Further Adventures Pt.15 - No.1274

Being Human: what will series four bring?
STARTS EARLY FEB 2012

With key cast members missing from the show, Being Human creator Toby Whithouse answers fans' concerns over the cast overhaul

This week we caught the first glimpse of the new Being Human gang following the departure of first Aiden Turner (Mitchell), then Russell Tovey (George) and now Nina (Sinead Keenan). Such massive cast changes have only added to the feeling that Being Human has been transforming into a quite different show: with George's sacrifice of Mitchell and the arrival of a new vampire villain last series, it seemed as though the show was teeing itself up to move from cosy/horrific flatshare to Twilightesque epic supernatural battle. So it is a relief to find that series four will see the show return to its original USP: a vampire, a werewolf and ghost sharing a house. And on first glance, the new lineup also looks to have gone back to source: Annie plus a brooding vampire and a boyishly handsome werewolf. So what is going on? Can fans expect the Being Human they love, an entirely new incarnation, or an imitation of the original? Creator Toby Whithouse has shared his thoughts with the Guardian. "Losing Russell and Sinead so suddenly was very difficult. But it never occurred to us for a moment to stop making the show. Not because we need the cash, but because we knew there were a 1,000 stories left to tell and 10,000 characters left to create."

Series four sees Lenora Crichlow return as incumbent phantom Annie, the ghost with the confidence issue. Michael Socha's werewolf Tom, who featured in the show last year, is upgraded to a series regular. And Damien Moloney joins the cast as new vampire Hal, apparently also one of the Old Ones. "Hand on heart, I think series four is our best ever," says Whithouse, who admittedly has to sound confident – he's launching a TV show. "Damien Moloney and Michael Socha are utterly breathtaking. And Lenora takes centre stage with stunning confidence." We don't yet know much else about the new series, other than that the first episode is named Eve of the War. When we last saw Tom, running off into the wilderness after the death of his adoptive/ kidnapping father figure McNair (Robson Green), he was in no mood to make peace with any vampire – so his relationship with Hal isn't going to be a Mitchell and George-style bromance.

For Hal's part, that photograph doesn't lend much weight to the claim that they haven't replaced Mitchell with a like-for-like. But when you see him in the prologue, things do seem different. He's prone to the same outbursts of self-regarding melodrama as Mitchell was – and most of the show's vampires seem to be. But while Mitchell's starting point was as a recovering sex addict, the anguish of the posh, English Hal seems more self-involved and existential than craven. 

And George? Sitting in the corner of the series four photograph, Tovey looks even more tortured than he did in last week's Sherlock; suggesting that something very bad may have happened to Nina and the wolfcub. We already know he's on his way out – and Keenan isn't returning to screen. These are big changes to which fans are likely to be resistant as Whithouse is keenly aware. "We knew some of the fans would be upset, and that's completely natural. In fact it's good. If they were indifferent to Russell or Sinead leaving the show, then it would mean that none of us had been doing our jobs right. I should point out that we all parted without the slightest rancour. They felt their journeys on Being Human had come to an end and we respected that decision.

"But if I'm honest, the reaction of some of the fans is depressingly predictable. People are perfectly entitled to watch something and say 'I didn't like it'. But to say 'I'm not going to like that thing I haven't seen yet' is blatantly bonkers. "Every twist in the life of Being Human has been met with wails of anguish. When they announced one of the pilots was about a werewolf vampire and a ghost sharing a house, people said: 'That sounds shit, I'm not watching that'. Then they did and they loved it. Then when we announced we were changing the cast, they said: 'Oh God, how could you? I'm not going to watch it'. Now it's hard to believe anyone else ever played those parts. "People thought we were stupid to kill Herrick off. Then they liked Kemp and Jaggat. Then I was 'clearly running out of ideas' when we brought Herrick back. Then they loved that story. We were stupid to move away from the Pink House. Then they loved the new house. So ... well, there's a theme developing."

So with that in mind, what do you make of the new cast news and the prequel above? Are you looking forward to the fourth series of Being Human? Or are you feeling rather cautious about what's in store? 
Your comments may be added to the comment box at end of this post please – but the final word to Whithouse. "It's a genuine honour to have created a show that inspires such passion in its audience. But I understand that with that comes a nervousness when big changes happen. All I can say is we haven't let the fans down yet, and we hopefully haven't now."

From FaceBook

Russell Tovey went to ROOM SERVICE CLUB LONDON to dance and hang out - guest DJ Honey Dijon at Miabella.

S.W.A.S. REHEARSALS CONTINUE

theinvisibledot: Poster for ID 114; SEX WITH A STRANGER with @russelltovey, Jaime Winstone and Naoimi Sheldon. Opens 1st Feb...

russelltovey: @missgembles Good luck with the History Boys.. Pass it on boys, pass it on x

missgembles: @russelltovey thanks, got to get them through their Of Mice and Men exam tomorrow first "Tell em about the rabbits, George!"

Jen_Bur: Second audition is in the same place @russelltovey is rehearsing for SWAS, hope this also bodes well.

russelltovey: @Jen_Bur good luck x

FoxyLorri64: Hi @russelltovey I popped into J.Lewis in Leicester yest.& showed pic of that R.Lauren hoodie,their going to try getting it in stock!

russelltovey: @FoxyLorri64 amazing!! Let me know please x

king_beaver93: @russelltovey Heeeeeeeeeeey!! I'm your fan in South Korea:)! Plz tweet me something... Anything!!! i love you:))) xxx

russelltovey: @king_beaver93 hello!!!! :-) x

Forward_Films: @russelltovey checking you got my email? x

russelltovey: @Forward_Films no? X

Forward_Films: @russelltovey ah - maybe i have out of date email? i would dm you but you'll have to follow me then ;-). or email me? x

TOVEY ART - SHERLOCK

THE FURTHER ADVENTURES

OF

THE FAMOUS FIVE

PART.15

  

A Fluffy Tail

by

Tom Markstahler
and 
Tom In Oz
© 2012

Continued from post No.1270

My Life In Dog Years

It was day two of starting her new life in Newcastle Australia, Lady Cuddles was watching her new owner Tom in Oz at breakfast time. Ozzie Tom was tweeting on his iPad to Mark Merrett of Croydon London. Mark was in London showing-off the size of his hamster while Tom was in Oz showing-off the size of his banana...

Watching the two men showing pictures gave Lady and idea. What she remembered was that she had brought a portable flash drive full of pictures from London that she could show her new house mates, to make them a little more familiar with her formative years. She got Tom in Oz to set up a PC for her and she began...

She started her life story by explaining that she was the illegitimate pup of a London retriever called Lady Croydon - Lady Croydon was very regal and a good mother according to Lady Cuddles.

Lady C. explained a little about what it was like in the city of London. The next thing she showed the Oz cousins was the shopping centre where she went because they only served "top dogs" like her - no riff-raff whatsoever!

Kylie, Macca and Bruce were very impressed to know they had UK bear cousins that worked as doormen in such important shops.

Lady C. explained that she worked in an enormous London palace for many years as a companion dog for its royal owner - the man who owned the palace was some guy called Buck!

Lady C. showed the Oz cousins some great architecture that was commonplace in London. They especially liked a large building called "The Suppository"...

Lady C. also told them that London was usually a very friendly tourist city but in some of the gloomy back streets there were terrible murderous monsters - especially in Whitechapel. Lady C. had some pictures from the "Jack The Ripper" tour. Oh my!!! The moment Kylie and Macca saw the photographs they had to hide their faces and cuddle into Bruce's chest....one was a very scary sight indeed!!!

After the youngsters regained their composure Lady C. continued to tell of her former life. She once worked as a fashion model for the fur industry. Photographer, Tom Markstahler and she had travelled all over London doing location shoots...she really liked her time with Tom. But the market for fur coats declined and Tom got sick of dogging and moved up the corporate ladder to a newspaper in Germany...She said Tom was very kind because it was him, that was currently helping Ozziebear make his way to Australia.

This was the first time the Oz cousins had seen Tom in Germany. And yes, he did look a bit like Tom in Oz they thought. They knew Tom in Germany and Tom in Oz called themselves "twins" as a little joke but now they had seen German Tom they knew why! The only difference was, Tom in Germany was born in a different country, with different parents and spoke a different language and was born 10 years later than Tom in Oz, but for all intents and purposes they were just like twins!
Lady finished her picture talk with a question and answer session. The Oz cousins were brimming with questions about her exciting life. They wanted to know all about their plush toy cousins in foreign lands and who their owners were...

They were VERY impressed when they heard that their own lives were being recorded on an Internet blog and that they had their own serial called "A Famous Five Fluffy Tail" - WOW - AMAZE!!

"Is our 15 minutes of fame over," sighed Kylie sadly?
"No," said Lady, "This is to be continued"...

demelza2: @RussTov_FanSite thanks for using the scary photo !!!!

michaelbosc: @RussTov_FanSite have read the story can’t believe there is another handsome brute called Tom out there lol