angsts and cries a lot during this series. And, he even rebounds with a single mother and has sex with a vampire, but at the heart of this series is still George trying to deal with his werewolf nature. It makes him angry and it makes him really really freaky in the bedroom. Honestly though, a lot of George's storyline this series is him dealing with his werewolf nature and the way it can make him a darker person. I did like that they explored that more, but disliked how emotional he was at times. Granted, it was called for,but - I guess he just needed his BBF Mitchell, who was busy stalking Lucy and breaking a vampire's fangs.
Annie. Poor Annie. Yes, the other side is stalking her. But, other than that, she really doesn't have much to do this series. She worries about Mitchell and George while fighting off those of the other side of the Door. And, she does see her mother - whose been deep in grief for over a year - but, Annie really does spend a lot of series two just floating around. She loses the ability to let normal people see her and while her boys spending more and more time outside the house, Annie spends a lot of the series alone or hanging with other ghosts. I did like her storylines in their episodes - her babysitting the baby ghost and naming him Tim - was sweet. But, overall Annie needed more to do.
I guess with series two, I just disliked the new characters of Kemp and Lucy - creepy and weird and just evil. But, I did enjoy Ivan and sometimes Daisy. Series two felt like they had too much storyline and too many new characters.
At the heart of the show, it's about the roommates. Series two just felt like they were moving too far apart. It was like watching a couple during those last three painful months of their relationship - angst, fights,and loneliness.
My Score: 7/10
Overall I recommended this series to those on my flist. Though, I think I'm a bit late as I believe most on my flist have watched this series. My overall score for both series (and the pilot) is a solid B+.
