WE LEFT THAT MEETING thinking, 'Okay, this is never gonna get made," recalls Being Human creator Toby Whithouse about the frustratingly twisty turny path his cult supernatural hit took to make it to the screen.
He was on his umpteenth attempt to nail the format and the tone of a show that had started as a very different beast, and decided there was only one way to go.
"I wrote a script only I would enjoy.
That was absolutely just my voice undiluted. Never mind about the response, I'm just gonna write this for me. After that, I think very little changed." Long-term SFX readers will know what Being Human became - an often very dark, supernatural comedy drama about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost sharing a house, while trying to bury the more awkward sides of their natures and integrate with normal human society. It also achieved a rare casting alchemy, with four of its then virtually unknown leads - Aidan Turner as vampire Mitchell, Russell Tovey as werewolf George, Lenora Crichlow as ghost Annie and Jason Watkins as the off-puttingly mundane vampire boss Herrick all going on to serious stardom.
But originally the show idea that became Being Human had no supernatural elements, and even when it did finally evolve into a supernatural pilot on BBC Three in 2008, its future was far from assured.
So what would that original nonsupernatural version of Being Human have been like? "Awful!" laughs Whithouse. "Matt Bouch, who produced seasons one and two, approached me and brought me together with the production company Touchpaper. The plan was, 'Let's do a show about a group of college friends who buy a house together, and the stresses and strains that puts on their relationships.' Whithouse admits the idea didn't grab him but he started mulling it over anyway. "I was walking home one day, and the ideas for the three human characters just kind of popped.
This story is from the November 2024 edition of SFX UK.
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This story is from the November 2024 edition of SFX UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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ANCER MAHAGEMENT
WITH A NEW TRILOGY IN SIGHT, WE SPEAK TO THE DIRECTOR OF 28 WEEKS LATER THE ORIGINAL CHILLING SEQUEL TO DANNY BOYLE'S SEMINAL SURVIVAL HORROR
WHO YA CONNA CALL?
BEHIND THE SCENES AT HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS FOR GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL
THE DEVIL'S HOUR STRIKES TWICE AS THE GENREDEFYING DRAMA RETURNS
SCARRY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
FROM THE RETURN OF EC COMICS TO SCREAM!, THIS YEAR'S HALLOWEEN OFFERS UP HORROR COMICS FOR ALL THE AGES
UNDEADS REFLECTIONS
NEIL JORDAN ON BRINGING ANNE RICE'S MODERN VAMPIRE CLASSIC TO SCREEN, 30 YEARS ON
MUNSTER MASH!
PRODUCTION HELL, SHOCK RECASTING AND HOTLY CONTESTED AUTHORSHIP. AS THE MUNSTERS CELEBRATE THEIR 60TH ANNIVERSARY, WE UNCOVER HOW THE SPOOKY SITCOM WAS ALMOST DEAD ON ARRIVAL
COMING TO AMERICA
THE MOGWAI LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THEIR SECOND CHAPTER, GREMLINS: THE WILD BATCH
BEING HUMAN EVOLUTION
IT MAY HAVE BEEN AN INSTANT HIT, BUT BBC THREE'S DARKLY COMIC DRAMA ABOUT A HOUSE-SHARING VAMPIRE/WEREWOLF/GHOST TRIO HAD A STRANGE JOURNEY TO THE SCREEN, SERIES CREATOR TOBY WHITHOUSE TELLS SFX
THE MAINE EVENT
THE DARK IS RISING IN SALEM'S LOT AS STEPHEN KING'S DEATHLESS TALE RETURNS TO THE SCREEN
WHY DON'T YOU STAY FOR A BITE?
THE VAMPIRE COMES HOME AS DIRECTOR EUROS LYN WELCOMES SFX TO HIS NEW DARK COMEDY THE RADLEYS