Good news, everybody! Being Human has been picked up for a second series! Being Human is the only home-grown telly I’ve bothered setting the Sky Plus for (alright other than TV Burp and, um, Total Wipeout - alright, alright, it’s not something I’m proud of) and by and large I’m still enjoying it very much. There are a couple of nits of differing sizes to pick, mind.
George remains the cast’s Achilles heel. Every other performance in the series is so easy and natural his peculiarly mannered nerdiness is really starting to grate. Playing a geeky character who’s socially awkward while remaining sympathetic and not descending into sneering caricature is obviously difficult, but I’m currently watching the first series of the thoroughly enjoyable Big Bang Theory which pulls the trick off (with admittedly varying degrees of success) four times. So, y’know.
My main gripe is with the series’ treatment of women, however. In episode 4, the only recurring female character who wasn’t almost wholly defined by their relationship with a man – Annie’s obsession with Owen, Lauren’s with Mitchell - was clobbered with the “if you’re a strong, intelligent, independant woman then you must have been damaged by your past” stick.
Grrrr.
Come on, Being Human. You’re well-written, mostly well-acted and more intelligent than 95% of the drama we’re subjected to on British TV. You don’t need to be indulging in such an overdone and frankly offensive cliché. You’re better than this.
Whilst we’re on the subject of Being Human, which is by far the best thing of its type on Brit TV at the moment, please can someone else confirm to me that George’s manner of speaking does not equate with nerd. More that it is the most aggravating twittering since the annoying, patronising blond moppet in Hustle.
If you don’t know what manner of speaking equates with “nerd” by now, love…
Whilst I appreciate your personal style of nerdish twittering darling, George’s pathetic whimpering, stuttering and over annunciation of T’s at the end of words is NOT nerdish it is simply aggravating and only goes to add to the already weaker impression of that character compared to the others.
I do however applaud your stand on the whole “if you’re a strong, intelligent, independant woman then you must have been damaged by your past” which gets used so often in TV and films today that too many of us don’t even spot its application.
You may be a nerd, but you’re my nerd!
Bloody hell!!! It’s like the Richard and Judy show… in blog form!!!
You’ll be doing book clubs and interviewing Ali G next.
Sweet!
Which one of us is the shoplifter and which is the alcoholic?
ALLEGEDLY.
*** SPOILER ALERT *** Actually, my main problem with episode 4 was with Mitchell getting back with his home boys & then getting all concerned & seemingly surprised when he discovers their in house human ‘herd’ combined with their long term plan to keep a proportion of the human population alive & kicking for feeding purposes. They’re vampires, ya know? It sort of goes with the territory. Just thought he came off as a bit of a naive berk if he hadn’t thought that one through after 100 odd years of larking about in a big cape…
Also: he definitely needs to get a big cape.
Big cape needed definitely. Erm, well haven’t even watched that episode yet Rob, but even I though they had that sort of vampish skullduggery in mind when the Police vamp chiefy bloke was dropping barely veiled hints in the previous episodes so maybe 100 years of moping around has dulled Mitchells wits rather than sharpening them.
Shoplifter or alcoholic?….hmm…where’sh my gin?
ALLEGEDLY.
If it’s stolen gin, one of you is off the hook.
Allegedly.
Anyway, I have no idea what you’re on about, but as always I’ll say you’re the best blogger ever and I love you.
In other news, I hate Harry Hill, so consider this a divorce.