Being Human: Series 3

A vampire, a werewolf and a ghost share a flat. Sounds like the opening line to a bad joke doesn't it? And as a result this did put me off Being Human. However after hearing nothing but good things about this series i decided to give it a try and it's safe to say i am now completely and utterly hooked. A brilliantly acted, written and made series, not a bad episode in this at all, the cast are all excellent, we have a vampire in torment over his past which to be honest is becoming a cliche now but Aidan Turner is excellent as tormented vampire Mitchell and the rest of the cast are all equally good too. Twists and turns throughout which makes Being Human one of the best British shows in years and the finale is simply superb. There is an American remake which i am curious to watch but as much of a fan of American tv as i am, it'll have to be pretty damn good to beat this. Being Human is i suppose you could say a British Buffy as it does have elements of that classic show's humour and writing. If you're already a fan you'll love it and if like me you're a newcomer i think you'll be hooked if you like quality drama which is what this show is. Roll on season 4!

After really enjoying the first two series' of Being Human I was excited to hear that a third was due to be broadcast on BBC3. This then is the aforementioned series; noticeably darker then the (admittedly pretty dark) previous series and significantly more adult than the first, the third series opens where the second left off - Annie imprisoned in some kind of nether world between Heaven and Hell and awaiting her ultimate fate.
This series sees the return (albeit briefly in at least one case) of several key characters from Series One, while relations in the new house are changing rapidly.
Robson Green appears in this series in an unusual role, whilst Mitchell gains a fanboy and Nina has potentially devastating news for George.
Still billed as a 'Horror/Comedy', the show is now more like straight horror with quirky characters and the odd spot of (extremely) black comedy. The characters undergo various traumas in this third series, although the focus is very much on Mitchell as he attempts to atone for the Box Tunnel Massacre at the climax of the previous series.
The series ends on something of a cliffhanger and it will be interesting to see where a fourth series will go after the devastating events that conclude this one.

I love the UK version of Being Human and I must admit to being mystified as to why the Americans decided to make their own version of the show (but that's another story). Like Season 2, there are only eight episodes in Season 3 of Being Human, but as with all three seasons, the creators manage to pack a whole lot into those episodes. We watched Season 1 as a "marathon", with loads of episodes back-to-back, but for Seasons 2 and 3 as things picked up in the story lines and got a whole lot more intense, we found we could only watch one or two episodes at a time because they were so intense and fraught that we needed breathers in between. By Season 3 things have taken some slightly mystifying twists. For example, they're now living in a former B&B in Wales, and not just anywhere in Wales, but at Barry Island, which I just can't think of without thinking about the BBC series Gavin and Stacey. To be honest this relocation was a little distracting and made me wonder if they'd somehow been filming Gavin and Stacey at the same time or had an old crew set up there that made it easier to be in Barry. Plus, the actor who plays Stacey's mum, Gwen, turns up as a very "special" (you'll see for yourself) vampire character, who just happens to live in Barry. I think one of the downsides of the series for me was the appearance of Robson Green as a new character. Much as I like Robson Green as an actor, part of the charm of the show is that the characters are (to me, anyway) relative unknowns, so they can really take on their characters well, but Robson Green is such a big name that I find his presence distracting. Not that he's bad in the role, but hopefully you see what I mean. If there is any real negative to this series, I'm disappointed by the final episode (again, I won't spoil it, watch for yourself) and, I guess, by the fact that the relationship between the original three characters really starts to fall apart in this season, where it was always their being a "family" of sorts that got them through things. Of course doubt, uncertainty and falling out with people you care about is all part of "being human", but given that they have each know what the other is from the start, I found the reactions of some of them a little disappointing (the theory being that Mitchell as a vampire will always be fighting violent tendencies and sometimes losing, yet the possibility that both George and Nina could themselves be violent and hurt others is not really addressed, making it, for me, an unbalanced argument). Anyway, all in all a good season that's well worth watching. I've heard they are doing a fourth season, so I'll be interested to see how that pans out.