"Becoming Human" | |
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Series 3 (related), Episode : Web spinoff | |
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Broadcast date | 20 March 2011 (complete version) |
Written by | Brian Dooley, Jamie Mathieson and John Jackson |
Directed by | Alex Kalymnios |
Cast | |
Guest Cast | |
Episode chronology | |
Previous Adam's Family |
Next Hold the Front Page |
Becoming Human is an online spin-off of Being Human. It follows the lives of the Vampire Adam Jacobs, who appears in Episode 2 of Series 3 on the parent show, the Werewolf Christa Stammers, and the Ghost Matt Bolton, as they go to school trying to live normal lives. It follows the basic premise of the show, with Adam, Christa and Matt serving as the equivalents of Mitchell, George and Annie respectively.
Originally, the series was posted in 8 episodes online via the BBC website, and available to view on the BBC 'Red Button' digital service, from the conclusion of Adam's first appearance in Adam's Family (30 Jan 2011). A further episode was posted following the broadcast of Being Human each week, with the 8th episode concluding the story, and coinciding with a BBC3 broadcast compiling all 8 on 20 March 2011. Episode lengths varied between 5 and 8 minutes, and the compilation has a full runtime of 52 minutes.
The web series was accompanied by numerous online extras detailing the characters' backgrounds and expanding on the story, many written in-universe from the characters' perspectives. As of 17 September 2012, the full archive is still available on the BBC website via this link: Becoming Human
Plot[]
After the events of Adam's Family, teenage vampire Adam Jacobs has relocated to a new school, where his attempts to fit in don't go exactly as planned. As a fellow supernatural, he is quick to spot that fellow pupil and loner Christa Stammers is concealing a secret - she is a werewolf. What's more, she has a 'stalker' - a chubby boy called Matt Bolton that only she and Adam can see. As Adam informs her, Matt is a ghost, stuck on the earthly plane because he has unfinished business.
Repeatedly stuck in detention by PE teacher Mr Swan, Adam and Christa discover from Matt that he was murdered, but cannot remember by whom. Theorising that this is the unfinished business he must deal with to move on, Adam and Christa resolve to help him by investigating.
Initial investigations of school bully Danny Curtis and crime lord's daughter Brandy Mulligan turn out to be dead ends. Meanwhile, Adam and Christa try to find Matt's body, still undiscovered by police. Christa's enhanced werewolf sense of smell leads them to believe that it's in the school gym, putting the finger of suspicion squarely onto Mr Swan.
However, when Adam finds himself locked in to the gym as Christa begins to transform, it becomes clear that the real perpetrator is the timid detention supervisor Mr Roe, driven to murder by the repeated humiliation he experiences at the hands of both pupils and teachers. Locking Christa's wolf-self into the store cupboard with Matt's help, Adam survives the night, and the trio confront the murderer the next morning as he returns to the scene of the crime.
With Matt's murder solved, his Door appears - but Mr Roe is far from subdued, and in desperation the gang throw him through it intoPurgatory. The Door then closes, leaving Matt trapped as a ghost, and the trio are on their way to becoming reluctant friends - and Becoming Human.
Trivia[]
- This is the first web-series for the Being Human franchise.
- Craig Roberts reprises his role of Adam Jacobs from the episode Adam's Family.
- Christa Stammers becomes the second female Werewolf to appear on the show.
- George from Being Human (UK) is mentioned, as is Nina in Official blog additions.
- Unlike Annie, Matt's appearance doesn't subtly change depending on his state of mind.
- Matt, like Annie, is murdered.
- Mr Roe is the second living person to go through Death's Door, the first being Mr Kemp - in episode 2.8.
- An epilogue posted on the Becoming Human website shows Mr Roe staring out of a portable television, still trapped in Purgatory. He vows revenge on the trio, leaving the way open for a sequel.
- The series is set some time between April and December 2010 (Going by Full Moon dates).
Music[]
Becoming Human, as a fairly low budget production, has no original music. Snippets of Richard Wells' score cues for Being Human are occasionally used, but the majority of the show's music is externally sourced songs, with instrumental breaks forming the 'score'. These are the songs that are featured:
- Plastic Jungle, by Miike Snow, from the album Miike Snow (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as Adam first goes to school
- Formula of Fear, by Hybrid, from the album Disappear Here (2010) - playing on the soundtrack as the gang, in detention, first discuss investigating Matt's death
- Ketto, by Bonobo, from the album Days to Come (2006) - playing on the soundtrack as Adam and Christa confront Danny about his bullying of Matt
- Dali, by Martin Grech, from the album Open Heart Zoo (2002) - playing on the soundtrack as Matt terrifies Danny by throwing things around the classroom
- Magicman, by Bonobo, from the album One Offs... Remixes and B-Sides (2002) - playing on the soundtrack when Matt sees his parents outside the classroom
- Motion 5000, by Roots Manuva, from the album Brand New Second Hand (1999) - playing on the soundtrack during the flashback to Matt spying on the girls' changing room
- Scarlet Fields, by The Horrors, from the album Primary Colours (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as Adam narrates the story of the Crompton crime family
- Ghost Song, by Air, from the album The Virgin Suicides (2000) - playing on the soundtrack as Brandi walks away and the gang follow
- The Wizard, by Bat for Lashes, from the album Fur and Gold (2006) - playing on the soundtrack as Matt remembers his murder
- I Only Think of You, by The Horrors, from the album Primary Colours (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as the gang check out the toilet where Matt was murdered
- Sea Within a Sea, by The Horrors, from the album Primary Colours (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as the gang trace the killer's escape route, and again when Adam and Christa are discovered hiding in the wooden gym horse
- Hurricane Drunk, by Florence and the Machine, from the album Lungs (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as Adam and Christa prepare for her transformation on the school playing field
- Siren Song, by Bat for Lashes, from the album Two Suns (2009) - playing on the soundtrack as Adam and Matt wake up in the gym and let Christa out of the store