The BBC's 37-Part Horror Show Is So Good, The Remake Was Also A Hit

Published Sep 2, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

The BBC is home to one of the best and most underrated horror TV shows of the 2000s, and it was so good that its remake was also a success. The horror genre has found a lot of success on TV, with many projects ranking among the best TV shows of all time, and some being so good that they shaped the genre into what it is now. Every decade has had great horror TV shows, and the 2000s saw some of the most popular ones.

Shows like Supernatural and True Blood were key to the popularity of horror on TV in the 2000s, but this decade also has some underrated gems. One of them is the BBC's supernatural horror drama series Being Human, created by Toby Whithouse. Being Human aired on BBC Three from 2008 to 2023 for five seasons, and it was a success with critics and general audiences, though it ended up becoming an underrated gem of the decade.

Being Human has a perfect balance of supernatural horror through its main characters and their respective “conditions”, drama as it explores their personal struggles, and comedy with some memorable light and funny moments amid the horrors and chaos. The success of Being Human led to it getting an American adaptation shortly before the original show ended, and even the remake was a hit too, though with the same fate as the British version.

How Both Versions Of Being Human Succeeded

Set in Bristol, Being Human follows friends and colleagues George Sands (Russell Tovey) and John Mitchell (Aidan Turner), a werewolf and a vampire, respectively. George and Mitchell move into a new house where they have an unexpected roommate: Annie (Lenora Crichlow), who recently died there and is now a ghost. Together they not only form a strong bond but also do their best to live ordinary lives while dealing with the struggles of their respective conditions.

Being Human was a consistent success, though it did see a decline after Turner and Tovey left and a new werewolf and a new vampire were introduced. Still, Being Human stood out for the way it integrates classic horror creatures and entities like werewolves, vampires, and ghosts into the real world and how they coexist and blend in with humans, along with its exploration of their personal struggles, especially when it comes to their identities.

In 2011, the American remake of Being Human premiered on Syfy, starring Sam Witwer as vampire Aidan, Sam Huntington as werewolf Josh, and Meaghan Rath as ghost Sally. Being Human US follows the same premise as the original show, but what helped it succeed was that its tone was different. The US version of Being Human leans more into melodrama rather than comedy-drama like the original show, and it has better character development.

One of the original show’s strengths is its practical effects, while the remake lacked in that department and had visual effects that didn’t quite look believable. Still, they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and despite having the same story, they offer different approaches and styles to it, making both worth watching.

Why Being Human Became An Underrated Horror Gem

Being Human had everything to become a mainstream success during its original run, and yet neither version of the show achieved that. Being Human might have been too gritty and dark back in the late 2000s, even though it was the perfect tone for its stories, some of which also dealt with some tough topics from time to time. This, along with airing on a niche channel, stopped Being Human from reaching a wider audience.

Unfortunately, Being Human US had the same problem with a somewhat niche network, along with a lack of promotion and marketing, and the oversaturation of vampire content, as back then, projects like Twilight and True Blood were at their peak. Thankfully, the streaming era can give both versions of Being Human a new chance at reaching a wider audience, as they both now have the nostalgia factor working in their favor.