Welcome to Re-make Mondays, a weekly feature that takes a look at a remake/reboot currently being touted to hungry cinema audiences. I’ll feature the remake, and also what footage or content I can from the original, and then leave the helpless victim for you all to tear apart or cuddle up to in the comments. So, let’s get started:

This week we’re looking at a personal favourite of mine that received the re-make treatment in the States just last year, while the British original continues next year into its fourth season.

Being Human is an offbeat BBC drama that premiered in the UK in 2008, happening along just as Twilight fever was reaching fever pitch around the world. It follows three supernatural beings; Mitchell, a vampire; George, a werewolf; and Annie, a ghost, as they attempt to live normal lives (well, after-lives, in Annie’s case) hiding their supernatural natures from everyone around them. In my opinion, it hits that very fine line between drama and comedy very well, due mostly to some tight scripting and excellent performances from the lead trio.

Here’s the trailer for the BBC version when it was screened in America:

Such was the popularity of the first two seasons of Being Human in the UK, and in America when it was screened there, that SyFy (which was once the SciFi Channel) opted to purchase the rights to the series and produce an American version. It follows much the same format of the British original, though the characters’ names are different, and the action takes place in Boston.

Here’s the trailer for the US version of Being Human

My Verdict: Transplanting a popular series to another country is always going to be hit and miss: just because it works in the UK, doesn’t mean it’s going to fly in the US. Despite the similarities in format, the two versions of Being Human are distinctly different shows, and I’m pleased to say that both work.

While the US version doesn’t manage to be quite as offbeat and edgy as its UK parent, it manages to get characters and story going far faster than the UK version, which really only hit its stride in its second and third seasons (in my opinion). The US version is clearly better funded, and it shows in some of the effects. It also manages a full season of thirteen episodes while the UK version follows the British format of six or seven per season.

All in all, both couldn’t be further from the hot mess that Twilight has wrought on supernatural dramas, and as such, both are well worth a look.

Here’s the US cast of Being Human. The UK cast are at the top.