Being Human, The Doctor Who Connection

There has been a couple hit shows that came from the Doctor Who line up... Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures. But how does Being Human tie in, you ask? Well let me start with Russell Tovey (George), the man of contradiction. Or should I say werewolf. A sweet but dull guy, that is until the full moon rises, and one of the stars of the hit show Being Human. But Being Human wasn't Russell's first appearance on a hit TV show. He had a guest role in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas Special 'Voyage of the Damned', and reprised his role as Midshipman Alonso Frame in the 2009/2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special 'The End of Time'. Russell T Davies, Doctor Who executive producer and lead writer, suggested Russell Tovey as a future replacement for David Tennant. Of course the role of the Eleventh Doctor went to Matt Smith instead, but can you imagine what kind of Doctor Tovey would have made.

Next we have Lenora Crichlow, who plays the lovely and sensual spirit, Annie. Lenora as found her way into the mad capped Doctor's world in 2007. She guest starred in the episode 'Gridlock', were the entire population of the city was stuck in a traffic jam, and had been for generations.

Now lastly, but certainly not least, we have Sinead Keenan. The fightsty girlfriend of George - Nina. Keenan also had a guest role in the 2009/2010 Doctor Who Christmas Special 'The end of Time' as Addams. I have to admit, she made a pretty darn cute Cactus.

Being Human vs Being Human

Title a little confusing? It won't be for long.

Early this year I caught a new Syfy series called Being Human. A tale of a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost living in the same home. And as the shows title depicts, their are all doing their best to resume normal human lives. Well we all know that's not going to work, opening many possibilities for the show. I liked what I saw right from the start, but again as has happened so many time to me, I missed the first episode. So like any true fan would I search out what I had missed. Not only did I find the pilot, but I found out that Being Human started in the UK on the BBC two year earlier. That's right, Being Human UK was on it's third season. So what would you do? If your like me, you watch the UK to get more of the story. But the problem was that it was a different story. The principles were the same of course. Vampire, werewolf, and ghost living together under the same roof, the vampire and werewolf even had the same jobs. The character personalities were nearly exact as well, but they were completely different characters at the same time. Here in the US Sam Witwer plays Aidan the vampire, in the UK it's Aidan Turner as Mitchell. Sam Huntington is Josh the werewolf in US, and Russell Tovey is George over the pound. Then you have the lovely and very talented Lenora Crichlow as Annie the ghost on BBC, where as on Syfy Meghan Rath is the tempting poltergeist Sally.

Parts of the story line parallel each other, but for the most part they are entirely different tales. Point in question. In the US version, Aiden befriends a young neighborhood boy that is being bullied. Of course things go wrong, and by the end the boy is dieing. Aiden turns down the boy's mother's request to save his live. But of course Aiden's vamp-girlfriend turns the boy anyway. At the end of the episode Aiden takes the boy out into the woods, to teach him to hunt, but in reality it is a one way trip for the young vampire. He kills the lad. Now this is much the same in the UK take, but Mitchell turns the boy himself, explains it all to the mother and then sends them off on a train to start a new life. That my friends is just one example of very many differences.

Most of my family has watched both Being Human series with me, and we all like both of them, but I have to be honest - We all lean towards the original UK version on the show. Watch it and you will see what I mean. There just seem to be more depth to the characters and the story, rather than relying on the violence to carry the show. Please let me know what you think.