Being Human is a British television supernatural drama-comedy series, broadcast on BBC Three. It stars Lenora Crichlow, Russell Tovey and Aidan Turner as three apparent twenty-something characters sharing a house in Bristol, trying to live a normal social life, despite being a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire respectively. It is one of the most popular shows on BBC’s iPlayer and the creator Toby Whithouse has said he is thrilled that the BBC has decided to commission a second series.
Pilot
Danny Cohen, the controller of BBC Three, commissioned the Being Human, West 10 LDN, Mrs In-Betweeny, and Phoo Action pilots as part of the re-branding of BBC Three. The Being Human pilot starred Guy Flanagan as Mitchell the vampire, Andrea Riseborough as Annie the ghost, and Russell Tovey as George the werewolf, and it featured Adrian Lester 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 Bristol and filmed on location, Being Human features views of Clifton Suspension Bridge and Clifton Village. Windsor Terrace, Totterdown, Bristol (51°26′33″N 2°34′46″W / 51.442383°N 2.579566°W) 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 Hospital
The pilot episode was broadcast at 9pm on 18 February 2008. As part of her review of the pilot, the Reading Chronicle's 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 gothic 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 showroom in Bristol,[10] while the back rooms are filmed in a television studio
To promote the show, the BBC launched a blog and on the 22nd of December 2008, the BBC Being Human web page aired three prequel videos to introduce the three main characters: Mitchell's is set in the 1960s, George's is a video diary of his visit of Scotland, 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 America 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.