Jasmin Rice reviews ep1 of Being Human’s second series.
The eagerly anticipated Being Human is returning to our screens with its second series on the 10th of January 2010, and boy what a treat it’ll be. I was one of the lucky few that managed to nab tickets to a premier screening of the first episode at London’s Curzon Mayfair. Standing outside waiting for the doors to open it wasn’t long before the cold started to settle in. However, the show began before we even got through the doors; we saw vampires coolly sipping blood on the street, police officers interrogating unsuspecting audience members and men in black coats firmly holding onto their bibles. With an introduction to the series by Aidan Turner (Mitchell), Russell Tovey (George), Lenora Crichlow (Annie), and Sinead Keenan (Nina) the unveiling of series two began.
The actual episode was fangtastic (see what I did there!). It picks up almost directly where it left off and although it answers some questions, it creates a lot more. All of our favourite characters are still there, along with a few additions: a love interest for Mitchell and a vampire couple who have trouble written all over them. With Herrick gone the heroes of the story finally begin to feel safe, however, there is a position of power to be filled and it wont be vacant for long…
Although there are some laugh-out-loud moments in the episode the tone is much darker than that of the first series and it is set to continue throughout second.
Get eager folks, as I definitely don’t think the second series will be any less exciting and intriguing than the first.
Being Human Series 2 airs on BBC Three at 9:30 pm on the 10th of January 2010.
Ok this is an American take on this series:
A friend of mine who I didn’t even know was interested in Scifi turned me on to Being Human, and I have to admit I was a little skeptical at the prospect of a vampire, werewolf, and a ghost all living under the same roof. I have to admit I was stunned at how good this show really is. I have watched the first series, and the second series and I have only one complaint. MAKE MORE!!!!
One thing you guys in the UK can learn from us Yankees; is our seasons last 24 episodes, of course they are spread out over an entire year and there are breaks in between but come on, 6 episodes and then a 6 month break? It’s literally killing me over here!
In any case I saw the original pilot that I picked up from nefarious places on the internet, and the original actor they had for the vampire was sort of the saddest excuse for a vampire I have ever seen I swear he looked like he was a crackhead, but maybe that was the look the were going for to show he was not drinking human blood? But he was such a mincing pratt (not sure if that’s proper usage but it sounds right) thank got they replaced him with Aiden Turner, he’s much sexier and comes off more vamp like. He still pulls off the sort of homoerotic scenes with the George (Russel Tovey, my future husband one day) character. I always find their interactions funny one moment they are talking about how much they adore their mutual girlfriends and the next moment they are deciding on the color of the drapes together. It keeps the show fresh and interesting, and I swear some of their more silly arguments are the same silly arguments me and my hubby have had over the years.
Normally in shows like this I sort of ignore the female character and concentrate on the hot men in the show, but wow, Lenora Chrichlow (Annie) is entertaining, sweet, thoughtful and just a perfect third to this trio. I would want her to be my best friend in real life. *****INLINE SPOILER ALERT**** When she passed over at the end of the second season I don’t know who was crying more me or the guys on the show. Yes it was pretty sad.
Anyway I love this show, the characters seem to grow on you, you love them at times, they scare you at times, they piss you off at times, and you can’t wait to see what they do next!
We had to stick with the first few episodes of series one as we found it (dare I say) slightly boring, but by the end, we really loved it. I even watched them again a couple of days before series two aired. I have to say, it was so much better than the first and yes, when Annie passed over, there was a fair bit of blubbing going on in our home too.
In the UK we don’t seem to have the same big network funding you guys have over in the US. This does generally mean shorter series, but as long as the rating are okay, I think there’s less likelihood of a show being axed – especially halfway through it’s run.
I really like this series and being in the U.S. I’m impatiently waiting for series 2. I just wanted to comment on Justin’s comment. I find that U.K. television series go for quality over quantity. Over here they bang out a show every week and it shows. In the U.K. much more time is spent on script and shooting and although the final product is a quarter of what the U.S. would produce, the quality of product is four times better.
I would have to agree with you Matt regarding the quantity over quality that plagues U.S. television. However the U.S. are producing excellent short run TV series; True Blood and Dexter spring to mind. Both have a 12 episode run and the writing, acting and the production are absolutely brilliant.