[The News Bot]

Reviewed by Andrew Mogford, 19th October 2009
To my mind, Being Human is one of the finest series that BBC has ever produced. Cruelly ghettoised on BBC3 and then only shown with little fanfare on BBC1 months later, many may have missed it. If they did, they missed a horror comedy with real lashings of blood, humour, and pathos. It may start slightly slowly, and episode three may be a very slight weak link compared with the rest, but from episode four onwards the series just never stops. In fact episode four, in my opinion, is one of the finest 50 minutes of television I have seen this decade. It is that good. At a time when American series hog the limelight it is refreshing to see the Brits producing such brave television.

The disc itself is encoded with a 1080i transfer which some may baulk at. However, I thought that what is presented here is perfectly fine without being particularly stunning. At the budget level they were given, and due to production decisions, this was never going to be a jaw dropping image. But it is the best version you can get, and this is exactly how it should be. The audio is very disappointing but this is constrained by the original stereo mix.

Although there are some serious omissions amongst the extras (where is the pilot?) what is here is extensive and will do a good job of entertaining and informing the viewer.

Despite the flaws, I can do nothing but recommend this disc. To me, you will be getting one of the finest series the BBC has produced, an excellent horror / comedy hybrid that horrifies and moves in equal measures. It is streets ahead of the DVD both with extras and AV quality so if you are undecided which medium to go for, then this wins hands down. If you have never seen Being Human you really need to do yourself a favour and add it to your collection. I cannot recommend this series highly enough.


Read the full review...

[YellowSphere]

There's no reason to scoff at the 1080i encode; Blu-Ray doesn't support 1080p25. This is much better than having it slowed down to 1080p24 like Life on Mars.

[Mother Theresa]

I'm not usually one for this type of horror genre but the quality of the acting did it for me on the TV and I have bought this BD set to follow it up. The story does not degrade with repeated watchings and I would also recommend it to anyone who just likes a good tale well told.

I would like to see the pilot too. Where can one get it?

[bosque]

Excellent review, Andrew. Usually UKTV trails behind US shows but in this case it was a superior, adult take on the modern monster/vampire genre. I thought this was far better than HBO's True Blood, with a superb last two episodes.

[Andrew Mogford]

Originally Posted by Mother Theresa

I'm not usually one for this type of horror genre but the quality of the acting did it for me on the TV and I have bought this BD set to follow it up. The story does not degrade with repeated watchings and I would also recommend it to anyone who just likes a good tale well told.

I would like to see the pilot too. Where can one get it?

sadly you can't at the moment. Which is rather bizarre to say the least.

If the upcoming second series is treated the way it deserves and gains a high audience maybe we'll get a superduper box set which will include the pilot.

[Basil Plumley]

Thanks for the excellent review Andrew - I loved this as well having caught it on BBC HD...I'm a bit annoyed though that the Blu-ray doesn't carry the superb Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that accompanied the HD airing...why do they do that?!?