With yet more casting departures announced, what does series creator Toby Whithouse have to say on the future of Being Human?
It's been changing times for Being Human fans. We already knew that brooding Irish vamp Mitchell was dust, with actor Aidan Turner off to Middle-earth to film The Hobbit, but recent weeks have brought the possibly more shocking news that fans will soon have seen the last of werewolf sweeties George (Russell Tovey) and Nina (Sinead Keenan).
Series creator Toby Whithouse told The Guardian yesterday, "Losing Russell and Sinead so suddenly was very difficult. But it never occurred to us for a moment to stop making the show. Not because we need the cash, but because we knew there were 1,000 stories left to tell and 10,000 characters left to create.
"But if I'm honest, the reaction of some of the fans is depressingly predictable. People are perfectly entitled to watch something and say 'I didn't like it'. But to say 'I'm not going to like that thing I haven't seen yet' is blatantly bonkers."
As guessed by everyone who saw these shots, it won't just be left to Annie to carry the beloved show on her ghostly shoulders. A new group of misfits have been assembled, including last year's recurring werewolf Tom (Michael Socha) and newcomer Hal (Damien Moloney).
With a new ensemble in place, there's a sense that the show could return to its original remit, that of a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire sharing a pokey bedsit. For a series that upped its game week after week, this could either be a return to the simplicity that made it great, or a step backwards that regular viewers may not tolerate lightly.
"Every twist in the life of Being Human has been met with wails of anguish," Whithouse also said. "When they announced one of the pilots was about a werewolf vampire and a ghost sharing a house, people said: 'That sounds shit, I'm not watching that'. Then they did and they loved it."
It sounds like a man tired of the constant backlash that comes hand in hand with audience passion, but with changes this huge (Sinead Keenan won't even have an exit scene, apparently), it's unclear what route the show will take from here.
Series four, which we can't wait for, starts at the end of the month...
