BBC America has announced the air date for the premiere of the supernatural drama Being Human. Make sure you set some time aside to check it out at 9pm (ET/PT) on July 25, 2009.
Being Human follows the story of a Vampire (Aidan Turner), a Werewolf (Russell Tovey) and a Ghost (Lenora Crichlow) who all share a flat in Bristol and who battle their dark natures – and those of their enemies. It is part drama, part comedy and part supernatural thriller.
Although the first season of Being Human ran for only six episodes in the UK, the series received instant critical acclaim and by episode five it had been approved for an 8 episode second season. By the time its sixth episode had aired its viewer numbers were almost as high as Lost.
It has been called one of the best new series to hit television screens in a long time and so US viewers would be wise to check it out in July.
For UK fans the second season of Being Human is scheduled to commence filming in August with a planned UK air date during January 2010.
Russell Tovey and Lenora Crichlow in 'Being Human'
Russell Tovey (aka George the Werewolf) has confirmed Season 2 of Being Human will commence filming in August with a scheduled transmission in the UK around January 2010. He also confirmed that the first season is due to air [later this year] on BBC America, in Italy, Australia, Brazil and France.
The news came whilst Tovey and co-star Lenora Crichlow (Annie) were in attendance at Collectormania Midlands, where they also let out a few other tidbits related to the upcoming second season of the hit UK series.
Crichlow confirmed Annie is about to switch up her wardrobe after wearing the same clothes for an entire season. Now that she’s at peace with herself and her death we can expect her to trade-in her ugg boots for a skirt.
Whilst explaining the werewolf prosthetics that he had to endure to bring the werewolf to life, Tovey added that fans can expect his werewolf to change too.
“They’re going to improve on the final werewolf for the second series. He was a bit of a mincing werewolf,” he said.
Dealing with Vampires that have no reflections, that can’t enter uninvited, that aren’t afraid of sunlight, and that love eating garlic. Watch this very cool feature on the vampires of Being Human.
BBC Three are producing a one-hour documentary special that will take fans behind the scenes of their new hit series, Being Human.
The special, titled ‘Unearthed’, will air at 9:15pm Saturday 28th March (on BBC Three in the UK).
For fans that missed the six part first season, BBC Three will repeat the first three episodes immediately after ‘Unearthed’. The final three episodes will be repeated the following Saturday at the same time.
Season 2 of Being Human has yet to be filmed but will consist of eight episodes instead of six.
Are you a budding screen writer? If so, then this is awesome – the BBC have made Toby Whithouses’s original script to the first episode of Being Human available for download.
It’s not the only script the BBC makes available. If you visit their Writers Room, you can also download the original scripts to episodes of Doctor Who and a host of other series.
Aidan Turner is Mitchell the Vampire in Being Human
BBC Three’s Being Human is by far one of the best series to hit television screens in a long time. In this excellent little short presentation artwork from Being Human’s story boards are matched with footage from the series to demonstrate how the series comes alive from conception. The shots are accompanied with a perfect narration by Lenora Crichlow (Annie the Ghost). Enjoy.
In this video the BBC take you behind the scenes to show a little of what’s involved in bringing Russell Tovey’s werewolf to life in the hit series, Being Human. I love that it’s not CGI.
If you haven’t seen the season finale of Being Human, you may want to skip this video -- it doesn’t give away what happens in the final scene, but it does show clips from the final scenes of the finale that might spoil it for you.
Lenora Chrichlow is Annie the Ghost in 'Being Human'
This video diary from Lenora Crichlow (aka the Annie the Ghost ) shows a little of the behind the scenes going-on’s with the cast of BBC Three’s Being Human. It’s quite funny to watch, enjoy:
BBC Three’s Being Human enjoyed only a short six episode first season, but what an exceptional first season it was. By episode five the series had been green-lit for an eight episode second season, and by the conclusion of episode six it was raking in almost as many viewers as Lost. That’s a pretty impressive debut for a supernatural drama that has only been airing for six weeks.
Being Human follows the story of a Vampire (Aidan Turner), a Werewolf (Russell Tovey), and a Ghost (Lenora Crichlow) who all share a flat in Bristol and who battle their dark natures -- and those of their enemies.
Danny Cohen, Controller BBC Three said “‘I’m thrilled that we are re-commissioning Being Human. It’s hugely popular with young viewers and earned great critical acclaim at the same time. It’s also a very important staging-post in the successful development of home-grown young drama on BBC Three.”
Ben Stephenson, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning added: “I am very excited Being Human is returning for a second series. It’s a distinctive modern series that has captured the imagination of the BBC Three audience in terms of strong viewer loyalty and critical acclaim, signalling a real breakthrough for drama on the channel.”
Rob Pursey, Executive Producer for Touchpaper Television says: “We already have some very exciting, very dark new stories up our sleeves, so we’re delighted to have the opportunity to make a second series of Being Human. BBC Three has been a brilliant platform for us to mount an unusual and ambitious drama.”
George (Russell Tovey) changes into a Werewolf
Being Human is widely considered one of the best new television series produced by the BBC. I’d go as far as to say one of the best ever. It’s viewer numbers have remained consistently strong and it has rapidly gathered a strong fan base -- all this and it has yet to go International. I’m betting when it does it won’t take long before it’s considered one of the best series of its kind in the world.
Finally, if you’re not in the UK you’ve probably not seen the series yet. As a bit of background, the series was green-lit after a successful pilot episode. Whilst the pilot episode does not have the same actors as the series, with the exception of Russell Tovey’s Werewolf, it is nonetheless a good introduction to the basic premise of the series. Fortunately for international fans, the pilot is available on YouTube. I’ve posted the parts in order below, enjoy!
A Vampire, a Werewolf, and a Ghost in BBC 3's 'Being Human'
One of the better and yet lesser known new television series to grace our screens this year is BBC Three’s new hit, Being Human.
Being Human follows the lives of three flatmates -- George (Russell Tovey), Mitchell (Aidan Turner) and Annie (Lenora Crichlow), who are collectively struggling with their individual dark secrets.
What are their dark secrets?
George is an obsessive-compulsive person trying to come to terms with being a Werewolf, Mitchell is a Vampire trying to give up killing humans, and Annie is dead -- she’s a ghost with something unresolved that she must discover before she can cross over. And of course they have enemies who want to hurt them.
As far as characters go, all three are perfectly written and perfectly cast. Three excellent and engaging actors playing three perfect and depth filled roles. To be honest, I can’t really say any more than that.
One of things that works well in this great series is that whilst it’s primarily a story of darkness and struggle each episode is laced with just the right amount of comedy to balance things out. Whilst at times it might be classified as scary or depressing, seconds later it will make you laugh. Check out the trailer which demonstrates a little of the comedy element I’m talking about:
Being Human is easily one of the best series produced by the BBC for a long time, and the only thing that I’d say is a let down is that season one is limited to only six episodes, and four have already aired.
What you won’t see in the series are the prequels -- short story based films made by the BBC for the purpose of introducing a little of the background behind the characters. These are also perfect if you haven’t seen the series yet or if you’re in a country where the series has yet to be shown. So here they are:
Prequel to Mitchell (the Vampire)
Prequel to George (the Wereolf)
Prequel to Annie (the Ghost)
Episode 5 airs 22 Feb at 11:05pm on BBC Three. Reruns of episode 4 will be on BBC Three each day leading up to Episode 5.
