Toby Whithouse | Screenwriter

Toby Whithouse is an English actor, stand-up comedian and screenwriter. He has written a few episodes of BBC One's 'Hotel Babylon' and 'Doctor Who'. He is known as the creator of the Channel 4 TV drama series 'No Angels', but he is best known as the creator of the BBC Three TV series 'Being Human'.

What is 'Being Human'?

'Being Human' is a British supernatural drama TV series with 5 series. It first started in 2008 and ended in 2013.
The main storyline of the show is three housemates, all in their twenties, living in Bristol, trying to live normal lives, despite struggling with unusual afflictions. One is a werewolf, one is a vampire and the other is a ghost. All three characters are attempting to live ordinary lives despite the pressures and the dangers that their situations have to offer. They are always threatened with exposure or persecution with pressure and problems caused by their own attempts to deal with their lives.
Series 1 & 2 deal with the characters becoming friends and dealing with their supernatural problems. In series 1 we see them take low-profile, low-status jobs to fit in with the normal world around them. Series 2 then deals with the aftermath of series 1 as the characters struggle to balance the responsibilities of managing his own urges and attempting to manage the community.
In series 3, the protagonists move to Barry Island in South Wales and they move into a former bed and breakfast hotel, to resume their 'normal' lives.
Series 4 mainly deals with the exposure of the werewolves, by the vampires, in order to take over the earth. This series then ends with the characters living together in Honolulu Heights.
Series 5 then shows one of the characters adjusting to life as a ghost while the others also take up jobs at the Barry Grand Hotel. They deal with a government agent whose job is to keep the truth about supernaturals from the public and a pensioner.
Some of the main characters in 'Being Human' are Annie Sawyer, George Sands, John Mitchell and more.

Whithouse was first approached by the production company Touchpaper Television to develop a drama series about a group of friends who buy a house together. It has been said that Whithouse wasn't that enthusiastic about this idea, but came up with three characters to start. The company liked the character so together they started to develop the project. It took a while for the team to come up with a storyline for the first episode and they decided that if they couldn't come up with an idea in the final meeting, they would scrap the idea. Whithouse then came up with the supernatural idea and the characters were changed to suit the new storyline.

This TV drama, written by Toby Whithouse, interested me because, although the show is about supernatural elements and I'm not that interested in that particular topic, I liked the comedy aspect of the show. The comedy is combined within the supernatural elements of the show, and that's what I found interesting and entertaining about the show.

Although I am interested in this show, I'm not sure it will influence my work too much, but some of the writing aspects might. Due to the show being humorous but also mysterious, I feel as if I could involve a slight glimpse of comedy in my short film. The genre of my short film is drama, and this show is also a drama series, so I can use some of the same storylines without the supernatural aspect of it.