Last year BBC Three ran a one-off pilot called Being Human that people liked so much they campaigned for a series. On Sunday night the first of a six-part season commissioned on the strength of the pilot’s popularity kicked off with a bang. Initially I was a bit miffed they’d replaced two out of three of the main characters (Guy Flanagan and Andrea Riseborough were great in the pilot) and I’d heard rumours it was also going to be less dark. Uh-oh I thought. Though judging by Sunday’s episode I needn’t have worried. Lenora Crichlow (Annie) and Aidan Turner (Mitchell) do a great job in their ghost and vampire characters as Russell Tovey reprises his role as the werewolf.

This episode plays out like the pilot with some other events and nods at future episodes. Plot wise we are given a lot in the first episode – the origin stories of both Mitchell and George, them working together as hospital orderlies and meeting Annie in their new flat. Without giving too much away we witness George’s “time of the month” as they refer to it, Mitchell’s vampirism – though he is trying to quit and some of Annie’s troubled past. A few bad guys and neutral characters pop up as well, all seem fairly well rounded and introduced.

All-in-all I’d say it’s a fantastic start to the intriguing and refreshing concept of three extraordinary twenty-something’s trying to lead normal lives. This first episode is pretty well polished – but it’s had time and practice from the pilot. It’s early days, I’m just hoping the writer doesn’t run out of steam and that the next five episodes live up to this first one.

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