History Main / BeingHuman

* ''Series/{{Being Human|US}}'': A 2011 North American Remake of the above.

'''''Being Human''''' can refer to the following works:

* ''Series/BeingHumanUK'', a SupernaturalSoapOpera courtesy of the BBC.
* ''Series/BeingHumanUS'', the American-Canadian remake.
* ''Film/BeingHuman'', an unrelated Creator/RobinWilliams 1994 movie.

If a direct wick has led you here, please correct the link so that it points to the corresponding article.

* ''[[Film/BeingHuman Being Human]]'', an unrelated Creator/RobinWilliams 1994 movie.

If a direct wick has led you here, please correct the link so that it points to the corresponding article.

* ''Film/BeingHuman'', an unrelated Creator/RobinWilliams 1994 movie.

[[redirect:Series/BeingHumanUK]]

[[redirect:Series/BeingHuman]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beinghuman_5619.jpg

->"So, a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire decide to live like humans do. They get jobs, a house, and a TV license..."
--> --'''Herrick'''

''Being Human'' is a [[TheBBC BBC]] SupernaturalSoapOpera created by Toby Whithouse (of ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''{{Torchwood}}'' fame) about a pair of friends: Mitchell, a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire; and George, a geeky and uptight {{Wolfman}}. They already work together, as hospital porters, but decide to get a place together, thinking that it will help them set up the routine and structure each of them needs to [[StagesOfMonsterGrief overcome their curses and live as normally as possible.]] However, on moving to a new house, they discover that it is haunted--by the ghost of a young woman called Annie, who has major confidence issues and is unclear on the circumstances of her death.

The {{Pilot}} aired to great reviews as part of the rebranding of BBC Three. It was renewed for six episodes, despite initial misgivings on the part of the [[ExecutiveMeddling executives]], because of the unexpected love for it.

The series was [[ReTool retooled]], causing [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks much fear]] in the people who loved the Pilot, but the changes that were made [[AdaptationDistillation seem to be for the better.]]

The second series began filming in late summer 2009 and started airing in early 2010. It was eight episodes long, two more episodes than the first series. The third series, which incorporates a [[RealLifeWritesThePlot setting change from Bristol to Barry Island, Wales]], aired in 2011.

There's a [[Series/BeingHumanRemake Canadian-made remake]], which re-sets the story in Boston. It started airing on {{Syfy}} in January 2011.

There's a [[Characters/BeingHuman character page]].

As of 30th January 2011, there is a web spin-off, ''BecomingHuman'' and as of March 2011 a fourth series has been confirmed. Shouldn't be confused with the {{webcomic}} ''TryingHuman''.

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!!Tropes
* AbandonedHospital: Or at least AbandonedHospital ward.
* AccidentalKiss: Mitchell/Annie
* ActorAllusion: Perhaps it's good we only learn [=McNair's=] first name after he's been killed. The cognitive dissonance upon finding out it's [[spoiler:Anthony]] is significant for ''WireInTheBlood'' fans.
* AffablyEvil: Ivan. Also Herrick
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In-universe example: when watching an old film, Mitchell and George can sympathise with a vampire[[hottip:* :Actually they are watching the 1925 PhantomOfTheOpera movie.]] running from a TorchesAndPitchforks wielding mob.
* AliensInCardiff:
** Vampires plotting world domination in Bristol.
** Series 3 reveals that similar things are going on in Wales as well. Possible StealthPun LampshadeHanging?
* AndYourLittleDogToo: In the first episode of the series (i.e. the one after the pilot) Mitchell receives this threat nearly word for word with regards to George when he chooses to side with humans, not vampires.
* AnyoneCanDie: ''Dear God...''
* ArbitrarySkepticism:
-->'''Josie''': Oh right, I thought perhaps you were a wizard or something.\\
'''George''': A wizard? That's ridiculous.\\
'''Josie''': Once you've dated a vampire you change your criteria for what's ridiculous.
** George is rebuked for this again in series 2, by Nina, for describing a possible cure for lycanthropy as "insane".
* AsHimself: Sir Terry Wogan as Sir Terry Wogan in Series 2 Episode 2.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Kemp is ''good'' at this. Evidently the audition for his part involved reading out a random Bible verse and seeing how many people had fled the room by the end of it.
* TheAtoner: Mitchell
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Herrick, as of the end of series 2.]] [[spoiler: As of the first episode of Series 3, Annie has technically managed this three times.]]
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Brutally subverted by Herrick and [[spoiler: Nina]]. He points out that really what he wants is to [[spoiler: make George suffer in payback for him ripping Herrick limb from limb in Series 1]] but invokes this trope as the reason he's going to spare her and promptly leaves. Then [[spoiler: before the doors have even stopped swinging shut, he comes back in, "They'd say I was going soft" and promptly shivs her in the back.]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: When Annie gets angry, she gains telekinetic powers. Really awesome telekinetic powers.
* BiTheWay: Seth mentions a male student, a couple in the park, and a threesome with Herrick, all Mitchell's *ahem* conquests. Although he was talking about blood, it's far from a stretch to assume that sex was involved, especially given that Mitchell has stated he finds it "difficult to separate them".
* BlatantLies: Mitchell and George's landlord Owen wonders why their flat is almost entirely empty, the real reason being that George is a werewolf and accidentally destroyed most of the furniture when he transformed the night before. Eager to make up an excuse, George gives a long rambling explanation about minimalist living. Owen says he would have just figured they were redecorating.
-->'''George''': ...That would have made more sense.
* BondageIsBad: George and Nina rescue Adam from a vampire sex party. Justified because Adam is a child, at least technically.
** But averted a season earlier when George buys a cage for the wolf and the ironmonger thinks he's buying it for BDSM. Everyone thinks it's perfectly normal, except George who's pretty weirded out.
* BottleEpisode: Season 3 episode 5 takes place almost entirely within Honolulu Heights.
* BullyingADragon: Vampires, as a species, tend towards doing this to werewolves 27 days out of every 28. The other day (or, rather, night)? Werewolves win very, very hard if the two are trapped together. Especially potent cases exist where a group of Vampires decide to run 'dog fights,' and bully the dragon on the 28th night as well. See the FurAgainstFang entry below.
* BusCrash: [[spoiler: Tully (revealed to have been killed in Professor Jaggat's experiments) and Daisy (revealed to have been killed by [=McNair=])]]
* CasualDangerDialog: Lauren after [[spoiler: staking Seth through the chest, allowing George, Mitchell and Annie to escape]]: "Well, he won't be staring at my tits when he speaks to me anymore."
** The Inquisitor asking for more light and wondering about the order of the execution of vampires ("Do we start with the children first?") in the beginning of [=S2E4=].
* CerebusSyndrome: For something that was originally conceived as a comedy series, Season 2 is basically the bleakest 8 hours of television this side of ''Torchwood: Children of Earth''.
* CelestialBureaucracy: The afterlife that ''doesn't'' involve the men with sticks and ropes is an interminable series of waiting rooms and forms to fill out.
---> '''Annie:''' They were really angry when I [[spoiler: got Kemp.]] They said they don't have a form for that...
** It's not really clear just WHAT the afterlife in the BeingHuman universe is, so Annie's mention of people "disappearing" may tie in with the aforementioned "Men with sticks and ropes". This will probably be clarified come Series 3 given Mitchell and George's desire to rescue Annie from the afterlife.
* ChekhovsGunman: In the first episode George briefly bumps into a strange man hanging around in the woods who looks as if he might be waiting for a rape/murder/both victim to show up. He isn't and he's quite important in the second episode.
* ClusterFBomb: {{Lampshaded}} in Series 3 Episode 7 when Tom questions George about it.
* CompletelyMissingThePoint: In one episode George is considering moving out with his new girlfriend, and he and Annie are arguing about it. However, Mitchell can't get past the fact that Annie blurted out that George considered wearing ''skinny jeans'' at one point.
* CursedWithAwesome:
** In the first post-pilot episode Mitchell says he only became a vampire willingly to save the lives of his men (in WorldWarOne); the immediate reply by the BigBad and fellow vamp is "How ''noble'' of you; [[CursedWithAwesome cursed with immortality]] whilst they withered and died in hospitals and old people's homes."
** [=McNair=] feels this way about being a werewolf. "When bones break, they repair stronger, when skin tears, it heals tougher."
*** George is mentioned to pack a pretty powerful punch an episode later so this is possibly true.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Not that the first series was a musical comedy, but the second series [[strike:already appears to be heading in]] ''definitely'' took a darker direction. And then we hit [[ItGotWorse Series Three]]...
* DatingCatwoman: Mitchell/Lauren, Mitchell/Daisy, averted with Mitchell/Lucy.
* DeadManWriting: Tully's message to George in the second series finale.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of all the excuses Vampires use to justify their crimes.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Mitchell turns his back on the other vampires after Lauren, who he'd turned into a vampire, attacks one of his co-workers. Borders on MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Mitchell reaches this regarding humanity after finding out Lucy was behind the bombing.]]
** And then again at the end of season three, when he [[spoiler: realises he'll never be able to stop killing, and demands George kill him.]]
* DeusExMachina: Annie [[spoiler:coming back through Lucy's door and stealing the ''alive Kemp'' away through it in a spectacular AssPull.]]
* DevilButNoGod: There's SOMETHING in charge of the life after death...Annie has apparently gotten him/her/them/it REALLY angry by not accepting death. But the afterlife that awaits everyone is a blood red corridor with "Men with sticks and men with ropes" waiting at the end...doesn't sound too heavenly.
** The concept is averted in a speech by Kemp: "If you believe in God's miracles, you must believe in Satan's". But then, he's crazy, so his beliefs probably shouldn't be taken too seriously.
** To be fair, Gilbert's door led to something shiney and white.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Despite George being Jewish, his father had what appeared to be an Anglican [[spoiler: fake funeral. His mother, Ruth, (a Jewish name), wasn't sitting Shivah, the traditional mourning ritual, after this funeral]]. If the writers are trying to write a believable Jewish character they should know that even very lapsed, casual Jews practice these rituals.
** George is also named after his father, George Sands Sr. Most Ashkenazi Jews (which George most likely is) will name their children after a deceased loved one, but do not name their children after living relatives as it's believed to be bad luck.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: George is pretty good (or bad, he'd probably think) at these. Especially when Tully is about...
** When Annie tries to warn Janey that Owen is a murderer, she accidentally implies that she's going to cut Janey's legs off. Janey is understandably freaked. The fact that Janey knows Annie is dead probably doesn't help things.
* DiscoDan: Gilbert, lanky [[OopNorth Manc]] who died in TheEighties.
* DistantPrologue: The {{Cold Open}}s of series two and three are flashbacks to Mitchell's MysteriousPast (except one that shows Ivan recruiting Daisy).
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Near the end of [=S1E2=], Tully's interactions with George look and sound a lot like attempted rape. Also, Mitchell's very chilling line "Once a smoker, always a smoker". Meanwhile, George's situation is similar to someone who got a treatable but incurable STD as a result of being raped.
** WordOfGod has said that the series deliberately equates lycanthropy and death to drug addiction.
** Mitchell's former gang's attack on George is played out a lot like a gaybashing.
** Series 3, the vampire leadership is living in South America, plotting future world domination from their hiding places, while covert operatives run a underground railway to ferry vampires who have attracted too much attention there. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratlines_%28history%29 Hmm... where have we heard this before?]]
*** The Nazi parallel comes back in a later episode:
-->''Cara:'' Herrick didn't kill me. He chose me because I was special. He made me part of the [[MasterRace master race]]!
* DoWrongRight: When George finds "Mr. Sands suck cocks" written on the bathroom mirror in the building where he teaches English as a second language, his response is to take out a marker and correct the grammar.
* DreamingTheTruth: Molly, Sam's daughter.
* DyingAsYourself: Lauren asks for an [[ICannotSelfTerminate assisted suicide]] with this justification.
* EmergencyTransformation: Mitchell refuses once, but gives in on a later occasion.
* EnemyWithin: This is how George sees "the wolf". He's probably right, but avoiding the problem doesn't help.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: ''Mitchell''. Vampire + smokes + Irish accent + permastubble + dark past + TheAtoner = ultimate [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy]].
* FaceCam: Rather {{Narm}}ishly when George nearly transforms in public. [[SpecialEffectsFailure The dodgy teeth don't help.]]
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:George's father]].
* FanBoy / LoonyFan: Graham in series 3 to Mitchell. Mitchell is not pleased, and it does not end well.
* FanDisservice: It seems to be a recurring theme in this series that any time a character appears naked, they're either covered in blood or in excruciating pain. YMMV as to whether this qualifies as the above or as FetishFuel.
** [[spoiler: Anything involving a naked Herrick after he comes back]]
* FantasticRacism: As noted in FurAgainstFang, vampires ''hate'' werewolves.
* FantasticScience: Jaggat's motivation for helping Kemp. Unfortunately she's prevented from letting scientific rigour get in the way of BurnTheWitch.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Being a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Type 4]]. You'll be alive enough to feel pain, but dead enough to survive without your major organs, [[spoiler: which lead humans to dissect the first Type 4s, and later incinerate them as a biohazard, while they were still conscious.]] You're trapped in your body for several weeks after 'death,' until it decays enough that it simply can't sustain your soul anymore, during which time it can't recover from any injuries you sustain, and [[{{Squick}} you can feel yourself decomposing on the inside.]]
* FingerlessGloves: Mitchell wears them. Began as actor Aidan Turner's attempt to keep warm; looked so hip they stayed. Of course, the FridgeLogic explanation would be that he's a vampire and feels the cold more then a living person would. That doesn't explain all the sleeveless shirts though.
* FoeTossingCharge: Well, more of a "Foe Tossing ''Strut''". In the series one finale [[spoiler: Annie literally breezes into and ''through'' the vampire safehouse by summoning up an eerie gust and tossing vamps around left and right with her ghostly telekinesis.]]
* FoeYay: Mitchell/Herrick, complete with a lampshade hanging from Lauren.
** Plus Mitchell/Lauren and George/Tully. Hell, pretty much the only villain there's no FoeYay with is Annie's murderer Owen, which is ironic, as he was her fiancee.
** Daisy/George, which seems to border on DatingCatwoman.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires: Played mostly straight (Mitchell) and subverted (Herrick, Daisy & Ivan).
** As of Series Three, Mitchell is also a subversion, or at least a deconstruction.
* FridgeBrilliance: In the series 3 finale [[spoiler: Lia's prophecy came true, despite the fact that she made the whole thing up for revenge. Mitchell was killed by a werewolf - George.]]
* FurAgainstFang: Vampires ''loathe'' werewolves, for whatever reason: they'll call them "dogs" and "freaks" to their faces, and beat up werewolves with no provocation. Mitchell is treated with suspicion by the other vampires for hanging around with George. What werewolves think of vampires isn't as clear--werewolves seem to be extremely rare--but they mostly seem content just to give the "psychotic bastards" a wide berth.
** It's probably got something to do with the fact that a werewolf is almost defenseless against vampires twenty-seven days out of twenty-eight, but on the right night, they can tear even powerful vampires to shreds.
** It may also be pheromonal. Several times vampires take a whiff of George and act revolted. Then again Daisy had no problems doing the dirty (well he was as well) with George.
** It may be a case of hating what you fear. Despite their bluster and bravado you get the feeling that the vampires who beat on George do so due to the little bit of fear his kind brings out in them. Even Herrick looks fearful about facing a werewolf in close quarters with no escape route. Technically Werewolves are their superior killing-wise.
** Worth noting that [=McNair's=] comments about the curse sometimes being a blessing imply that it's not just on full moons that werewolves are much more threatening than normal humans are to vampires - and Mitchell's reaction to being punched by George in the same episode seems to support the suggestion that werewolves become much tougher with numerous changes.
* GhostAmnesia: Annie forgets that Owen killed her. Most ghosts seem to forget their deaths in the short term, judging by the shock when they notice.
* GhostlyGoals
* GlamourFailure: Vampires don't show up on film, which makes the vampire pornography... surreal.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Owen, after Annie's NotAfraidOfYouAnymore moment.
** It's also strongly insinuated that ''all'' people who have died, including vampires, are aware of her "secret". It might explain the vampires' attitudes a bit, anyway. It also puts Annie and Mitchell's sanity into [[HeroicWillpower new light]]...
*** Well, if you believe Herrick, vampires are just the same as normal people but with no inhibitions. But given the source...
* GoodShepherd: The hospital chaplain.
* GoodTimesMontage: At the end of [=S3E1=], once [[spoiler: Annie gets back]].
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: George frequently does this after stripping naked prior to his transformations. He does it even when nobody else is present, which indicates a certain ammount of discomfort with himself.
* HauntedHeadquarters: Mitchell and George are able to find a city centre house dirt-cheap because it's haunted by Annie. They don't want to stay there after she moves on.
* HeadbuttOfLove: Done several times between different characters.
* HemoErotic
* HeroicBSOD: Annie, in [=S1E5=].
** Also briefly happens to George and Mitchell after Annie is forced through the door at the end of series 2.
* [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice: Mitchell's death]] in [=S3E8=]. [[spoiler: If he was alive, he'd kill again]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mitchell and George, with a dose of HoYay.
* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Stacy Slater from ''{{Eastenders}}''
** Tony Hill from ''WireInTheBlood''.
** Rhys Williams from ''{{Torchwood}}''.
** Gwen West from ''GavinAndStacey''.
** Midshipman Alonso Frame from ''Series/DoctorWho''.
*** Also, from Series/DoctorWho, Shakespeare.
* HistoricalInJoke: Seth, one of Herrick's lackeys, is revealed in Series 2's ARG to have been the infamous Highgate Vampire who prowled Highgate Cemetery and was sighted many times in the 1970's. Having such high-profile media attention is probably why the other vampires regard him as being a total moron.
* HoYay: And how. Mitchell/George, Mitchell/Herrick, Mitchell/Seth, Mitchell/Carl, George/Tully and [[spoiler:George/Herrick]].
** Am I the only one who saw a lot of Mitchell/Ivan?
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQAYpSWEkD4 Why don't you two just snog each other!]]
* HolierThanThou: Kemp, to he- er, to infinity and beyond.
** The afterlife (a mix between CelestialBureaucracy and your standard hell dimension) should prove an UN-pleasant surprise...especially as EVERYONE winds up in the hands of "The men with sticks and men with ropes and men with black black feathers on their black black wings".
** Not everyone. I don't recall actually seeing any devout Christians going through the door yet. In a nasty bit of FridgeHorror, It could turn out that Kemp [[KarmaHoudini got to heaven where Annie didn't]]. Admittedly that would make [[GodIsEvil his God a major]] LawfulNeutral JerkAss. But this is the [[CrapsackWorld Being Human universe]], so...
* HorrorHunger: Blood addiction.
* HumansAreBastards: The vampiric justification for running amok sucking blood.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: [[spoiler:Mitchell, in the Series 3 finale, begs George to stake him]].
* IHateYouVampireDad: Lauren hates Mitchell who hates Herrick.
* IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight: Sort of subverted and averted with Mark the hospital chaplain to [[spoiler:Mitchell]] since the verbal sparring is there, just not the fisticuffs.
** Word for word in the series 2 finale from George, also without the punching. Would you hit an angry Mitchell?
* InvisibleToNormals: Annie, when she's in a down mood or because of unknown, external, supernatural forces.
* IrishmanAndAJew: Mitchell is an overconfident Irishman, George is a shy Jew.
* IShallTauntYou: One of [[spoiler:Mitchell's]] strategies for trying to get [[spoiler: George to stake him is to try to convince him their friendship was a lie and he found George pathetic, but George knew he was doing this trope, and Mitchell didn't have the heart to keep up the act.]]
* ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals: the funeral of [[spoiler: George's father]]
* JacobMarleyApparel: Annie's stuck in the outfit she died in.
* JustFriends: Annie with both of her flatmates. Played straight with George as their relationship strongly resembles that of [[LikeBrotherAndSister squabbling siblings]]. With Mitchell it seems to be [[ShipTease slightly more ambiguous and could go anywhere.]] Until Season 3, that is. Annie and Mitchell are a couple now.
* KidSeeingWhatKidsShouldntSee:
** Bernie seeing the SnuffFilm.
** George starting to transform in a school. Poor Molly...
* KilledOffForReal: Staking a vampire is supposedly a permanent death [[BackFromTheDead with no chance of a resurrection.]] The Series 3 Finale does this to [[spoiler:Herrick and Mitchell]].
* KnightsTemplar:
** Jaggat's organization seems to think that its mission against supernatural creatures is a holy one, though Jaggat seems to lean more on the ForScience angle.
** Kemp is this trope personified though. While the others are really just a bunch of poor luckless idiots brainwashed by Kemp's dogma who really only want to help, Kemp is this trope in its most psychotic form.
* LastNameBasis: Mitchell, Herrick, Tully, [=McNair=] and Kemp.
* LegalJailbait: Adam is presumably physically in his mid-teens, but is chronologically in his 40s, and the actor is 20.
* LimitedWardrobe: Annie is forever trapped in the clothes she was wearing when she died, although there is some variation. It's not definite, but it seems as though the clothes get more form-fitting the stronger and more confident she becomes, and when she's more insecure and scared, she has more layers to hide herself in.
* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: All of the main characters have made some spectacularly stupid romantic choices.
* MagicPants: Averted. Poor George doesn't get Magic Pants when he transforms into a werewolf.
* ManBehindTheMan: Professor [[spoiler: Lucy]] Jaggat
* [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]]:
** Nina, in "The Longest Day". She plays the social worker like a fiddle and it's brutal to watch.
** [[spoiler:Lia invents the 'wolf-shaped bullet' prophecy just so she can screw with Mitchell's head, in vengeance for the Box Tunnel 20]].
* {{Masquerade}}
* MasterRace: The [[SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness more evil vampires]] consider themselves to be this. Dominating humans openly has been a topic of discussion for centuries, but nothing has come of it so far. Herrick & Co. managed to "recruit" quite a few new vampires in preparation for some kind of takeover, but it didn't work out.
* MayDecemberRomance: Might not apply as they're both vampires but Ivan was 237 years old in 2010 whereas Daisy was still human during [[WorldWarII WWII]], making her less than 100.
* MeaningfulName: Lia. [[spoiler: Just one letter away from "Liar". The false prophecy she gave to Mitchell was the major story arc of series 3]]
* MillionToOneChance: [=McNair=], prior to becoming a werewolf, was chosen by Herrick to be the victim in a cage fight. [=McNair=] won out of sheer luck.
--> "You walked unharmed from a plane crash."
* MindRape:
** Owen pulls a [[Series/{{Heroes}} Sylar-worthy]] feat of "mundane" Mind Rape on Annie in [=S1E5=]. First, he does it as he's comforting his current girlfriend, who's freaked-out because a ''ghost'' was talking to her, trying to warn her about him. Second, he denies Annie's very existence whilst he's looking her straight in the eye with a shit-eating grin: "I don't see... ''anything''". Then he twists the knife by admitting that he was cheating on Annie when she was still alive. Evil. Annie ends up in a HeroicBSOD till George pulls her out of it.
** Bonus points for the fact that the [[EnforcedMethodActing actress playing Annie had no idea what the actor playing Owen was about to say]]. When she gets all freaked out and is leaning against the wall looking horrified? That was the actress's actual reaction!
* MistakenForGay:
** George and Mitchell, more than once, but most notably by the estate agent in the pilot. George is indignant, but Mitchell has fun playing along just to make everyone uncomfortable.
** RealitySubtext made it even funnier when you consider the actor playing George is actually gay in Real Life.
* MonsterMash: You've got a vampire, werewolf, and ghost girl living in the same flat. How is that not awesome?
* MultitaskedConversation
* NeverRecycleYourSchemes:
** There were some anger management issues, but was the sedatives idea really such an irredeemable failure?
** Between [[ClusterFBomb coprolalia]] and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating the living hell out of]] his boss for being annoying, the answer appears to be a resounding YES.
* NeverTrustATrailer:
** Only a minor example: In most promotional material (such as the picture at the top of this page), Annie is depicted as slightly transparent with a faint aura. Neither effect is present in the show.
** Although near the end of season two it's possible for George and Nina to see Annie on CCTV. Well sort of, she's transparent as a, well, ghost. So perhaps [[FridgeBrilliance that's why she's partially transparent in the photos]].
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: George killing Herrick]] may have resolved one problem but as it turns out in series 2 the repercussions involve [[spoiler: [[EvilPowerVacuum a power vacuum in the vampire lot]], the loss of a system which kept the supernatural existence under wraps, and George becoming notorious enough to be targeted by vampires loyal to Herrick.]] Though things are tentatively getting better... wait... Nope, actually [[ItGotWorse it's getting back to worse]].
** Annie staking the vampire who was going to silence by turning [[spoiler: Nancy, who'd discovered proof that Mitchell murdered the Box Tunnel 20]] was arguably done with the best intentions. However it then leads to [[spoiler: Nancy getting Mitchell arrested and the whole masquerade of the supernatural existing is about to break]], and even worse, [[spoiler: Herrick wiped out the remaining police in the house and he got his memory back]].
** And Herrick [[spoiler: tries to kill Nina in retaliation for George killing him.]]
* NightmareFetishist: Number Seven, and his six (rather shortlived predecessors), who gets off on being a self-replenishing blood bag for a yuppie vampire couple. To put his role into perspective even the Fangbangers on ''True Blood'' get more respect from the vampires.
* NonActionGuy: George is a nerd, a wimp and ridiculously soft-hearted. When he attempts a rescue [[spoiler:of Mitchell]] with Annie, it's hardly pulse-pounding action, and he knows it:
-->'''George:''' That was pathetic! We were... like... the world's GAYEST ninjas.
** Unless it's a full moon.
*** WHO WANTS SOME OF MY CHAIR?!?
** Having become annoyed at being targeted by vampires following killing Herrick George attempts to fight back in the first episode of series two. Sadly ineffective, and there was something unsettlingly desperate in it.
* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler: William]] Herrick, [[spoiler: Lee]] Tully and [[spoiler: Anthony]] [=McNair=] only ever are referred to by their [[LastNameBasis surname]]. We only learn their first names [[spoiler: after they have been respectively killed.]]
* NonhumanLoverReveal:
** George is interested in his coworker Nina, but is unsure how much he should tell her about his condition, or when. SupernaturalAngst ensues.
** A variation occurs in series 2 with Annie and Saul; each of them is hiding a supernatural secret. It ends badly.
* NoodleIncident: After Annie suggests the gang do something to bring them closer together after a crappy couple of weeks:
-->'''George''': No, I'm not going paint balling again, not after last time.
* NotAfraidOfYouAnymore:
** Gut-wrenchingly subverted with [[spoiler:Annie and Owen - but later played straight]].
** [[spoiler:Annie]] gets another one of these in series 2 when she stands up to the Men Behind the Door.
* NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat: The estate agent mistakes George and Mitchell for a gay couple, and then tries to backpedal furiously after accidentally making a homophobic comment.
* TheNothingAfterDeath: In the pilot, the afterlife was apparently a long, dark corridor, with "the men who wait with sticks and ropes" at the end, something which gets a ContinuityNod in [=S1E5=]. However, Gilbert's smile on seeing what's inside the corridor in [=S1E3=] suggests he sees something different.
** Possibly Gilbert got to move on to heaven whereas ghosts go through a horrible purgatory before returning to Earth?
** This seems to be being explored in series two. [[spoiler: Someone out there is NOT pleased that Annie didn't go through her door.]]
*** "The nothing after death"? That's FAR too pleasant a description. A blood red corridor and at the end of it "Men with black, black feathers on their black, black wings". Whatever awaits the dead in the Being Human universe seems to be something so horrific it makes SilentHill look like a restful, charming place to be.
*** "You don't want our rascals coming out there?" Oh yeah. Whatever's at the end of that corridor is a lot worse than "Nothing".
*** Apparently [[spoiler: the afterlife is a big, terrifying waiting room, according to Annie. Brr.]]
*** [[spoiler: Annie]] seems to be in some kind of [[CelestialBureaucracy bureaucratic limbo]] as of the second series finale...she talks of people "disappearing" and no one knowing what happens to them, suggesting that they're moving on to somewhere.
* OffTheWagon: When normal people fall off the wagon, they end up hurting themselves (unless they're a drunk driver). When Mitchell falls of the wagon, it's practically an [[DivineComedy 11th Circle of Hell]].
* OpeningMonologue: Each episode of the first series kicks off with a framing monologue, typically from Annie, George or Mitchell.
* TheOtherDarrin: Two-thirds of the main cast (Annie and Mitchell) got Darrined between the pilot and the main series, as did Herrick and Lauren.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Annie's visibility depends on her self-confidence. Normally, only other supernaturals can see her--but as she becomes more confident, she becomes visible to ordinary humans as well. She does not need sleep and can't eat or drink but frequently prepares food and hot drinks. She can go insubstantial when needed, and can teleport. When a ghost finally resolves what's keeping them earthbound, a door to the afterlife appears, waiting for them. They can also be exorcised, which apparently makes them disappear. She cannot change out of the outfit she died in, although its exact appearance varies according to her mood. She can touch and move physical objects normally (and apparently teleport them with her) and sometimes move them telekinetically as well.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The vampires, like those of ''{{Blade}}'' and ''{{Underworld}}'', have an AncientConspiracy dating back hundreds of years. They create more of their kind by turning humans but a bite on its own will not do this, the victim needs to ingest vampire blood to turn. A stake through the heart reduces them to dust, though this seems to work like a human knife wound, it may or may not be instantly fatal depending on how severe it is and a less-severely staked vampire might recover if given prompt medical attention. They consume the ''life force'' in a human's blood, not blood ''qua'' blood, therefore donated blood is no good. Blood dependency is a [[HorrorHunger psychological addiction]] for vampires, not necessary for survival; they can eat and drink normally too. As a clear subversion of most vampire traditions, they ''can'' venture into the sunlight, although Mitchell does admit he's not a "fan" of sun. In bright sunshine, Mitchell dons sunglasses and a heavy leather jacket, although this may be more of an appearance thing than a precaution against the effects of sunlight. They can also be killed by [[spoiler: a bomb blast]], and so very possibly by a gunshot wound as well, although this is unlikely to be an option in the UK. They need an invitation to enter homes but mobile homes don't count.
** Really old vampires like Wyndham (supposedly thousand years old) can enter homes uninvited.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: These werewolves are humans [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting cursed to transform]] into savage, near-mindless beasts, closer to man-wolf than wolf-man. They only transform on the night of the full moon, whether they can see the moon or not. Anyone who survives a werewolf attack becomes a werewolf themselves. The curse is transferred by any wound, not just a bite, and the attack always leaves a very visible scar. The transformation can be partially suppressed by staying in a pressure chamber, although so far all attempts to do so have had unpleasant results. One attempt to incapacitate the wolf-form with tranquilisers subsequently caused violent urges and uncontrollable swearing while in human form, presumably due to the wolf's repressed rage. Vampires can detect werewolves, probably by smell, though werewolves can't detect vampires. As fellow supernatural creatures, werewolves can see ghosts. Werewolves are apparently far rarer than vampires in this universe. Werewolves do carry some latent effects even while in human form, such as sharper senses leading up to and just after a full moon, and rapid (or at least, rapid''er'') healing, in evidence after [[spoiler: Nina gets stabbed by Herrick]].
** TransformationTrauma: Mitchell's narration talks about this in [=S1E2=]. Since the organs end up changing size the victim ends up having a heart attack, along with temporary liver and kidney failure. That - on top of the usual bits you'd expect to grow out - leads to lots of painful screaming during transformations (up until the vocal cords get stretched out of shape, anyway).
** According to Wyndham there is no record of a female werewolf being impregnated by a male werewolf and none of the Old Ones vampires know what the outcome of such a pregnancy would be.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: They are created when people find death's portal blocked at the moment of their passing and their soul winds up trapped in their decomposing bodies. They retain all original intelligence and personality, can live pretty normally at the beginning, and can feel pain (at least before the nerve endings have finished decomposing). They die a few weeks later when their bodies completely breakdown, whereupon they pass into the afterlife like normal. Zombiism is not contagious and they have no craving for brains or any other body part.
* PaedoHunt: Mitchell and George end up on the receiving end of one following a misunderstanding.
* PainfulTransformation: Werewolves go through this.
* PapaWolf: [=McNair=]. ''Literally''.
* ParanoiaGambit: [[spoiler: What Lia pulled on Mitchell with the "wolf shaped bullet" prophecy]].
* PinocchioSyndrome: The basic premise of the series.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The episode that introduces Adam is a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for ''BecomingHuman''.
* PoorCommunicationKills: In the third series, Nina and Mitchell both fall victim to this. Nina doesn't talk to George or Mitchell about [[spoiler:Mitchell being responsible for the Box Tunnel 20]], and Mitchell doesn't tell his best friend or his girlfriend about the prophecy he got from Lia [[spoiler:about the wolf-shaped bullet]], despite the fact that he has proven time and time again he completly trusts George. Both these events lead directly to one characters death in the finale.
* PowerTrio: Mitchell is Id, Annie is Ego; George is usually Superego, though his werewolf side is pure Id.
* PrecisionFStrike
--> '''Annie:''' Oh, fucking hell!\\
'''George:''' Might want to choose some better LastWords?
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The entire plotline that ended with [[spoiler:Mitchell's death]] was originally conceived when Aidan Turner was cast in ''TheHobbit'' and the producers knew that they are about to lose him to Hollywood, but they still wanted to give him a good send off.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Mitchell is over a century old, but looks to be in his mid-twenties. Herrick, the vampire who turned him, is older, although we don't know by how much
** We find out in season 3 that Herrick is 158 having been born in 1843 and turned at the age of 47.
** Generally averted compared to other vampire series. [=McNair=] states that anything over a hundred is older than most vampires and most vampires we meet don't appear to have been turned that long ago and the only vampires we know are canonicly over 200 is Ivan(237) and the unseen Richard Turner who is at least 389 years
*** There's the Old Ones, in South America. Mitchell objects to joining them on the basis that, being just over one hundred, he's not an "old" one by vampire standards. Wyndham, claims to be a thousand years old and we don't know how much older other Old Ones might be.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Mitchell gives a literal one to a lady doctor.
* {{Roaring Rampage of Revenge}}:[[spoiler: Mitchell and Daisy go on a particularly bloody variety after Lucy and Kemp kill nearly all the vampires in the city.]]
* RomanticFalseLead: Sam for George in Season 2.
* SevenMinuteLull: Happens to Mitchell and George in [=S1E3=].
* SexIsViolence: Stated numerous times to be the case for Vampires.
* ShinyNewAustralia: Herrick was ''going'' to give Mitchell South America.
* ShipperOnDeck: Lia in the first episode of Series 3 says Mitchell and Annie would be "adorable" together. (Though she might well have been planting the idea in Annie's head for her own nefarious purposes...)
* ShoutOut:
** ''TheRealHustle'' sure gets mentioned frequently in series 2 - Mitchell and George seem to cherish watching it together as one of the only semblances of normality they've managed to get the hang of ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k3Ws--yQu8 note]] [[{{Wangst}} the reaction when they discover]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous when it's been rescheduled]]).
** Mitchell calls Nina ''Inch High Private Eye'' [[spoiler: after her amateur detective efforts draw Lucy to the gang's hide out]].
** "There's a werewolf called Nina on [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]"-although the character who says it is actually talking about a character on {{Angel}}.
*** There are also characters called Hannigan(-Spiteri) and Wyndham (as in, Alyson Hannigan and Wesley Wydham-Price).
** George, when [[spoiler: Tully explains how they're related to him]]: "[[StarWars No! That's not true!]]"
* SinisterMinister: ''Kemp''. '''Very''' sinister.
* SkewedPriorities: A common source of humour.
-->'''Mitchell:''' Never try to write anything in blood. It's totally impractical.
* SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness: In the lower middle. It's ''possible'' to be good... but it's like going off a hard drug while [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere it walks around you.]]
* SmugSnake:
** Owen. not only does he feel no remorse over murdering Annie, he actually feels empowered by it, as if getting away with it made him special and powerful. Annie sets him straight, though.
** On the Supernatural side of things, both Seth and Cara, who are just the right mix of stupid and arrogant.
* SnuffFilm: Vampires create homemade pornography ending with the murder of their victims, then pass it round.
* SpotOfTea: Annie continues to compulsively make tea even though she can't eat or drink, and leaves them all over the house.
* SpringtimeForHitler: George fails spectacularly to set up a bad date with Kirsty. He takes her to a 3 1/2 hour German film, only to find out she absolutely loves them, and was waiting to see the film herself.
* StrongerWithAge: Vampires, apparently also ghosts and werewolves. Inverted with Zombies.
* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Professor Jaggat is hard at work on this. Experiments in preventing werewolf transformation show progress but are less than successful. [[YourHeadAsplode Much less.]]
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In Series 3, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, Annie adamantly denies Mitchell having anything to do with [[spoiler: the Box Tunnel Massacre.]]
* SuperLoser: George.
* SupernaturalAngst: The entire show ''is'' this trope...
* SupernaturalSoapOpera
* TakeOverTheWorld: Herrick's grand plan.
* TakeThat: Professor [[spoiler:Lucy]] Jaggart wrote a book about Intelligent Design called ''God's Blueprint''. Her colleagues drew cocks on her labcoat, and it's referred to by Nina as "600 pages of bullshit".
* ThatCameOutWrong:
--> Mitchell: He's a twat!
--> George: Well he's my twat!
--> Mitchell: You know, I'm sure that sounded much better in your head.
* TheFarmerAndTheViper: [[spoiler: after regaining his memories, Herrick almost decides to spare Nina because she was kind to him. ''[[MoralEventHorizon Almost]].'']]
* TheGlomp: [[spoiler: Annie makes a flying leap into Mitchell's arms when he comes to rescue her from purgatory. He is very pleased by it.]]
* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: There's a secret only the dead know. Telling it to a living person [[GoMadFromTheRevelation does nasty things to their mind]]. Annie tells it to Owen to stop him pulling a KarmaHoudini.
* TitleDrop: A couple of times.
* TookALevelInBadass: Annie after she refuses the opportunity to "pass over", although arguably the process began when [[spoiler:she breaks her emotional enslavement to Owen.]]
-->'''Annie:''' Like I have a whole new... skillset?
* TorchesAndPitchforks: When Mitchell is accused of paedophilia the neighbours don't quite storm the house, but the comparison is made explicit with Mitchell and George watching an old black and white vampire film, specifically a torches and pitchfork scene.
* TourettesShitCockSyndrome: George develops symptoms of this after sedating his wolf side.
* TransformationIsAFreeAction: Subverted in series 1's final episode, but not for lack of trying.
* TranshumanTreachery: Vampires; we haven't seen enough werewolves to tell, but it seems like they avert this.
* TrueCompanions: If there was ever a term which described the relationship between the three main characters, it's this.
* UndeadChild: In series 1, the little boy; in series 2, the ghost baby.
* UnholyMatrimony: Daisy and Ivan. Also Cara and Herrick (at least according to Cara).
* VampireBitesSuck: In the first post-pilot episode. The reason given is mostly because being a vampire is CursedWithAwesome and (IncrediblyLamePun coming up) BlessedWithSuck.
* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere
* [[ZombieInfectee Werewolf Infectee]]: Nina, after George's showdown with Herrick
* WhamEpisode:
** Episode 21, "Though the Heavens Fall" involves [[spoiler: the death of [=McNair=], "Uncle Billy" turning back into Herrick, Nancy discovering the existence of vampires and being killed, Annie committing murder and learning the truth about Mitchell, Mitchell being arrested, the police discovering his vampirism after he fails to show up in a photo and his fingerprints match a set on file from the 19th century, and the pregnant Nina being (possibly fatally) stabbed in the abdomen]]. If that doesn't count, I don't know what does.
** The Season 3 finale... [[spoiler: Wyndham one of the Old Ones, stops Mitchell's assisted suicide, orders Mitchell to be his new "attack dog" and tells Nina, Annie and George that the world is under new management from the Old Ones. George then picks up a stake... looking like he'll take it to Wyndham... then turns and stakes Mitchell to save him from Wyndham]] HolyShitQuotient went into overload.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The pilot, one of several shown to promote the relaunch of BBC3. Annie was a lot more housebound (the first subplot would have been her trying to fight this), the vampires would have worn suits and driven limos, rather than [[HiddenInPlainSight hiding in plain sight]], Annie's fiance did not own the house, and the comedy was slightly more camp. Not necessarily better or worse, but certainly different.
** Also, the original concept of the series was about a recovering sex addict, someone with intermittent explosive disorder, and an agoraphobic.
** The vampires were more professional and upperclass, led by a business suit wearing, good humored [[{{Hustle}} Mickey Bricks]], and had private get-togethers in expensive restaurants, reminiscing good-naturedly about being testaments of history. And how they're going to take over the world with blood and fang.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous: They moved ''TheRealHustle''?! See entry in {{Wangst}}, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k3Ws--yQu8 this video]].
----> '''Mitchell''': It just drives me ''insane'' when they move stuff around!\\
'''George''': [[TheWoobie Don't I deserve it?]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Don't I deserve just one bloody crumb of happiness?]]
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Despite all the supernatural goings-on, the show is actually a symbolic look at people trying to reacclimate into normal society after events that turned their worlds upside down. Mitchell is a recovering drug addict with ''severe'' mood swings, George is HIV positive with rage issues, and Annie is a former [[{{Hikikomori}} shut-in]] trying to reconnect with the real world. The metaphors become especially prevalent during season 2, when Mitchell begins a blood addicts support group, George [[spoiler: accidentally infects his girlfriend]], and Annie, so long invisible to normal people, becomes giddy at the prospect of working at the pub down the street.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Molly, Sam's daughter.
* YouCanSeeMe: In the pilot, Annie is so astonished Mitchell and George can see her, she asks twice and waves her arms around for good measure.
** The scene was refilmed for [=S2E8=], but got deleted. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1NdFeJHnmU Fortunately, it's up on Youtube.]]
** Heartbreakingly inverted after Annie, having got used to the idea that she's now visible to normal people, suddenly finds that she once again isn't. While trying to talk to the guy she's fallen in love with.
* YouMakeMeSic: George is a bit of a grammar nerd, correcting the 'peedo' graffiti in season 1 and graffiti against his teaching skills in season 2. Later episodes show he got this from his father.
----

There's a [[BeingHumanRemake Canadian-made remake]], which re-sets the story in Boston. It started airing on {{Syfy}} in January 2011.

* AnyoneCanDie: ''God.''

* FanBoy / LoonyFan: Graham in series 3 to Mitchell, [[UnderStatement Mitchell is not pleased and it does not end well.]]

** TransformationTrauma: Mitchell's narration talks about this in [=S1E2=]. Since the organs end up changing size the victim ends up having a heart attack, along with temporary liver and kidney failure. That - on top of the usual bits you'd expect to grow out - leads to lots of painful screaming during transformations (up until the vocal cords get stretched out of shape, anyway). [[{{Understatement}} Ow]].

* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Professor Jaggat is hard at work on this. Experiments in preventing werewolf transformation show progress but are [[{{Understatement}} less than successful]]. [[YourHeadAsplode Much less.]]

* TheGlomp: [[spoiler: Annie makes a flying leap into Mitchell's arms when he comes to rescue her from purgatory. [[{{Understatement}} He doesn't seem to mind.]]]]