TV Review: Being Human, Series 3 Ep 1 - 'Lia'

Air Date: 23 January 2011

Tardy Review Date: 25 January 2011
Channel: BBC Three

The supernatural flatmates make a solid return

So series 3 of Being Human has started and I figured I'd do a brief piece on it. I don't think I'll do one for every episode, but probably a series review after the last one.

As a fan since the pilot episode, I've been waiting for the new series for a while. During the first ten minutes, though, I was a bit worried I'd be disappointed. There's a bit of time spent covering the set up of the gang's new home in Wales, plus a reminder that Annie is trapped in purgatory. Then it launches into an intro of a couple of new characters (one of whom is played byRobson Green) and it feels like the show is about to abandon its series long story arcs for random episodic adventures.

My fears were unfounded, though, and it wasn't long before I remembered why I love the show. 'Being Human' is certainly an apt name. It might, on the surface, be about supernatural creatures trying to live as normal people but it is, of course, a metaphor for the problems we face as human beings.

Mitchell the vampire represents the guilty man, trying to reconcile his murderous past but struggling to break free from his urges. Where vampirism normally focuses on sexuality or disease (and there's still a bit of both in here), Being Human deals with it more as an addiction. Mitchell tries to justify his actions by saying he was helpless to his blood lust, but he knows that control is within his grasp and it''s just times of weakness that lead to his atrocities.

George and Nina, as werewolves, are obviously repressing their animalistic nature to the point where, when the full moon rises, they can hold it back no longer and it bursts forth in their transformations. But the werewolves in the series also take the part of an ethnic minority, when the superior vampires refer to them as a sub-species and treat them as such.

Annie, the ghost, is ultimately the lost soul, unable to find her way in the world or work out what she's meant to be. Her lack of confidence prevents her from connecting with those outside her close circle of friends. On the rare occasions she does manage to venture out and interact with others, she is rapidly knocked back and her insecurities take over again.

This mix of human problems and frailties, with a supernatural twist, is what makes the show work and this first episode suggests that's not going to change.

There's some good investigation into Mitchell's past, examining the effect he has on his victims and their families. Mitchell, who so often has tried to take the moral high ground, is forced to realise that he may have been lying to himself about his recent good intentions. This whole section runs parallel to the rest of the episode and features a good performance from Lacey Turner as the title character, Lia, who is a mysterious and unsettling presence.

As for George and Nina, they continue to battle with their curse and the show is still managing to keep their transformation scenes both nail-bitingly tense and absurdly funny. This is probably the trickiest part of the series to keep interesting but they're succeeding so far.

Annie is still trapped and spends a lot of the episode calling for help, so we don't get to see much of what she will bring to this series. There is a hint at the end, though, that her character will add some new complications to the household.

Plus, the Robson Green character and his son look like they might be here for the duration of this series, so that''ll be the long story arc sorted, then.

So, all in all, a good start to the series and I'm looking forward to episode 2 already. The BBC have got a good fan site for the show here, if you're interested: http://www.bbc.co.uk/beinghuman/