Being Human USA 1Vampire Aidan and Werewolf  Josh rent an apartment – and discover it’s inhabited by the ghost of former occupant Sally…

Gee, this sounds familiar. And so it should – it’s a pretty faithful rendition of the UK format, transplanted to somewhere in North America (filmed in Montreal, it seems to be set in Boston). This first instalment is very heavily based on the original BBC Three pilot for Being Human – the one with the different cast, which is not commercially available, rather than the first episode of the UK TV series.

It hits many of the same beats – George/Josh is wearing stolen women’s clothing after his transformation and he’s picked up by Mitchell/Aidan, who’s just killed someone – but there are some intriguing variations as the episode progresses that show that the North American version is unlikely to proceed in quite the same direction.

Sam Witwer hasn’t got the brooding intensity of Aidan Turner’s vampire, but Sam Huntingdon makes a fair werewolf (the effects weren’t finished on the preview disc, but the transformation scene looks good). Meaghan Rath nails the ghost’s bitterness and impotence, with her former fiancé suitably oily. Lost’s Mark Pellegrino also has the necessary hard edge for vampire leader Bishop (Herrick in the original).

Verdict: A fine start with all the potential of its British counterpart.  7/10

Paul Simpson

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