TV episodes review
US airdate 24 January 2011; 31 January 2011; 7 February 2011; 14 February 2011 (ABC)

The original story is given a few extra twists in SyFy’s re-imaginging…

In some ways, SyFy’s reworking of Being Human is like the channel’s update of Battlestar Galactica – except of course the quality of the original is considerably better!

The plot points in the first few episodes match those in the first UK season but they’re all given a twist. As over here, the Werewolf is befriended by another wolf, who turns out to have been his maker. The Ghost is helped by another ghost, who in turn finds out how to move on because of her, then later learns that her fiancé was responsible for her death. The Vampire is stalked by a new vampire who is having problems with her new lifestyle.

But here the new werewolf encourages our hero to fight against vampires. Our Ghost does a passable impression of Storm from The X-Men, destroying her fiancé’s apartment – and has a totally different relationship with his new girlfriend. And there are new ideas as well – a Neighbourhood Watch meeting makes more sense than just inviting the neighbours in for tea, and that in its turn illuminates a different side to our Vampire.

It means that for fans of the British original, there’s much to enjoy, as the characters move in slightly different directions, and as with the US version of The Office, it probably won’t be long before they have very different histories. Paul Simpson

VERDICT
There Goes the Neighbourhood Part 2: 7/10
Some Thing to Watch Over Me: 7/10
Wouldn’t it be Nice: 6/10
The End of the World: 8/10