Four Torches (Out of Five)
Talk about your high concepts!
In Being Human, the new horror drama series beginning Saturday on BBC America, a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost end up sharing an apartment together.
But these aren’t your usual monsters. None of the three wants to be what each has become. The show is about how they cope with being not-quite-human.
“I feel safe here,” one character says of their flat. “There are monsters outside.”
In other words — irony alert! — despite the fact that they’re all “monsters,” they’re not really monsters. In fact, they’re probably more human than most actual human beings, who blithely take for granted all the normalcy that these folks crave.
And yet, they’re definitely not like other humans. John, the vampire, still craves the blood he has forsaken. George, the werewolf, so hates his condition that he refers to it as “that thing that happens to me once a month.” And Anna, the ghost, is a ghost in every sense of the word, refusing to give up the life and love she once shared with her fiance, clinging to the apartment they once shared.
It is, of course, all a metaphor for the struggles we all face against our own darker, weaker natures.
All three characters became monsters more or less involuntarily (the vampire, we learn, became that way by sacrificing himself to save others). The first three episodes made available by the network for preview concern themselves with the main characters learning some of the intriguing secrets behind why they became what they are.
Reportedly, the initial concept of the show, created by Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse, was darker, and it was made intentionally lighter, post-pilot. For example, John says to George the werewolf, after he’s been told off by someone else, “If anyone said that to me, I’d bite their head off. I suppose in your case, that’s actually a possibility.”
Tone-wise, it’s much lighter than Supernatural, but still darker than Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The three leads, meanwhile, are all quite charming, and if you’re a fan of the adorkable Russell Tovey, it’s worth noting that he spends much of the show bare-assed, either turning into a werewolf, or turning human again.
Still, as clever and funny and often emotionally engaging as it all is, it isn’t “must-watch-TV.” Frankly, twenty years after Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and its oceans of imitators, the monster-as-a-metaphor-for-the-human-condition concept is getting pretty tired.
But it’s well-made TV, and if you’re intrigued by the premise, it’s definitely worth a watch.
Being Human airs on Saturday, July 25th, at 9 PM/8 C.
Similar Posts:
- BEING HUMAN’s Aidan Turner, Lenora Crichlow, and Russell Tovey Are Friends in Real Life (No, Really!)
- Magic with an Accent: BEING HUMAN Explodes, MERLIN Picks Up, and More!
- Magic with an Accent: BEING HUMAN’s George Gets a Girlfriend (and a New Cage)
- Magic with an Accent: Vampires on Twitter?
- Review: THE WOLFMAN Limps a Bit
![[Bloglines]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[Digg]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Fark]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/fark.png)
![[Google]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[Squidoo]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/squidoo.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
It’s an excellent show!
I didn’t realise Mitchell’s “full/real” name was John Mitchell until reading this article. I don’t recall anyone calling him “John” on the show. Same with Anna/Annie.
Can’t wait for series 2!
Count me in as intrigued. I’ll give it a whirl!
Hmm, my dad has BBC America and I’m at his house Saturday’s, I guess I’ll give it a try!
Wonderful series! There’s supposed to be a series two as well; I can’t wait for it.
Stumbled upon this show and fell in love! Interestingly enough, I caught the first airing of the piolet and it ran over about 15-20 minutes. When I caught the re-airing on Thursday night, they had cut out 15-20 minutes of the show to fit the time slot. I thought that was a shame because the sequences they chose to get rid of where pretty funny. I agree with the review in that the show will not ring true with the popular family friendly demographic mainstream TV is usually trying to please, but then what good TV show does? It seems like all of the really good TV is being cancelled lately,I applaude BBC Amercia for saving this little show from the networks. I’m really looking forward to series 2!
She’s called Annie, and Toby Whithouse has never written anything for Doctor Who.
No, he did write an episode of DR WHO, “School Reunion.” It may not be his biggest credit, but this is a U.S. site, and that’s a show that more of our readers would be familiar with.
And while she’s usually referred to on the show as “Annie,” the character’s actual name really is Anna.
AND it’s Annie that says the “bite your head off” line (which you’ve worded wrong) to George, not Mitchell.
Um, okay. I write notes for my reviews as I watch the episodes. Clearly I read them wrong, or jotted a minor detail down incorrectly. Mea culpa.