Being Human currently exists in two versions- the original British series and an American remake series. The show chronicles the ongoing adventures of three unusual flatmates- and not unusual in the flatmate stays up until 4am remixing Marilyn Manson albums Flintstones episodes unusual, but unusual in the inhuman sense.
Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a 116 year-old vampire, who looks no older than his mid-twenties, much like any of the male cast of 90210, only there’s no Botox involved in Mitchell’s case. He was originally from Ireland and was sired as a vampire after being mortally wounded in combat during WWI. None of this explains his deep tan, which is odd for a vampire and even odder for an Irishman.
Mitchell is remorseful for his blood-soaked past and has taken a job as a male nurse on the night-shift, for obvious, solar reasons. Unlike Twilight, vampires here react in the proper fashion when exposed to sunshine, screaming and dying instead of becoming a sparkling my-little-pony. Working at the hospital Mitchell can break into the stored blood to indulge in his fondness for plasma without ripping people’s throats out, which might be seen as somewhat suspicious.
When we first meet him, he’s ‘caring’ for George, with the two of them sharing a flat and attempting to ‘be human’. And yes, Mitchell and George are mistaken for a Gay couple every episode. Though based on the amount of touching, eye-bonking and the time they wake up naked in bed together with no memory of how they got there, I’m not sure it’s a mistake. Mitchell is currently the leader of the coven of vampires in his neighbourhood and is having trouble controlling his urge to go on the occasional bloody massacre.
His reluctance to indulge in his natural desire for carnage puts him at odds with The Old Ones, a powerful group of Vampire Ancients that act as a vampiric government.
George, played by gay actor Russell Tovey, is a mid-twenties werewolf who was taken in by Mitchell during a purge. Vampires and werewolves do not get along in this world. Vampires see them as no more than beasts. But Mitchell saw something in George that the others did not. What Mitchell probably saw was probably his spectacular butt, which is on display so often before and after George’s lycanthropic lunar luaus that Russell Tovey’s arse deserves its own separate screen credit
This gluteus to the maximus is not repeated in the American remake, which is no surprise given Hollywood’s bizarrely prudish attitude to sex and nudity. In the US version Sam Huntington’s werewolf, renamed Josh, gets naked behind increasingly ludicrous objects that seem to be on set solely for masking duty.
Tovey is great in the part, and also joins Neil Patrick Harris in the gay actors who effortlessly play straight characters club. Despite the homoeroticism between George and Mitchell, George has a girlfriend, Nina (Sinead Keenan) who is eventually turned due to George scratching her during sex, and whom falls pregnant with his baby…er, cub.
The transformative trio is rounded out by Annie (Lenora Crichlow), a ghost. Annie was murdered in the flat. Initially Annie haunts the flat and is unable to leave. Annie’s powers are increased after she gets spectral revenge on her murderer- she can now teleport, lift objects with her mind and appear to human beings when she chooses to. Unfortunately, her powers do not extend to being a good actress. Crichlow is easily the weakest of the three and her storyline are the least satisfying.
The most irksome of Annie’s storylines comes when she realizes she’s in love with vampire Mitchell, and wants to pursue a physical relationship with him- despite the fact that as a ghost, she’s lacking the whole physical thing. Even the other supernatural characters comment on the ludicrousness of a romance between a ghost and a vampire and mention that Mitchell and George would be a more realistic couple.
