Dork Review: Being Human series 2 so far

Dork Adore — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:36:06 +0000

When the BBC’s Being Human first stalked onto the screen, it was alarmingly unlike the average BBC Three flatshare series.

For one, it featured a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf. And those expecting “Two Pints Of Blood And A Packet Of Death” had to wait a lot longer than anticipated for the first nob joke. (Although it did come in the end.)

Instead, it demonstrated a capability for straight-faced character drama and involved fantasy, with the odd joke to keep the non-geeks involved. There were a few shaky episodes, but it ended up being a genuinely warm yet dark adult fantasy, in the vein of Angel.

With the opening episodes of its second series, Being Human has once again skipped to one side and thwarted expectations. No longer does it simply resemble Angel, it resembles… one of the more depressing seasons of Angel. The mid-run years when all the lead characters seemed doomed in their endeavours.

The events of the previous series finale do justify the supernatural housemates being a little unhappy, but this viewer did miss the light-hearted bonding moments. Happily, the second and third episodes seem to be moving back in this direction, with the sense of doom being offset by a reliable (if grim) sense of humour. If this review had been written after seeing only the first, I would have to advise hiding all sharp objects before viewing.

For other reasons as well, this episode is not the strongest in Being Human’s history. George’s dark turn is enthusiastically portrayed by Russell Tovey, but is also so emphatic that one finds it hard to believe he hasn’t been possessed, or at least hit hard on the head.

But his hesitant charm re-emerges in the next one, and it’s odd how that alone makes everything seem better. In the third week, he even plays a more convincingly written depressed version of George, hopefully underlining that the earlier attempt was a mere blip.

In fact, a scene from the third episode where the three housemates attempt to watch The Real Hustle nearly caused me to have a hysteric fit. Although none of us want to see Being Human descend into BBC Three mediocrity, scenes like that, or Annie’s ludicrous matchmaking shortly later, are as important to the health of the series as the crying and gothic slaughter.

But the supernatural uber-storylines remain present, including new villains who combine the most unsettling elements of religion and science. Meanwhile, Mitchell the vampire is thrust into the undead underworld, uncovering a degree of depravity greater even than his own use of hairstyling products.

Despite the new series starting on a shaky note, it has the potential to be another good year. [Nick Bryan]

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Six things about modern-day vampires that are better than Twilight

Charles — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:04 +0000

Twilight is not a good vampire story. This is mainly because it doesn’t have any vampires in it. They can go outside in the daytime. They glitter in sunlight. What you have there, people, is more of a murderous, blood-drinking pixie.

Here are six shows and films that are better than Twilight…

Ultraviolet (1998)

It only ran for six episodes on Channel 4, but Ultraviolet is still a definitive take on the modern vampire. Downbeat, menacing and claustrophobic, it starred Jack Davenport as a London police detective recruited by a shady group of vampire-hunters (including The Wire’s Idris Elba) with ties to both the government and the Catholic Church.

The clever, logical way the series thought through how vampires, with their traditional strengths and limitations, would operate in contemporary London, remains impressive ten years on. Not to mention their hunters – why use stakes when you can use assault rifles and carbon bullets? But its best trick was to make you think the vampires kind of had a point. A hated minority being hunted down by a Vatican-funded death squad, just trying to survive? They must be the good guys, right?

Vampire’s Kiss (1989)

Businessman Nicolas Cage gets bitten by a Jennifer Beals-shaped vampire and starts going a little unhinged, in this little-known, alternately funny and disturbing film. He thinks he’s becoming one of the undead, starts avoiding sunlight and gets special ceramic fangs made so he can bite women in nightclubs. I find Nicolas Cage creepy and uncomfortable in most roles, but this part plays directly to those, uh, strengths.

Angel (1999-2004)

Look, I preferred it to Buffy, okay? Angel spent most of its time snarkily undermining the heroics of its central character, had a nice line in moody philosophising and its middle three years essentially made up one massive, crazily apocalyptic storyline. Unexpectedly cancelled after five series, it went out with a rain-drenched, Blakes 7-style ending born of angry defiance.

Blade (1998)

After three films and a TV series, still nothing in the Blade oeuvre matches the first ten minutes of the first film, in which Wesley Snipes, armed with a shotgun, a sword and a black leather trenchcoat, slaughters an entire nightclub full of techno-loving vampires. Cheap thrills, yes, but they did make my 18-year-old boy-self think he was about to see the most kick-ass film of all time. It didn’t quite turn out that way, but the rest of the film does offer some great fight scenes, some nice mythology-building (sadly abandoned in favour of over-the-top insanity in later instalments) and the most surreal action hero one-liner ever. Apropos of nothing – “some motherfucker’s always trying to ice-skate uphill”.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Dude, it’s The Lost Boys. I don’t need to explain this. Although when checking Wikipedia to see when it was released, I discovered that a sequel has been greenlit, with the Kiefer Sutherland role taken by his brother, Angus Sutherland. I am not making this up, but I really hope Wikipedia is. [Update: Looks like Lost Boys: The Tribe is already out on DVD with a third one on the way]

…and True Blood?

I’m watching at Channel 4 speed, so it’s early days, but so far I’m frustrated. It takes a great concept (vampires have revealed themselves to the world) and spends all its time in a small, cut-off town where the locals would probably be equally awestruck and intrigued if there was a sudden influx of Belgians. I mean, show me Chicago or New York now we all know the living dead are among us. Because things are probably kicking off. Well, maybe later in the series.

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Dork Review: Being Human series 2 so far

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Six things about modern-day vampires that are better than Twilight

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