BBC’s Being Human has gone through some big casting changes with two of the three of the stars departing. Star John Mitchell left after season three and star Russell Tovey became a recurring guest until he was written out in season four. In addition, Sinead Keenan quit her role as werewolf Nina.
In year four, Lenora Crichlow’s ghostly Annie has been joined by vampire Hal Yorke (Damien Molony) and previously-recurring werewolf Tom McNair (Michael Socha). Of the cast changes, Being Human creator and executive producer Toby Whithouse tells EW, “It’s always very sad when we lose characters… But it’s never terminal. To use our own mythology: As one door closes, another door opens.”
February’s season four premiere drew 1.2 million viewers — four times the number that watched the debut of True Blood that same night. Still, that was the weakest season premiere for Being Human since the show debuted in January 2010. Subsequent season four episodes have dropped as far as 780,000 viewers and that represents a new series low.
While the numbers aren’t as strong as what they once were, BBC has now renewed Being Human for a fifth season, presumably with eight installments. They’ll begin airing sometime in 2013. The eighth and final episode of season four aired tonight on BBC and will run here in the states on BBC America on April 14th.
The US version of Being Human is currently in its second season of 13 episodes on Syfy and will finish on April 9th. The cable channel renewed the series for a third season with another 13 installments last month.
What do you think? Are you glad that the UK show has been renewed or should the show have been cancelled? What do you think of the cast changes?
Image courtesy BBC.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
With Aiden gone, my heart went with him. I can never watch the show the same again. He was my favorite because I truly believe he was the most “human” monster on the show. Josh has Nora, and their new underling, an Sally has her boy toy – but Aiden…. I shall mourn… yes… mourn for a long long time. I don’t think I can watch the show without him. It just won’t be the same.
of course I’m referring to the US version….
never sat down and watched the British version…. I’m the kind of person that gets hooked on to one thing and become a blind follower.
I love both versions of Being Human, and can’t wait until they reurn!
I,m really glad Being Human was renewed I really enjoy both versions but the British version was the one I saw first and I love the humor and story line and British humor is very different and refreshing.
Did not like the loss of the 2 characters at all. Do not like the new werewolf guy, and this season seems to have visitors popping in for an episode and then out a again. Sorry, but with such a short season, there is a major waste of time to throw in filler garbage.
I AM THRILLED that it has been renewed. This is my Saturday night.
I like the American version (Syfy channel) than the BBC version plus with Aidan Turner aka John Mitchell gone from the show….I’m not interested anymore. He was such a sexy vampire that I would let him bite me anytime….
This comment represents everything that’s wrong with some of the more modern (dare I guess, younger?) vampire fans these days. It’s no surprise ND Mitchell likes the far inferior American version (I watch both shows regularly) over the original British version. The BBC version has real heart and pathos, not a bunch of angst and whining, and you’d never, ever seriously WANT a vampire to bite you if you understood the true meaning and genius of the original Being Human, no matter how attractive his outward physical appearance (and I agree, Aidan Turner is a sexy fox).
Like others commenting above, I didn’t think I’d enjoy the fourth season as much as the first three due to the departures of two out of three main characters, but it’s been pretty good! Like Annie, I still miss Mitchell, Nina, and George, but the new vampire and werewolf friends are a welcome change rather than a redux of what we’ve already seen. Glad it got renewed!
Was unsure about Tovey quitting but for me this has been the best series since teh first. Was never too keen on Nina and was really getting annoyed with Mitchell “Oh George I’m so bad but I want to be good but I’ve killed people and am really sorry, oh I’m so tormented boo hoo hoo”.
Hal is a much more interesting character than Mitchell ever was and Tom brings a good heart and good humour.
Alex could be an interssting replacment for Annie but we’ll have to wait and see. All in all they’ve done a cracking job of keeping the show fresh and interesting when it was starting to sag a bit.
I really miss Gearge and Mitchell but still think the show is better than it’s American counterpart. Not that I don’t like my American version, they’re just different and I get more emotionally involved with the British characters.
An ardent fan of BH seasons 1 – 3, and particularly of the character of Mitchell, I didn’t think I would enjoy season four. But the new constellation of characters works well, and the longer, the better. The debonair caracter of Hal is particularly interesting . Yet he is very different from the Irish Mitchell, who is brooding and humorous by turns. I’m glad the series has been renewed.
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