Review of Being Human ‘Eve of the War’

SPOILERS: Do not read this if you have not seen Being Human ‘Eve of the War’

Despite fears that the show would not be same after the departure of Aidan Turner, who played Mitchell the vampire, this year ‘Being Human’ has raised the bar far higher than anything it has done before.

The question is where to start? First there is London in the year 2037 where a battle rages between the resistance and the vampires. Then there is the vampire, werewolf and ghost who have managed to live together undisturbed and in harmony. Finally, there is Eve, the baby born of werewolves who is going to be killed by a woman from the future in order to save the world.

Creator and writer Toby Whithouse has reset the clock to year zero with this brilliant reinvention of his show. The look and feel of ‘Being Human’ is different and the storytelling has taken on an epic quality. As a whole, the series is more together with the new premise established from the start. Never before has the series gone forward in time but now there is a subplot reminiscent of ‘The Terminator’ and a sense of momentum. The old setup of three supernatural beings cohabiting in a house and attempting to integrate with society was initially quite original but it only had so much mileage.

This week though, Whithouse has excelled in his writing by building upon the mythology of ‘Being Human’. By developing the show he has made it stand out in the vast vampire and supernatural genre and has put a new twist on it. Every decade there is a renewed interest in vampires with more and more films and television programmes being produced and adding to the huge body of work within the genre. In the nineties there was Joss Whedon’s ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel’, Anne Rice’s novels particularly ‘Interview with the Vampire’ and ‘Queen of the Damned’, and ‘Blade’ which was loosely based on the Marvel comic books of the same name. There was also 1992’s ‘Dracula’ with Gary Oldman as the infamous count and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, the latter of whom gave such a wooden performance that he made a stake look more believable. In the noughties there was an even greater explosion in the market with the ‘Twilight’ franchise, ‘True Blood’, ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘Underworld’ – all of which have continued into this decade. There is even an American version of ‘Being Human’ that draws upon elements of the original British show but has deliberately tried to create something new and different. Despite the fact that the market appears to be oversaturated it seems that audiences are insatiable in their appetite for vampires. Therefore, in order to stand out, the story has to be kept fresh and original while avoiding clichés.

‘Eve of the War’ has shown how the look and feel of ‘Being Human’ has now changed and it is a change for the better. The acting and comedy were always brilliant but finally the production values match the script. Russell Tovey gave a touching last performance as George the werewolf before bowing out to join his murdered girlfriend Nina in the afterlife. Annie the ghost (Lenora Crichlow) is now the only member of the original trio, while Michael Socha has been promoted to a full time character as werewolf Tom and Damien Molony has been drafted in to play Hal, the resident vampire. It will be interesting to watch how the new dynamic between the characters will work.

Next week the three threads of story that ran parallel in ‘Eve of the War’ will begin to fuse together as the next chapter unfolds. Whether or not the rest of the series can match the first episode is yet to be seen but there is a sense of pace to the series which suggests the potential for greater things to come.

For more information about the series, click here

Image credit: BBC

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• Mat Bakus

  Yeah, it was an improvement on the last series which plodded a bit, but is guilty of employing tactics that ruin Doctor Who for me.

  It is the plot devices – suddenly George can trick his body into transforming – which in turn kills him because of something to do with his internal organs – all explained by Mark Williams’ character who had an amazing in-depth knowledge of the nuances of lycanthropy – that Doctor Who can generally get away with because it is a programme aimed at a younger, less sophisticated audience that made me wince a bit last night.

  Add to this that Williams’ character with a tea-towel on his head talking gobbledy-gook in order to delay killing Eve – and suddenly it sounds like a children’s programme, rather than one aimed at a mature audience, and the writer is on thin ground…

  Maybe I should lighten up, but the original show was more hardcore than this, and more challenging.

• http://www.facebook.com/NatalieAnne123 Nat Dowland

  what i didnt understand was why the vampire (can’t remember his name) got a bottle of blood out the fridge and drank it as though it was water, when in series 1 they made a big point of how it doesnt have the same effect as fresh blood, also, if the girl in 2037 is the character i think it is, there is a massive paradox there.

• Knowles2

  Who do you think the girl is. 

  I think she Eve. An there would be no paradox because time does not exist in heaven, she is essentially outside of the universe and time.  

  I need to see a screenshot of the scroll, but I got a feeling she has misunderstood its meaning anyway.

• Knowles2

  Personally I think this was a vast improvement over last season episodes. 
  They added a bit more mythology to the universe, the elders are on their way, through I am interested in finding out where they are coming from. We learn that the vampires started of in the far East.

  I was sad to see the death seen, truly heart breaking. Through I doubt his girlfriend is really dead, we did not see a body. 

  Hopefully we will see more of the future. 

• http://twitter.com/Gidz_v2 Gideon Harris

  Seems like there’s going to be a bit of time traveling this series, I’m curious to see how they pull it off 

• Andrew Walters

  Enjoyed it, defiantly more pace and narrative, but launches off into a pure fantasy universe where as before it was a fantasy set in something more recognisably real, Now we have all the usual suspects, time travelling, deus ex machina, and weakest and most  overused plot device in the canon of science fiction and fantasy, messianic  prophecy. Nevertheless its funnier, still a well acted character piece if a little less challenging and i want to know what happens next

• spiralx

  I have to say I enjoyed the pilot, and then Series 1 – because it was touchingly low-key, and quite different to the “Twilight”, or’”Vampire Diaries” stuff which is everywhere.  It had a lovely ending, and perhaps that’s where it should have stopped.  Series 2 felt like the BBC had twisted the author’s arm;  Series 3 was clearly stretching things;  Series 4 is a complete reinvention.   I’ve decided to say goodbye, and stick with my DVD copy of Series 1.  

• http://www.facebook.com/Ukoxana Oxana Grigorenko

  Can’t agree more. Being low-key and down to earth made it different…now it is just another meaningless series