Being Human is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
television supernatural drama-comedy series, broadcast on
BBC ThreeBBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel is described by the BBC as an outlet for 'New drama, talent, comedy, films, and accessible news'. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to about 04:00 each night, in...
. It stars
Lenora CrichlowLenora Isabella Crichlow is a British actress.Crichlow's father Frank is from the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean and once ran the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill which was frequented by stars such as Jimi Hendrix and Diana Ross. Her mother is English...
,
Russell Tovey- Biography :Tovey began his career as a child actor. Growing up in Billericay in Essex, he attended Shenfield High School.His TV career started in 1994, when he was cast in Mud, a children's series broadcast on CBBC...
and
Aidan TurnerAidan Turner is an actor, most notable for playing the vampire Mitchell in BBC Three's television series Being Human.Turner was born in Ireland, and grew up in Tallaght, Dublin . He graduated from The Gaiety School of Acting in 2004...
as three apparent twenty-something characters sharing a house in Bristol, trying to live a normal social life, despite being a
ghostA ghost has been defined as the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person, although in popular usage the term refers only to the apparition of such a person...
, a
werewolfA werewolf or werwolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely, by being bitten or scratched by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse...
and a
vampireVampires are legendary creatures said to subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, generally by drinking their blood. Although typically described as undead, some minor traditions believed in vampires that were living people....
respectively. It is one of the most popular shows on BBC’s iPlayer and the creator
Toby WhithouseToby Whithouse is an English actor and screenwriter. His highest-profile work has been the creation of the BBC Three supernatural television series Being Human. He also created the Channel 4 television drama series No Angels , and has written for BBC One's Hotel Babylon and Doctor Who...
has said he is thrilled that the BBC has decided to commission a second series.
Pilot
Danny CohenDanny Cohen is the Controller of BBC Three, the BBC's television channel for young audiences.- Career :Danny Cohen's television commissions have included Skins, The Inbetweeners, Supernanny, Being Human, and Blood Sweat and Takeaways....
, the controller of BBC Three, commissioned the
Being Human,
West 10 LDNWest 10 LDN is a BBC drama starring Noel Clarke, Ashley Walters, and Ashley Madekwe. It is set in the fictional Greenside estate in West London....
,
Mrs In-Betweeny, and
Phoo ActionPhoo Action is a BBC Three 60 minute TV pilot, one of six drama pilots that were transmitted in early 2008, and was first broadcast on February 12, 2008 at 21:00 UTC. Phoo Action is based on the Jamie Hewlett created strip 'Get The Freebies' which ran in The Face from June 1996 to June 1997...
pilots as part of the re-branding of BBC Three. The
Being Human pilot starred
Guy FlanaganGuy Flanagan is an English actor, known for portraying John Mitchell in the pilot episode of Being Human.-Background:Born in New Longton, Preston, Flanagan attended Cardinal Newman College, and went on to train at Drama Centre London.-Career:...
as Mitchell the vampire,
Andrea RiseboroughAndrea Louise Riseborough is an award-winning British actress.In 2009 she was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for her for playing the title character in Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley...
as Annie the ghost, and
Russell Tovey- Biography :Tovey began his career as a child actor. Growing up in Billericay in Essex, he attended Shenfield High School.His TV career started in 1994, when he was cast in Mud, a children's series broadcast on CBBC...
as George the werewolf, and it featured
Adrian Lester-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sung as a boy treble in the Choir of St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
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
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff.With an estimated population of 416,400 for the unitary authority in mid-2007, and a surrounding urban area with an estimated 561,500 residents, it is England's sixth, and...
and filmed on location,
Being Human features views of
Clifton Suspension BridgeThe Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge, and linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset, England. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it is a landmark that is used as a symbol of Bristol...
and
Clifton VillageClifton is the name of both one of the thirty-five council wards in the City of Bristol in England, and of a large suburb of the city that lies mostly within that ward...
. Windsor Terrace, Totterdown, Bristol 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 HospitalBristol General Hospital is a rehabilitation hospital in Bristol, in the south west of England...
.
The pilot episode was broadcast at 9pm on 18 February 2008. As part of her review of the pilot, the
Reading Chronicle'sThe Reading Chronicle is an English local weekly newspaper covering Reading and surrounding areas, starting off as the Berkshire Chronicle....
Narin Bahar began an online petition to lobby BBC Three commissioning editors to greenlight a full series. Over 3,000 people signed.
Series 1
The cast and tone of
Being Human changed between the pilot and the series. Compared to the pilot, producer Matthew Bouch described the series as "less
gothicGothic fiction is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto.The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an...
and slightly more rooted" as well as "a bit funnier"; he also described the series as "kind of a reboot" of the pilot. Writer Toby Whithouse, however, said that he does consider the pilot to be canon.
Interior shots of Mitchell, Annie, and George's home, the hospital, and the vampires' funeral home headquarters are filmed on sound stages with exterior shots filmed on location. The funeral parlour's exterior and reception room are filmed in an old car
showroomThe word showroom has two distinct meanings including:-Marketing location:A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as automobiles, furniture, appliances, carpet or apparel....
in Bristol, while the back rooms are filmed in a
television studioA television studio is an installation in which television or video productions take place, either for live television, for recording live to tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments...
.
To promote the show, the BBC launched a blog and on the 22nd of December 2008, the BBC
Being Human web page aired three
prequelA prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel .-History:Though the word "Prequel" is of...
videos to introduce the three main characters: Mitchell's is set in the 1960s, George's is a video diary of his visit of
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Annie's shows her as a ghost terrorizing a couple who had moved into the house.
Series one of
Being Human premiered in the US on 25 July 2009 on
BBC AmericaBBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide Americas, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:...
and on 4 August on Fox in Portugal.
DVD
The complete DVD of series one was released in the UK in April 2009. The extras include character profiles and deleted, extended and alternate scenes. However, the DVD did not include the 2008 pilot episode, "Unearthed" documentary, and video featurettes from the BBC website. The soundtrack on the DVD differs from the TV broadcasts, with some licensed music being replaced with generic score.
Series 2
Series two is being filmed in August 2009 with a scheduled transmission in the UK around January 2010.
Main characters
John Mitchell (
Aidan TurnerAidan Turner is an actor, most notable for playing the vampire Mitchell in BBC Three's television series Being Human.Turner was born in Ireland, and grew up in Tallaght, Dublin . He graduated from The Gaiety School of Acting in 2004...
) is a quiet, calm, handsome vampire working as a hospital janitor. He often wears dark clothing, lots of rings and fingerless gloves.
IrishThe Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha Dé Danann and the Milesians The 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- Biography :Tovey began his career as a child actor. Growing up in Billericay in Essex, he attended Shenfield High School.His TV career started in 1994, when he was cast in Mud, a children's series broadcast on CBBC...
) 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
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 DavidThe Star of David or Shield of David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.It is named after King David of ancient Israel; and its earliest...
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. George has big ears and wears glasses.
Anna "Annie" Clare Sawyer (
Lenora CrichlowLenora Isabella Crichlow is a British actress.Crichlow's father Frank is from the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean and once ran the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill which was frequented by stars such as Jimi Hendrix and Diana Ross. Her mother is English...
) 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. It was believed that Annie simply 'fell awkwardly' down the stairs but it is revealed that Annie was pushed by her fiancé, Owen, after he found a
thongThe thong is a garment worn as either underwear or as a swimsuit by both women and men. The garment from the front can look like a regular bikini bottom, but on the back the material that holds the front up is reduced to a minimum...
in her possession and killed her in a fit of rage. Once he found the thong, Owen thought that Annie had been cheating on him when she wasn't.
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, or recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis denotes an ostensibly paranormal phenomenon attributed to an an invisible spirit or ghost that manifests itself by moving and influencing objects, generally in a particular location such as a house or room or place within a...
, 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
teleportationTeleportation is supposed to be the transfer of matter from one point to another, more or less instantaneously, either by paranormal means or through technological means. Teleportation has been widely utilized in works of science fiction...
). However, when Herrick is due to fight with Mitchell, it appears Annie can control her powers of telekinesis, when she throws vampires to the ground in the funeral directors.
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.
Recurring 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 IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. 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 SolutionThe Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the final, most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
, 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 MoonFull moon is a lunar phase.Full Moon may also refer to:-In literature:*Full Moon , a novel by P. G. Wodehouse*Full Moon o Sagashite, a manga published in North America as 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
decapitationDecapitation is the separation of the head of an animal from its body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by means of a guillotine...
.
Nina (
Sinead KeenanSinead Keenan is an Irish actress who has worked largely in British television. She is known for playing Kelly Hawkins in Moving Wallpaper, and Nina in Being Human....
) 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 ScholeyAnnabel Scholey is an English actress. She is known for portraying Lauren in the supernatural drama Being Human.-Background:Scholey was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire...
) 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 HigginsClare Frances Elizabeth Higgins is an award-winning English actress.- Early life :Age : 53Higgins, the second of five children, was born in Bradford in the county of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Paula Cecilia and James Stephen Higgins. Her parents came from a working-class Irish Catholic...
) 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 HardyLaurel and Hardy were a popular comedy team composed of thin, English-born Stan Laurel and heavy, American-born Oliver Hardy . They became famous during the early half of the 20th century for their work in motion pictures and also appeared on stage throughout America and Europe.The two comedians...
DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
, but the boy accidentally takes the vampire
pornPORN may refer to:* An abbreviation for pornography* Men of Porn. a San Francisco band consisting of founder Tim Moss, Dale Crover and Billy Anderson* Pornography of The Cure...
/
snuff filmA snuff film or snuff movie is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation...
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
comaIn medicine, a coma is a profound state of unconsciousness. A comatose person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to pain or light, does not have sleep-wake cycles, and does not take voluntary actions....
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 still feels guilt for leading Bernie to his coma, resulting in his death.
Tully (
Dean Lennox KellyDean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Biography:Kelly grew up in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire and is a keen supporter of Liverpool Football Club...
) 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.
Pilot (2008)
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Series 1 (2009)
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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 DavidThe Star of David or Shield of David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.It is named after King David of ancient Israel; and its earliest...
), 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
DraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel,...
.
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 bankA blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusions.-Transfusion service:...
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
stakeStake may refer to:* In business, a stake is a share of ownership of a company.* Stake , an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Latter Day Saint denominations...
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
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 ManThe Wolf Man is a 1941 monster horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. The title character has had a great deal of influence on...
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 LondonAn American Werewolf in London is a 1981 American-British comedy/horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Agutter. The movie won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup...
. 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. For ghosts, once they have fulfilled what keeps them on earth, a door would appear that they open to go 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.' 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.
Being Human Unearthed
On March 28, 2009, on 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.
External links
- Being Human at BBC Online
- Official press pack at BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
Press Office