In 2008, Britain’s BBC Three channel ran a series of one hour pilots with the view to awarding one of the shows a full season. Being Human was by far the most popular of the pilots and was awarded a six-episode series shortly after airing. The quirky plot revolves around a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost sharing a flat together in Bristol, England. It sounds like a good way to start a joke, but Being Human falls firmly in the horror-drama genre and it is one of the most popular series to come out of the UK in recent years. Following a shake up in the cast following the pilot, Being Human stars Russell Tovey as werewolf George, Aidan Turner as vampire Mitchell and Lenora Crichlow as ghost Annie.
Being Human: Season Two opens with tensions rising high in the house as George struggles to come to terms with having killed Herrick at the end of season one while his girlfriend Nina (Sinead Keenan) makes a devastating discovery about herself. We learn of a sinister organisation CenSSA that could spell the end for all supernatural entities and beings and we realise that they have their sights on George and Mitchell. Mitchell starts to assert his independence from his housemates and for a brief moment entertains the notion of a normal relationship with a doctor at the hospital, Lucy (Lyndsey Marshal). That plan is put in to serious disarray as the local vampire community descends into chaos and mutiny and Mitchell steps up to re-establish order. Meanwhile, Annie decides to get a job at the local pub and meets Saul who seems lovely at first but we soon realise that he, too, has been touched by death. This is all just the beginning of the season but to say too much more would be to give away spoilers!
So much happens in this season of Being Human that it is hard to believe that it is just eight episodes long. Benefitting from the BBC’s lack of mid-show commercial advertising, the episodes run for a full hour and each episode wraps up an entire sub-story. The result is excellent character development and a plot that is decidedly darker, more violent and infinitely more exciting than the first season.
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