Remember BBC Three's pilot for Toby Whithouse's Being Human; a horror-comedy where a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost live together? It was really rather good, and deservedly got commissioned for a full series. Well, it's now filming in Bristol, but with some major changes to the cast...Russell Tovey retains his role as George, the hospital porter who transforms into a werewolf every month. But, Aidan Turner replaces Guy Flanagan as bohemian vampire Mitchell, who is trying to wean himself off human blood. Lenora Crichlow (Sugar Rush) replaces Andrea Riseborough as Annie, the talkative ghost who can't stray too far from the house she died in.
The pilot's subplot, where a vampire called Herrick (Adrian Lester) revealed plans for the vampire race to take over the world, has also been rethought. Herrick, now played by Jason Watkins (Funland) will instead by a more normal, less clichéd villain.
Producer, Matt Bouch:
"Having a new cast is mainly to do with the slight tonal shift in the show. We wanted to go slightly younger, mainly because [the pilot] skewed perhaps slightly too old for BBC Three's target audience. The pilot has been put on the shelf and won't be retransmitted. This is essentially a new show. We are re-introducing all of the characters and assuming that the audience have no knowledge at all of the pilot."
BBC Three Controller, Danny Cohen:
"Being Human has that rare and brilliant combination of humour and darkness which this talented cast will bring to life perfectly. There was a palpable buzz about the pilot and a real appetite for more amongst our audience, so I'm incredibly excited to see how our characters and their stories develop over this series."
Executive Producer, Rob Pursey:
"We were delighted with the audience reaction to the pilot of Being Human, and we're relishing the opportunity to explore Mitchell the vampire, George the werewolf and Annie the ghost over a series of six episodes. Our brilliant young cast bring real humanity to these other-worldly lead characters, as they try to 'be human' and fit in with our exciting and sometimes frightening world."
The recast comedy will premiere early next year on BBC Three. My review of the original pilot is here.
