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

- DAVE GOLDER

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.