With the huge hole that Misfits has left in our tv-viewing lives, I thought I might as well get a BH thread underway now to try and introduce a few more people to its awesomeness.
One of the most popular shows on BBC iPlayer and airing on BBC Three, Being Human, in the barest of explanations, a dark comedy-drama about how the lives of a vampire, werewolf and ghost collide, and they share a flat together in Bristol. But it's so much more than that and, filled with the problems of trying to get on with life when the past keeps coming back to haunt you, the plot quickly complicates into something very dark and immersive.
[b]The Characters[/b]
[b]John Mitchell[/b]
[IMG]http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx167/Jessbinxx/mitchell_about.jpg[/IMG]
Mitchell was an officer in World War One who, encountering vampire leader Herrick and his companions, asked for his men to be spared in exchange for his own life. It didn't quite work out that way, and instead he joined the vampire ranks, shooting to notoriety as a savage and brutal killer with Herrick's influence. However, over time he regained enough control and self-understanding to try and seperate himself from that life, and make his own way. After a momentary act of pity saving werewolf George from a vampire mob, he allowed George to become his companion and, after some travelling, they settled in the flat in Bristol, he becoming a cleaner at the local hospital.
Back in his old territories, his past quickly returns with Herrick as he's welcomed back into the vampire community with open arms, and his resolutions to remain blood-free only hold up for so long...
The vampires in Being Human are made when a vampire drinks a dying human's blood, and the human drinks vampire blood. After this, they die for a few hours, before being restored as vampires. They are able to walk in sunlight, but are very sensitive to it, generally having to cover their eyes with dark glasses and, with very low body temperatures, also often wear unseasonably heavy clothing. They can be repelled with religious symbols if they are significant to the wearer and cannot be captured on camera or seen in silver-backed mirrors (although they can be seen in puddles, glass reflections etc.) They need to be invited in to homes. Drinking blood isn't necessary for them so survive, but the craving for it is often overpowering, and strongest in the youngest. They feed off the life-force IN blood, rather than blood itself (so donated, bagged blood won't satisfy them). They have very heightened senses, and their eyes will go black when they are seized by bloodlust.
Initially depicted as an orderly, underground society, the series charts the vampire community's decline into desperate scavengers.
Mitchell's prequel: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/beinghuman/2008/12/mitchell.html[/url]
[b]George[/b]
[IMG]http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx167/Jessbinxx/george_about.jpg[/IMG]
Holidaying in Scotland, George and a random tourist companion went for a walk on the moors. Night having fallen, they quickly realised they were being followed. A few minutes later, his companion was dead with his entrails in his lap, and George'd been scratched by a werewolf in the process. With his life in pieces, he left his girlfriend/fiancée and fled from his old life, moving from place to place, job to job, often hounded by local vampires who have a loathing for werewolves. Rescued by Mitchell, he settled in Bristol and became a hospital porter. Encountering other werewolves along the way, and trying to build relationships, he's trying to find acceptance with himself.
Being Human werewolves can be infected by bite or scratch, and they will only transform during the full moon. With the waxing and waning of the moon, however, the werewolf in human form will have his/her strength and senses fluctuate with it. Werewolves are despised by most vampires, and are considered by them a lower life form. Many werewolves live rough, as they are not able to hold together normal lives.
George's prequel: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/beinghuman/2008/12/george.html[/url]
[b]Annie[/b]
[IMG]http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx167/Jessbinxx/annie_about.jpg[/IMG]
Annie died in the house that George and Mitchell move in to - no one else would buy it due to the paranormal activities caused by Annie driving people away as she wanted to be left alone. As supernatural creatures, George and Mitchell can see Annie, and through overhearing their initial conversations in the flat, she realises what they are. Being in the house for so long, she's painfully agoraphobic ([sp]which she has to combat when, in the pilot episode, George's old fiancée tracks him down and locks herself into the old vault he uses to transform, Annie having to rescue her before it's too late[/sp]) and naive. Due to her unresolved death, she unravels who killed her, becomes a poltergeist, refuses death and, for a while, can be visible once more to normal people, as she's a powerful ghost. However, death can only be denied for so long...
In Being Human, ghosts only linger with unfinished business, and can only be seen by other supernaturals, though most just leave them alone. They are able to teleport short distances and more powerful ones can become poltergeists, and possess sort-of telekinetic powers. Depending on confidence and power, they can be touched and even seen, though most are neither visible/audible/touchable. When their deaths are resolved, a door appears, leading on to true death. Annie is the first ghost to [sp]refuse the door. The apparently organised society that run death then do all they can to claim her as theirs, haunting her through tv and radio. Beyond the door in Annie's case is a dark red and black corridor, and vampires who briefly encounter death talk fearfully of being encountered by "men with sticks and ropes". Death is depicted as a series of rooms and forms, and their final resting places - heaven or hell - are judged.[/sp] Ghosts can also be forced into death if the place they inhabit is destroyed.
Annie's prequel: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/beinghuman/2008/12/annie.html[/url]
[b]Nina[/b]
[IMG]http://i752.photobucket.com/albums/xx167/Jessbinxx/nina.jpg[/IMG]
(spoilery)
[sp]After becoming George's girlfriend, George's attempts at a normal relationship decline rapidly after he scratches her, also infecting her with the werewolf curse/virus. With her own life now in tatters, she leaves George and seeks advice from shady society CenSSA who offer a "cure."[/sp]
I recommend you look at the rest of the website, as it's updated a lot, and has lots of extras including other prequels etc. It also has the website for Series 2 organisation CenSSA: [url]http://www.censsa.co.uk/[/url], and will be airing a teenage/college age internet spin-off called "Becoming Human" midway through the official series' airing.
Series Three airs in January. And so we wait.
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/beinghuman/[/url]
Looks alright. I'd like to see the first 2 series, but they aren't up anywhere.
Love it
I'm so looking forward to the new series.
I watched the first series, thought it was alright, but any "alright" TV series is a series that I don't feel terribly motivated to follow. Stopped watching during the second series.
Also, John Mitchell looks strikingly similar to Isaac Mendez in Heroes.
What's this about an american remake with different actors
My brother got season 1 for Christmas. Guess I'll have to check it out.
There's probably [B]spoilers [/B]in this post, but I don't really know. If there are, someone tell me and I'll put tags in.
I have to admit, the ideas in the series and the amount of backstory makes Being Human pretty good. The way that Vampires act like racists towards Werewolves, the dark history and the conspiracies that the Vampire clan seemed to base their society around, the loneliness and handicapped version of life after death that Annie led, all made for some interesting stories, and the plot of the first series and part of the second made the series watchable, but I think it might have been the constant influx of new information that you had to store away with the old information that you'd already received from previous episodes for it to make sense or something like that, which made it a bit too much for me at times. It sort of got a bit boring.
Things like Misfits and Doctor Who, where every episode is completely different, with the same characters in new scenarios, which makes it new and exciting every time you watch it, is what I really look for in TV series. Even things like Skins had that, to a certain degree. I think it was just how Being Human seemed like a particularly long film, cut up into segments over a period of weeks, which made it a bit tiring after a while. Not saying it isn't good, it's just a bit much for simple minded old me. And by old I mean 17 years old. And by simple minded I mean I have a short attention span.
Oh HELL yes, when is this airing?
[QUOTE=Dashiel;27015177]Oh HELL yes, when is this airing?[/QUOTE]
Early january. Turn on BBC3 late any night and you'll see promos
[QUOTE=evlbzltyr;27015061]There's probably [B]spoilers [/B]in this post, but I don't really know. If there are, someone tell me and I'll put tags in.
I have to admit, the ideas in the series and the amount of backstory makes Being Human pretty good. The way that Vampires act like racists towards Werewolves, the dark history and the conspiracies that the Vampire clan seemed to base their society around, the loneliness and handicapped version of life after death that Annie led, all made for some interesting stories, and the plot of the first series and part of the second made the series watchable, but I think it might have been the constant influx of new information that you had to store away with the old information that you'd already received from previous episodes for it to make sense or something like that, which made it a bit too much for me at times. It sort of got a bit boring.
Things like Misfits and Doctor Who, where every episode is completely different, with the same characters in new scenarios, which makes it new and exciting every time you watch it, is what I really look for in TV series. Even things like Skins had that, to a certain degree. I think it was just how Being Human seemed like a particularly long film, cut up into segments over a period of weeks, which made it a bit tiring after a while. Not saying it isn't good, it's just a bit much for simple minded old me. And by old I mean 17 years old. And by simple minded I mean I have a short attention span.[/QUOTE]
I guess that's true to a degree, but I quite like to see how the storylines go on in one long inescapable timeframe, sort of representing the inescapable feeling of their situation. It's not like they don't throw in other scenarios - flashbacks, other characters. And I think from episode to episode, they are certainly faced with different things enough for me to differentiate between one episode and the next. I'm also 17 and I love it, but I guess it's just personal preference.
Also, don't worry, there was nothing very spoilery there.
Love this program, can't wait to see the new episodes.
[QUOTE=Jessbinx;27022445]I guess that's true to a degree, but I quite like to see how the storylines go on in one long inescapable timeframe, sort of representing the inescapable feeling of their situation. It's not like they don't throw in other scenarios - flashbacks, other characters. And I think from episode to episode, they are certainly faced with different things enough for me to differentiate between one episode and the next. I'm also 17 and I love it, but I guess it's just personal preference.
Also, don't worry, there was nothing very spoilery there.[/QUOTE]
I'm [i]13[/i] and i love it. I love the idea of a beauracratic hell. Instead of fire and brimstone it's stamps and forms. It sounds so much more chilling,
I quite enjoyed that show, and I greatly anticipate Series 3. I was left with so much anticipation at the Series 2 ending.
[sp]How will George and Mitchell "get Annie back"? What is Herrick planning for that he has risen from the grave? What the hell happened to Kemp when Annie dragged him into the afterlife? Where will Annie end up if she isn't saved in time?[/sp] Only time will tell...
[sp]In the Annie Broadcasts on the blog she says they're making hell JUST for her.[/sp]
I fucking love this show.
The made the last season out to seem like the end why are they coming back for more?
Awesome
[QUOTE=King Flawless;27046896]The made the last season out to seem like the end why are they coming back for more?[/QUOTE]
How did you work that one out? None of the plot ends are tied off! I mean, [sp]They've had to move to Wales, Annie is going to go to Hell, Herrick is raised from death... how is that ever going to be an end?![/sp]
I thought BH was okay at best. It just never really grabbed my attention. I liked Annie the best, though.
I can't see where you've stated that it's on BBC Three. It's not just iPlayer exclusive is it?
[QUOTE=Memobot;27060397]I can't see where you've stated that it's on BBC Three. It's not just iPlayer exclusive is it?[/QUOTE]
Ah, missed that. Fixed.
Loved the first season, second season however.. didn't really appeal to me. Should I try and watch the second season and prepare myself for the third?
[QUOTE=FredTheBed;27066912]Loved the first season, second season however.. didn't really appeal to me. Should I try and watch the second season and prepare myself for the third?[/QUOTE]
I think you'd warm to it, and I think to an extent, you'll have to watch it to be able to understand series 3.
The second season is an acquired taste. You have to roll with the punches mid-season, It really picks up at the end. It's very grim and dark compared to S1.
The full trailer is on for the first time tonight at 10:30 apparently, but is coming out a little earlier on their Facebook page. Can't wait to see what material we'll have for speculation...
Need to find some way to watch the second series. I watched the first and really liked it, but I forgot about the show and I need to watch that before series 3.
Sweet, I really liked the first 2. That and the guy who plays george is fit as hell.
[QUOTE=dumbfox;27179161]Sweet, I really liked the first 2. That and the guy who plays george is fit as hell.[/QUOTE]
Aha, is that irony I detect?
I'm also pretty disappointed with the trailer they just released. They let out the teasers the other week, and I'd been hoping for a proper footage-trailer. All they did was extend the teasers and put them together into one longer teaser. Pretty annoying :/
I'm confused. I'm watching the first series again and it's started off with all 3 of them knowing each other. I could've sworn there were episodes where it's just George and Mitchell and how they went into the house and found a ghost. I don't know if I've just got the episodes labelled wrong or something.
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