The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Today we’ve got a little treat for you; as regular readers know I’m a big fan of the BBC’s Being Human series and I know a lot of you are too, so with the new second season just starting on BBC 3 (the first part went out just a couple of days ago) the show’s producer Matthew Bouch was kind enough to answer a few (spoiler free) questions for the blog:

(Russell Tovey as George, Aidan Turner as Mitchell and Lenora Crichlow as Annie in Being Human, (c) BBC)

FPI: Hi, Matthew and thanks for taking some time to talk to us. The original pilot for Being Human generated such a positive response and web campaign that it helped to promote the idea of an actual series; I’m guessing as creators it must be pretty heartening to have that sort of viewer response, but did it also add yet more pressure when it came to making the first series, knowing that there was probably a lot more weight of expectation around it than might be normal for a new series?

Matthew: The huge benefit of the pilot was that we’d seen what worked and what didn’t, both for us and the audience. I think it allowed us to be more confident in what we were doing – because a lot of the pilot had gone down well, we felt trusted by the audience. More generally, I think if you care deeply about a show – as we all do about Being Human – you tend to load pressure on yourself anyway, so if anything, having fans is an entirely positive thing.

FPI: I thought the original pilot did a great job of establishing the outlines of the characters and scenario and even sketching in some of the background of the world around them (like the vampire movement) in a single compact tale and the first series expanded on this nicely, developing the characters, letting us see more of their backstory. With the characters now so firmly established and having pushed them out of their comfort zones by the end of series one, can I ask how you’re planning to build on that for series two (obviously without giving away any spoilers)?

I mean, for instance, we ended last year with George being forced to embrace his werewolf nature to face down scheming master vampire Herrick and Annie learning the truth about her fiancé and her own demise (not to mention turning down the door to the afterlife), so I’m guessing the emotional repercussions to all of this and how the trio react to it individually and together will feature prominently in the new series?

Matthew: Obviously the emotional repercussions are huge. This series is more intense and emotionally challenging than the first – partly because we’d established the characters and wanted explore them in a more complex way, but also because, as you say, we leave them in very difficult places at the end of Series One.

Some people have said that they find George jarring in Episode 1 because he is so introspective and wayward but we felt that this was the reality of how he’d react to killing someone, especially in werewolf mode – it’s a massive thing to deal with. Rest assured that despite the intensity, there is still plenty of humour! The characters haven’t changed fundamentally, just the things they have to deal with.

(“I see a bad moon rising…” – Russell Tovey as George in mid werewolf transformation in Being Human, (c) BBC)

FPI: On a related note, we left the last series with the vampires under Herrick pretty deep into a conspiracy against the mortal world. Those plans have been dealt a blow since George in his furry form turned Herrick into Pedigree Chum, but (and again knowing you can’t give too much away in advance) is it fair to say that their plotting hasn’t simply stopped with his demise? And would it be fair to assume those events haven’t exactly endeared our trio to the vampire community, especially given the recent trailers, which convey an impression of being hunted?

Matthew: Toby (Whitehouse, creator and writer – Joe) wanted to explore the notion of the power vacuum that is created when a leader is removed – it’s a major strand in the series and obviously makes things very complicated for Mitchell, because he has an acute sense of responsibility to both the human and vampire world.

FPI: One of the refreshing aspects of Being Human, I thought, was that in addition to the supernatural components we simply have a good drama about three people who become friends. Sure its about a ghost, a vampire and werewolf, but the show, while not skirting their nature, is as much concerned with how they actually try to live as normal a life as they can, hence the title, as it is with the supernatural aspect. Have you found that grounding the show in the everyday world has helped to make the fantasy elements more acceptable to the audience? And as creators do you feel it offers you more emotional scope in terms of storytelling?

Matthew: I think the combination of the everyday and the extraordinary is the heart of the show’s success. There is a huge amount of emotional truth to Toby’s writing and that is thrilling when combined with the supernatural, because it allows the audience to imagine ‘what if vampires, etc, really existed – right here, now’. The challenge has always been to find the right balance.

FPI: Do you think the rise in smartly-written, successful (with SF fans and a broader audience) telefantasies like Buffy, Doctor Who and Torchwood has created an environment where a show like Being Human could be greenlit – I mean I’m not sure it’s the sort of programme that we’d have seen commissioned even ten years ago. And has the availability of new channels like BBC 3 helped you as creators?

Matthew: I think that the success of the revamped Who was absolutely fundamental in getting the show greenlit – that, and the fact that the BBC decided to pilot, which meant they could try Being Human in a low-risk way.

FPI: Does the location help in grounding the more everyday aspects of Being Human? I thought it was nice that, like Torchwood, we were getting a series not set in London for a change. Not that I have a problem with London, but there are other cities in the UK and it appealed to me to see Bristol used as the setting.

Matthew: Bristol is very important in Series 1 and 2. It felt about the right size, somewhere you could be relatively anonymous in, but also feel part of. London was just too big. Bristol also has other things going for it: the sense of history living all around you in the architecture, the fact that recently it has been a centre of ‘counter – cultural’ activity. It has a quirkiness that we’ve tried to capture more in Series 2.

(Lenora Crichlow as Annie on the stairs where she died, (c) BBC)

FPI: You’ve made good use of the web to promote the series, which seems appropriate given the web campaign for the series to be made, with blogs and reports from the set – do you enjoy the fact that the web allows you to share a bit more and interact with the viewers more directly?

Matthew: Yes, it’s lovely to have that direct link to the fans and of course, we have them to thank for the commission, partly. You do have to be careful though, I think. So many voices – many of them articulate and very opinionated – can distract you, particularly in the development process, from a consistent train of thought.

FPI:  For series two you’ve expanded on your use of the web, with short prequel pieces available to view online. Obviously this works very well in getting the audience’s appetite well and truly whetted, but did you see it also as a way to expand a bit more on the characters without eating into the running time of the main episodes and will any of the events in the online prequels be referenced in the actual series?

Matthew: Yes, it is a lovely facility to have – Toby’s used the prequels very cleverly to introduce characters and make them feel more rounded from the off. We don’t explicitly reference the prequels in the series but they obviously give the audience a better sense of the characters’ lives and motivations, and that is very helpful.

FPI: Before we finish up can I ask about America? The first series has gone out on BBC America and now the US Sci-Fi Channel (or SyFy) is talking about a US remake of the programme (following in Life on Mars’ footsteps). Are you involved in the American version at all and can I ask how you felt about the US reception of the show?

Matthew: I am not involved, that is all being done through Rob Pursey. I think Toby will obviously have some input, but it is it at a very early stage at the moment.

FPI: I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about it in due course. Matthew, thank you very much for taking some time to talk to us. The show goes out on Sunday evenings on BBC 3; the first episode just aired last weekend – it had some bloody good drama, some serious emotional content, new plot developments and the characters having to deal with consequences of the events of the first series, plus some nice humorous touches added in too; excellent telefantasy for an adult audience. You can check out the BBC’s official Being Human site for clips, the prequel videos and more. Thanks also to Lyndsey at the Beeb’s press office for being nice enough to put me in touch with Matthew.