BBC America's Being Human Returns With Major Cast Changes

BBC America's Being Human — the beguiling original version of the vampire/werewolf/ghost roommate supernatural drama — is back on Saturday. But it's not the same old. Tortured bloodsucker Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is gone staked by his wolfman buddy George (Russell Tovey) in last season's shocking finale. And there is more shakeup and tragedy to come. The show's creator Toby Whithouse tells TV Guide Magazine what to expect at the haunted house in Season 4. Spoiler warning! Major game-changing events happen before and during episode 1. Read at your own risk.

TV Guide Magazine: This is Being Human 2.0! Why the major cast reboot?
Toby Whithouse: We didn't really have much say. Aidan went of to the Shire [The Hobbit movies], so we lost him. And then Russell decided he didn't want to do [much] nor did Sinead [Keenan, who played Nina]. This happened over the course of two weeks and we had to make the best of it. We are all on very, very good terms. Eventually when you've got actors that good then it's kind of understandable if they move on.

TV Guide Magazine: That happens a lot in British shows, doesn't it?
Whithouse: Well, in the UK we don't have the revenue to option actors for years the way they do in America. You just have to hope they like you enough to stay. These are all incredibly popular in demand actors.

TV Guide Magazine: Where are we when the season opens?
Whithouse: George and Nina have had their baby; George has been hit by a terrible tragedy. Annie [Leonora Chrichlow] and Tom [Michael Socha] are struggling with the loss of Mitchell. And there's the ominous approaching storm of the Old Ones, the vampire elders.

TV Guide Magazine: How will the baby figure into the show's mythology?
Whithouse: She's crucial. Her birth has far reaching consequences for the vampires. They want her.

TV Guide Magazine: Without a resident vampire it will be tough to fight back. How do they get a new one?
Whithouse: We meet Hal in episode one, but he's in another part of the country with his own werewolf and ghost. There's another house with a supernatural trio! For reasons we'll find out, they're drawn to our household in episode 2. We've got a wonderful actor playing our new vampire, Damien Molony. He's straight out of acting school and incredible. It's possibly the most difficult part for an actor that I've ever written. He seems to be in his mid-twenties, but he's centuries old. I had to find someone who can convey this extraordinary long life of turmoil, bloodshed and hunger.

TV Guide Magazine: How does he differ from the late great Mitchell?
Whithouse: At his worst, he was far darker, far more dangerous than Mitchell. The way he holds himself in check and controls his appetites is through a very harsh system of regulation. He has OCD tendencies and he has created this kind of world of order and routine around him in order to suppress his excesses. That will soon start to crumble.

TV Guide Magazine: How does the vampire-hating werewolf Tom take to him?
Whithouse: There's a lot of friction between Tom and Hal, because Tom blames vampires for the death of his father. But gradually, that will mellow into a mutual respect.

TV Guide Magazine: What's up with Annie, our ghost?
Whithouse: Annie is now front and center, our central character in many ways. She becomes metaphorically and figuratively the mother of the household. We'll explore more of her powers.

TV Guide Magazine: Who are some other important players?
Whithouse: In episode 1, we met a young charismatic vampire called Cutler [Andrew Gower] who wants to smooth the transition into the world becoming a vampire fascist state. We try to do something new each year. In Season 4, we go to the future, a world taken over by vampires. In that future, there's a female resistance fighter who arranges her own death so her spirit can travel back in time on a mission. She becomes an ominous presence throughout the season.

TV Guide Magazine: Any room for love while the end of the world is on its way?
Whithouse: Tom falls in love for the first time in his life with Allison, a female werewolf [Ellie Kendrick]. And we also have a love interest for Hal that manifests itself toward the end of the season. I would call it fraught — at the least.

TV Guide Magazine: How have the fans accepted the revamped show in the UK?
Whitehouse: It's been fantastic. The numbers have been terrific. To be honest, every twist and turn in Being Human has been met with wails of anguish by the fans. But halfway through episode 1, you'll say Mitchell, who? [Laughs]

Being Human airs Saturdays at 9/8c on BBC America.

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!