The Show
The popular BBC America series Being Human chronicles the triumphs and turmoils of three hip young roommates who just happen to be a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost. In each hour-long episode they have to cope with their unique powers and their respective curses, and before long we're invested in how they get on, how they manage to navigate their love lives and their happily ordinary jobs.
By Season Two, George, Mitchell and Annie are being slowly, relentlessly pursued by a shadowy "religious" organization, while the werewolf learns that he's accidentally infected his girlfriend, the vampire finds a lady who is not what she seems, and the ghost finds herself a new occupation. (She begins the season visible, and semi-solid. It's complicated.)
The show is endearingly "British" for the characters' ability to make the best of extraordinarily difficult circumstances, sharing a bond that only these three chums can truly appreciate. And with problems like theirs, they need to learn--possibly for the first time-- what it really means to be human.
The Picture
Colors can appear slightly oversaturated at times, while blacks can look rather harsh by comparison. While this is not the sharpest video quality I've seen--faces in particular can be a tad soft--the 1.78:1 frame does show strong detail in the foliage and elsewhere. The discs are all BD-50s, with no more than three hour-long episodes per, affording a high bitrate. There's some noise, particularly in the many shadows, and some ringing in transitions and glows, but all in all, pretty strong for TV on Blu-ray.
The Sound
I was quite frankly surprised to see that these Blu-rays are packing Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, not high-resolution and not discrete surround. The soundtrack is up front obviously, but clean, with decent dynamic range, and some nice phasing between the two speakers. Dialogue is always discernible despite all the accents, which is good news, but there are a lot of potentially impressive audio moments that are never realized.
The Extras
The set includes multiple featurettes that bring us behind the scenes of the production. "Blood Bursting" (nine minutes) explores the aborted werewolf transformation pioneered by a misguided scientist, "The Caves" (six-and-a-half minutes) visits an historic shooting location, while "The Swinging Sixties" (nine minutes) teaches us how to create a realistic flashback. "Unleashing the Beast" (seven minutes) discusses the significance of the major turning point in one character's journey this season.
"Behind the Make Up" (seven minutes) takes us inside the makeup truck and on the set to watch these artists at work, "Making the New Werewolf" (eleven minutes) highlights the revised, more monstrous approach to lycanthropy, and in "Train Carnage" (seven-and-a-half minutes) another character gives into his messy bloodlust. All of these are in standard definition.
Final Thoughts
I suppose that we can classify Being Human as a soap opera, albeit one centered upon a small group of extremely engaging characters whose personal problems are as compelling as their supernatural abilities. Expect some big changes by the end of Season Two, and here's hoping that next year's Season Three Blu-ray will offer better than two-channel Dolby Digital audio. And since there's a vampire and a werewolf involved, I'll put a "please" in there.
Product Details
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