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Producer Phil is back to tell us more about the third series of Being Human. Be prepared for a new house and more werewolves... Oh, and major usage of the word 'hinterland'. No, we didn't know what it meant either, but it sounds mega.
All hail Ross Sellwood, the Music Supervisor of Being Human who's in charge of the commercial music used in the show. He's back to talk about the sounds of the second half of the series. Prepare to add a few tracks to your playlist...
For me, ep 6 has the best soundtrack (Bat For Lashes and Rebekka Karijord at the front are the highlights) but i'm not sure there's too much science behind why they work, so I'll drone on about some others that are a little more strange ...
Ep 7. Yes! / Colourmusic over George's werewolf transformation at Parents' Evening.
Normally George is ripping himself open in a dark basement/cage/dungeon and we have Richard's tortured score and fx over the top. So we have all the elements - the dark menacing setting, the tortured character tearing himself apart and the claustrophobic agonising score - working together. The compound effect of all these elements working in sync really powers the sequence home to an audience. And very well too.
But this time we used the music to work with the surroundings and not the character to really give weight to where this was happening to him (i.e., not in the woods/hospital basement/house etc), not just what was happening to him. The music and George are doing completely different things this time and this really works to emphasise both. For what it's worth, I think this is probably one of the best scenes from the series, just really confident and very clever.
I first heard the track on 6Music a few months ago. What a unique and vital source of new music that is.
Ep 7. Miserere - Jeremy Summerly & the Oxford Camerata (composer Allegri)
It's really death-or-glory to go with classical music over contemporary drama - obviously it ramps up the jeopardy and tension and it's always beautifully crafted music but if you edit it wrong, you can sound cheap, over-cooked and possibly lazy. But the haunting choral arrangement and the way James cut it into the episode hit the mark for me. I hope most of the audience agree... but I wouldn't be surprised if a few didn't. But that's music. We should get Richard a choir to work with on S 3 perhaps?
Ep 8. Saved - John Herald.
Brilliant track to open the last episode and it seems to be an audience favourite too. But didn't come from me - James or Charles dug that out of somewhere (I still don't know where) and laid it in while I was still working on a bunch of other ideas that never got a look in. In case you're interested... Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode, Save Me - Aretha Franklin (or the Nina Simone recording if that's your preference). Or Max Romeo "Chase the Devil"... chin-strokers out there will know it as the reggae anthem that gave the The Prodigy the massive sample in "Out of Space". Maybe next series?
But Saved stuck first time. It gave a bit of humour to things, before we start the gruelling murderous assault on the rest of the episode. It sends up the cult members without bludgeoning the point, and most importantly people wouldn't have been expecting the track at all. Good work, damn shame it wasn't mine.
Were there any tracks you wanted to use this series but weren't able to?
We tried to use the Beatles in the 60's episode, but there was more chance of a snowflake surviving a flamethrower than us getting that cleared. I really wanted Roxy Music "Virginia Plain" to open episode 6 (for the flashback to 70's Kemp) but it was felt to be a bit lightweight for the pictures (the idea was that it's playing on Kemps car stereo then continues over the death scenes) And Blur denied us using "Tender" for the suicide sequence in ep 2... bit of an own goal from Damon et al. Their one mistake in an otherwise faultless career. But we ended up with Sigh no More / Mumford and Sons so it's all good in the end.
Looking back on it as a complete work, how would you describe the music of Being Human series two?
It's a bit more serious (in a good way) and runs a bit deeper. It's edgier and I guess that's a reflection of the content and tone of the series overall. There isn't as much comedy (but still some humour) and less of the indy-pop sounds (the Coral, Arctic Monkeys, etc ). We got to introduce people to newer or less mainstream artists. I really love the sound of this series and it makes for an awesome playlist.
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And so we come to the end of our deleted and extended scenes, and it's an unusual one today featuring a familiar scene in a totally different way. Did you know this scene originally featured Campbell as well as Mitchell?
What do you think of the changes? See the difference for yourself...
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GO ON ANNIE, WORK THAT TEA POT! *BH Blog team joins in* GIVE IT SOME SUGAR!
Be honest blog fans, who doesn't love making a 'groovy brew'? Now get dancing.
Also, come back to the blog on MONDAY for our final deleted scene, followed by more brand new features across the week...
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Today we get an insight into Lucy's true feelings for Mitchell, as she defends his 'going clean' sessions to Kemp. Kemp, on the other hand, has no problems making his true feelings known... and they're not nice.
But what do you think? Does this make you think again about Lucy?
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In yesterday's deleted scene George began interfering with Hugh & Kirsty's love life. A wise move? Of course not. After all, this is the man who turned his girlfriend into a werewolf, so we were never expecting Cilla Black. But even George didn't anticipate a huge misunderstanding and one of the strangest threats he's ever heard.
Oh Hugh... at least you got her in the end.
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In the second of our deleted scenes we're getting deeper into the Hugh & Kirsty storyline. A tipsy George and an overexcited Annie are up to their mischievous tricks again, but are about to learn why it's important to stay out of other people's love lives.
Oh, and Mitchell looks awful. But many of you will probably disagree with that.
Come back to the blog tomorrow to see exactly how the date turned out...
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Ok we're looking at the clock... we're looking at BBC Three... Being Human isn't on... excuse us while we collapse into a sobbing fit. WAAAAAH!!! Wait, wait *slaps own face* that's no way to behave. Especially when we have such juicy treats as a whole host of deleted scenes which we'll be releasing all next week.
We're starting today with a hilarious flashback scene from episode eight, showing the moment when George and Mitchell first met Annie nine months ago.
And that's just the first of many, so keep coming back to the blog next week and we'll release a deleted or extended scene every single day.
See, no need for sobbing fits after all...
Lloyd, the faithful assistant to Kemp and Jaggat, has released a final message on his website CenSSA: The Centre for the Study of Supernatural Activity.
The pre-recorded message appears to have been made in the days before Mitchell stormed the facility. In it Lloyd repents for his work, although he still attempts to make excuses for the deadly experiments, claiming he did it "for the greater good". Whatever your opinion of the work he did, this complex character's broadcasts have given us a huge insight into the workings at the facility.
So Lloyd, if you are dead... RIP.
But now, let us look to the future. We know you'll be missing your regular feast of BH action this weekend, but never fear, we'll look after you. Not in a stroking hair and saying "there there" kind of way, but we WILL be releasing some never-before-seen.Being Human material, so make sure you're right here on the blog for all the fun...
At certain times in the scriptwriting process even legendary Being Human creator Toby Whithouse is allowed the odd rewrite. Especially when, for example, the original intro for episode seven is way too long, way too expensive and just generally impossible to make. I mean, that's just an example... Oh, no, wait, that actually happened.
Here's Toby to explain why this original piece of script was changed...
"What you have here is the first draft of the pre-titles for episode 7. It fills in some of the background regarding the creation of the facility, Kemp and Lucy's partnership and how Tully got to write the message for George.
I was fairly pleased with it, but it never made it past the first draft, as not only did it push the script MASSIVELY over-length, also it would devour a huge chunk of the (already stretched to the limit and beyond) schedule. Not to mention that it was staggeringly expensive. And ultimately not essential for the narrative.
So, yes, aside from ALL OF THOSE THINGS it was perfect.
As you know, in the end I wrote a little scene for Daisy and Ivan which I think worked much better, as it gave some context to their relationship which was essential for Daisy's motivation in the episode proper.
But I hung onto this because I thought you might like to have a gander at it. You see. I'm always thinking of new ways to show off... I mean to keep you happy."
