Being Human (UK) Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 59 Ratings

  • Summary: A werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost try to live together and get along in the new BBC series.
  • Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Suspense
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    80
    Whatever deeper meanings one might extrapolate, the show's approach proves refreshingly unpretentious and a great deal of fun, playfully exploring the mythologies surrounding ghosts, vampires and werewolves.
  2. All three characters are highly appealing, but the charm of the show lies in the delicate balance of engrossing drama and disarming humor; the series is not campy or self-conscious, it’s witty in an offhand, understated way.
  3. 80
    But for all the laughs, Being Human never loses sight of the menace of its characters.
  4. Creator Toby Whithouse takes all the themes associated with the cursed and the damned very seriously, and if his exploration of them is less baroque than other franchises, it promises to be even more effective.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 22
  2. Negative: 3 out of 22
  1. 10
    The series has a darker edge to it than Twilight (or "Vampire Light" as I like to think of it) and the cast (both permanent and supporting) are fabulous and believable in this twist to the usual dysfunctional family unit/group that we usually see on TV. You feel their pain and terror as they come to terms and live with some terrifying secrets.

    Not every vampire like has to be thin and pale, and that's what's scary about being human. Just who do you trust when even the police who are "supposed to protect and serve" are themselves Vampires? This isn't friends with fangs, but believable characters that feel real in an unbelievable situation/scenario. Terrific TV
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  2. I just finished Season 1, and found it extremely enjoyable. All three main actors are in fine form, delivering heartfelt moments, comedy, and action. The plot never gets weighed down with ponderous back story or exposition, and moves at a nice pace. I am not really the kind of person who picks apart fantasy or supernatural world rules, since they aren't real in the first place - I feel like the writers have done a good job setting up the rules of this world, and even though it may not be what you think things are supposed to be like, they still work well for the plot of the show. I actually love the lack of special effects, because it puts more on the imagination and actors to get things across. My only real complaints are that I feel like they actually could have gone a bit less with some of the graphics - full werewolf makeup/prosthetic is pretty cheesy. The plot is not particularly original, but it is done well. If you are the sort of person who wants lots of spray blood and action, or who gets annoyed when vampires or werewolves aren't like "real ones," then maybe this isn't for you. If you are a fan of gentle, mystery-type supernatural thrillers with solid actors and some adult humor, give it a try! Good science fiction and fantasy uses a speculative world to reflect things about our own human condition - Being Human does that very well in its first season, and its definitely worth a view! Expand
  3. I like the acting and characters, but the creature lore is weak. Whether the vampire can kill whole crowds of people or has to fear individual humans is completely arbitrary. And apparently the worst part about being a ghost is you can't change your clothes, since the ability to touch others is also arbitrary. The ghost's teleportation ability is also laughably underused as it would instantly nullify about half the conflicts. It's a show that wants to make a supernatural character drama, but without doing any homework. Expand
  4. Being Human (UK) Season 1

    Creator: Toby Whithouse

    Cast: Lenora Crichlow as Annie the ghost, Russell Tovey as George the werewolf, Aidan
    Turner as Mitchell the vampire, Jason Watkins as Herrick the vampire and Sinead Keenan as Nina the love interest of George, who later, herself, becomes a werewolf.

    Costume design: For the most part the costume design is unremarkable. It doesn't lend itself the genre and if the point is being human, means being boring, mission accomplished.

    Set design: the two sets are the interior of an apartment and the interior of a hospital. The apartment, like the costumes are utterly unremarkable. We are to believe that a vampire, 300 years old, works for minimum wage and that's all the money he has in the world. Background music: unremarkable and adds absolutely nothing to the series. There is little to no memorable moments. In the latter part of the series they added contemporary pieces, but it was completely destroyed by the complete lack of imagination on the writer's part by turning the "background" music into a montage. Music montage means -10. One you see a music montage it means the writer gave up.

    Plot: The state plot is that a vampire, werewolf, and a ghost live together. They agree to try and be as normal as possible, A.K.A. be human. We are invited to ride along on their escapades while normalcy never happens.

    Critique: the stated plot has almost nothing to do with what the viewer is presented. One is not whisked away into a story about an actual vampire, an actual werewolf, an actual ghost. The viewer is painfully aware, the entire time that they are watching 3 actors go through gobs of mundane and quite ordinary dialogue.

    The vampire: the vampire is supposed to be 200 or 300 years old. His subplot is that he is trying to avoid drinking blood. Oh for the love of pete, this has been done to death. When Anne Ryce created the modern vampire, this is exactly what she did. For her it worked, because we are whisked away into a story about an actual vampire. BH never, ever transforms you into a world of real vampires, because the series has no special effects whatsoever. They might as well have done this on stage and narrated the story to us, by a man sitting in a chair reading the story to us.

    For instance, this vampire, along with every other vampire, eats, breaths, can be choked, goes to the bathroom, walks around in the sun, gets hurt when he stubs his toe, and categorically is not undead, whatsoever, but neither is any other vampire in the show.

    This gets a big fat zero. Quit calling the character a vampire if I'm more vampiric than the character.

    The ghost: the ultimate rule of a ghost is that, at some point they relive their death or are torn emotionally. Also, a unique characteristic of a ghost is that they appear "ghostlike". It ruins the imagination and mystery if the ghost is as solid as the football player "The Fridge". This character is the most unghostlike ghost ever. She is completely solid, has absolutely no underworld qualities about her, has a full range of emotions, and has little to no subplot. Her boyfriend / fiance supposedly killed her. Mind you the fiance weighs about 125lbs and stands proudly at 5'4, while she's a solid 160lbs all day long and is not withering violet at 5'10.

    What's more is, although the dialogue is written with the thought that the audience is supposed to feel sorry for her, she is nothing more than annoying, whiny, illogical and 2 dimensional.

    Furthermore, like the vampire, there are absolutely no ghost "tricks". Oh if you count teleport as a ghost trick. Yes, that's a fantastic special effect, move the actor off screen, viola she teleported.

    The werewolf: This character is pathetic. Everything we've come to know, love, care about as being werewolf, is completely gone from this character. In this series, a werewolf is a human that has pms one day out of the month. In all other instances, he's just a regular human.

    Frankly this series is a huge waste of time. I don't know if it's the budget or simply the writing. There is absolutely nothing supernatural about this series.

    At least, the actors read the lines, adequately. For anyone that actually like werewolves, vampires and ghosts, they should stay away from this series. It offers absolutely nothing.
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See all 22 User Reviews

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