BBC America presents the monster/vampire drama a holiday marathon screening
Rating: Three Stars
By Robin Rowe
“Everyone has a dark side that they don’t expose too often,” says Being Human star Aidan Turner, who plays the role of the vampire Mitchell. “Mitchell is 118 years old and to play someone like that is brilliant. With his maturity he has a certain kind of responsibility and a worldly experience that not all people have. He’s not bothered by a lot of things. That side of him I aspire to be like.”
This Halloween, catch up on the engaging story of three twenty-somethings and their secret double-lives as a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost. The three roommates have come together as a sort of support group as they struggle to appear to be human. Being Human Halloween Marathon airs Sunday, October 25, starting at 8:30am PT and 11:30am ET.
“It was pitched to me by my agent as a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire sharing a house, and I thought ‘that’s a bit out there,’” says Being Human star Lenora Crichlow, who plays the role of the insecure ghost Annie. “It’s really quirky and light in some places, but it’s got quite a dark undertone. It’s just a really fresh take on dealing with life. All the characters’ unusual qualities are grounded in real stuff…addiction, self-esteem, anger, love. All of them are dealing with being human, just on a really extreme scale.”
“There are so many layers to it,” says Being Human star Russell Tovey, who plays the role of the werewolf George. “It’s not just about a vampire, werewolf and ghost. It’s about three people struggling with life and trying to cope, which everybody can relate to. George doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He just wants to be normal.”
Being Human screenwriter Toby Whithouse had previously written for Doctor Who. “I wrote an episode of Doctor Who a couple of years ago that was set in a school,” says Whithouse. “The Monday after it transmitted I heard reports that teachers were walking out to the front of their class and saying, ‘Physics, physics, physics’, which is what the Doctor said. It made the kids wonder if their teachers were really aliens.”
The independent TV company Touchpaper approached Whithouse to write Being Human. It was to be a flat share drama about a group of friends from university who buy a house together and the stresses and strains it puts on their relationship. “I thought that’s probably the dullest idea for a story I’ve ever heard,” says Whithouse. “We spent nearly a year developing this version of the show and got absolutely nowhere. We decided to have one last meeting and if nothing came of that then we would just call it a day. About half way through the meeting I said, ‘Well of course we could turn George into a werewolf.’ And then we decided if he’s a werewolf then Mitchell should be a vampire and Annie should be a ghost.”
“We had to re-imagine how these supernatural creatures would be if they really did exist,” says Being Human producer Matthew Bouch. “We have very real and human characters with adult dilemmas, placed in a fantasy context. Being Human has elements of comedy, horror, soap and supernatural.”
Being Human has some of the relationship drama of Grey’s Anatomy and some of the supernatural twists of Doctor Who. The show is well produced, beautifully written, and brilliantly acted. It’s inevitable to wonder if it’s inspired by An American Werewolf in London. More humour and less gore would have made the show a more feel-good experience. Still, Being Human seems perfect for Halloween.
Being Human Halloween Marathon airs Sunday, October 25, starting at 8:30am PT and 11:30am ET on BBC America.
