Being Human To Return

By John Freeman on April 24, 2008

BBC Three has ordered a six-part series of the popular one-off drama, Being Human from Touchpaper Television, part of the RDF Media Group.

The intriguing pilot screened in February (as reported on downthetubes at the time), as part of the channel’s drama pilot season and proved hugely popular with both viewers and critics peaking at nearly 450,000 viewers and gaining great reviews.

Starring Russell Tovey, Andrea Riseborough and Guy Flanaghan, the pilot of Being Human followed the lives of three flatmates; a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost in a witty, sexy and extraordinary look at the friendship between three 20-something outsiders trying to find their way in an enticing, yet complicated world.

Filming on the series, which will once again be written by Toby Whithouse, will start later this year for transmission in 2009.

“The pilot of Being Human gave us the opportunity to try something really unusual, and we were quite overwhelmed by the positive public response,” said Executive producer for Touchpaper Television, Rob Pursey. “We’re delighted that the BBC has given us the go-ahead for a full series.”

“Of all our recent drama experiments on BBC Three, Being Human struck the most powerful chord with the audience,” feels Danny Cohen, the Controller of BBC Three. “At its heart is a bold and adventurous concept and I’m looking forward to seeing how this is realised across a series.”

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.