Just a quick post to inform anyone who hadn't been within a mile of BBC America for, oh, the past three months that Being Human finally premiered last Saturday. The story of a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost all sharing a flat in Edinburgh Bristol happily remains just as big-hearted, funny, and spine-tinglingly creepy in series form as it did in its pilot.
New cast members Aidan Turner (as Mitchell the vampire) and the delightfully bubbly Leonora Critchlow (Annie the ghost) manage to improve on the already-good actors they've replaced from the pilot. Russell Tovey (George the dorky werewolf) remains the show's highlight, able to switch deftly from nervous comedy to hair-raising screams of anguish as he wolfs out.
The subplot about Mitchell's darkly ambitious vampire pals now feels a lot fresher and more interesting, in part thanks to Jason Watkins filling Adrian Lester's shoes as head bloodsucker Herrick. He's now a police sergeant, which gives the character an air of ominous authoritarian menace, and as written by creator Toby Whithouse and portrayed by Watkins, Herrick walks a fine and unnerving line between charming and terrifying.
In short, it's a winner of a show for sci-fi and horror fans -- the rare jaunt into scary territory that's also truly, wonderfully funny, and has real sympathy for its well-drawn characters. Unless you're out on the prowl for fresh blood, locked in the basement for your "time of the month," or too immaterial to pick up the remote, give it a try.
Things go bump in the night Saturdays at 9 p.m. on BBC America.
New cast members Aidan Turner (as Mitchell the vampire) and the delightfully bubbly Leonora Critchlow (Annie the ghost) manage to improve on the already-good actors they've replaced from the pilot. Russell Tovey (George the dorky werewolf) remains the show's highlight, able to switch deftly from nervous comedy to hair-raising screams of anguish as he wolfs out.
The subplot about Mitchell's darkly ambitious vampire pals now feels a lot fresher and more interesting, in part thanks to Jason Watkins filling Adrian Lester's shoes as head bloodsucker Herrick. He's now a police sergeant, which gives the character an air of ominous authoritarian menace, and as written by creator Toby Whithouse and portrayed by Watkins, Herrick walks a fine and unnerving line between charming and terrifying.
In short, it's a winner of a show for sci-fi and horror fans -- the rare jaunt into scary territory that's also truly, wonderfully funny, and has real sympathy for its well-drawn characters. Unless you're out on the prowl for fresh blood, locked in the basement for your "time of the month," or too immaterial to pick up the remote, give it a try.
Things go bump in the night Saturdays at 9 p.m. on BBC America.
