Being Human (UK version)

**spoilers below if you haven’t seen all five seasons of Being Human (the UK version)**

This is/was one of my favourite shows (I gave the US version a try, but I just found it to be a pale imitation). I liked every one of the main characters, Annie George and Mitchell, and the close 'family' vibe that they had. All three actors were perfectly cast in their roles. I loved Lenora Crichlow as Annie, in large part due to Lenora's portrayal. Oftentimes, I find perky/cheery characters grate/annoying, but not so with her. I found her upbeat personality very endearing and she contrasted nicely against the two guys who could oftentimes be brooding or moody…or just plain jerks, really. Annie was funny, kind, and kicked major butt on occasion.

Russell Tovey was also great as George, and like Annie, oftentimes hilarious. Though, unlike her, he could also be a real jerk sometimes (the Season 2 premiere springs to mind). I liked that Aidan Turner's Mitchell had a personality so unlike ‘traditional’ vampires. He actually had a ‘fun/human’ side to him, which made him so likable...at least until the end of Season 2, when he got quite ‘dark’. In a way, Turner being cast in The Hobbit films benefited the show in the long run, as not only did it force the writers to give his character the only real ‘proper’ end for his character, but it also kick-started the gradual addition of the new regular cast members – normally on most shows this would be a downside, but considering I grew to enjoy Hal, Alex & Tom, it really wasn’t a ‘downside’ to me.

Not many shows could survive losing all their original main leads, and even harder was making the new characters as likable as the original three who we'd grown to love/care about. But they succeeded here, I thought. Instead of just being a carbon copy replacement for Mitchell, Damien Molony's Hal had his own distinct look/personality and brought a ‘freshness’ to the show, along with Kate Bracken's ghostly Alex. She provided quite a bit of humour, and was very different to Annie, yet still worked (plus she was pretty awesome – like that time she referenced Kitty Pryde from the X-Men or when she took a shot at the Twilight franchise being just two examples). I wasn't invested in the Tom character or his plot in Season 3 (my least favourite season of the show), but the new trio of Hal, Alex & Tom worked well. It was a shame we only got one full season with them as the new ‘trinity’. Then again, it was probably better that the show finished while it was still good (in my opinion, anyway), instead of wearing out its welcome like so many shows do.

I know others didn’t, but I actually liked Sinead Keenan's Nina. The way she was written out really did a disservice to both the character and actress. In comparison, George's wasn't THAT bad, plus it was emotional. Annie's was quite fitting and she got to go out kicking butt.

Of all the villains on the show, Jason Watkins’ Herrick was the best. He brought just the right amount of menace (combined with a wicked sense of humour) to his character. Speaking of, the show's humour was one of its main strengths, I thought. There were some very funny moments throughout the series which helped lighten the mood, and best of all it was the sort of humour that was unexpected. There were just so many memorable funny moments. The show balanced this well with the 'horror' elements. There were some genuinely freaky moments throughout the series. They went to great lengths to create a creepy atmosphere and some actual genuine horror in the show (not to mention some truly gory moments, like in the Season 2 premiere and Season 4 final).

What was also great was seeing an actual attempt at having a proper werewolf transformation on TV. Most take the easy way out and either don't show the changing, have bad CGI (like the US remake) or simply have people with bad teeth and in need of manicures instead of actual proper-looking werewolves. Okay, so the finished wolf in the first episode was a bit dodgy, but it got better as time went on. The transformations were what really stood out, though, thanks to their excellent use of prosthetics, animatronics and Tovey's performance. The music used in the show was also excellent. Many a moment was made just that much better due to the choice of songs used, as well as the show's score. Really, the only negatives of the show was some annoying/pointless side characters who were introduced (mainly in Seasons 3 & 5, I found).

Back when the show premiered here, we were kind of over-saturated with supernatural-related TV shows, and there seemed to be only so many ways they could put a new spin on the stories before they started being retreads of the same old thing, but Being Human went for something ‘different and fresh’, I thought, which certainly paid off. I thought Seasons 1 & 2 were excellent, I’m the opposite to you regarding Season 3, as I personally found it to be by far the weakest, then the show started coming good again with Season 4 (I actually didn't mind the War Child plot. At least they tried to make an effort with the apocalypse, unlike some other supernatural related shows. Gina Bramhill as Eve also helped. She and Annie had some good moments together).

The final season, while not the best, was still a pretty good season to end on. Summing up, I thought this show had great characters, acting, storytelling (for the most part), directing, music and originality. I really do miss it and the main characters from it as well as the actors who portrayed them (although I’ve been watching Poldark since Season 1, so I’ve caught Aidan Turner in that, Damien Molony I saw in one season of Ripper Street and the actor who played Tom I saw in Once Upon A Time and its spin-off…but I don’t think I’ve seen any of the others from the show in anything else).

Sorry for the length of this post, but it's just basically my old IMDB review for the show (with some alterations made).