Book review
Written by Joanne Black
Classic TV Press paperback
Release date Out now

The history of Being Human so far…

A comprehensive guide to the first two seasons of the hit BBC Three show – including a very detailed look at the pilot which seems to a large extent to have been airbrushed out of official history – it’s clear that the author has a great deal of love for, and knowledge of Toby Whithouse’s cult show.

Combining information from various official and unofficial sources with interview extracts from the BBC website, Black provides the history of the show with a look at each episode in some considerable detail. As she points out, it’s always interesting to compare what people say about characters early on in a show’s genesis with the end result, and she makes a good argument for the differences that would have occurred had the original casting been maintained.

Black’s style is conversational, almost overly so at times – Russell Tovey has a brain “the size of a planet”, and there are some weak jokes that should either have been strengthened or excised from the final manuscript – but her opinions are backed up with good evidence, and while you may not agree with everything she says, she usually makes a good case.

The inevitable downside of an unofficial publication is a lack of affordable imagery, but Chris Wreford’s drawings do provide some visual context. Paul Simpson

VERDICT: 8/10
With no sign of an official guide, this is a useful handbook, which will no doubt be updated to include Season Three later this year.