Being Human: five reasons why BBC3's drama is essential viewing

It may feature a vampire, but the BBC drama is much more than a British version of True Blood

Don't even think of dismissing it as a British True Blood knock off. Being Human, which follows the misadventures of a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost in a Bristol flatshare, is far more than that – it's Britain's best homegrown cult drama, and BBC3's biggest-ever hit. And this Sunday it kicks off its second series. You can keep up the action via our in-depth episode blogs that will be posted after the shows – but to tempt those of you who missed the first series, here's five reasons why Being Human is unmissable television.
1. You already know it will be good

What do you mean, this recommendation alone is not enough? Being Human's very existence stems from a online petition, and when the controllers listened to their public, they found themselves with a BBC3 audience that regularly edged towards an unprecedented 1m viewers. Not convinced? There's a Facebook group where 38,000 people follow the finest details of its production. When the cast went to Comic-Con last year expecting a low-key launch for series one on BBC America they found a panel audience of 6,000 who already knew the show intimately (a US remake is in the pipeline). And it's still on BBC3, meaning that unlike Gavin and Stacey, and Torchwood, Being Human is not a dirty sellout.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/08/being-human