‘Being Human’: Series 4 Episode 6 spoiler-free review

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Love is a dangerous luxury in the Being Human universe. At the very least you’ll get your heart broken, and at the very worst… well, you could be killed, or your girlfriend could get torn apart by vampires. So Hal and Tom going on a double date promises only two things: trouble, and maybe the best episode yet of Series 4.

Love and lycanthropy are in the air this week, as adorable geek and werewolf Allison (Ellie Kendrick) goes looking for Tom after some impressive detective work. She’s determined to find out who’s behind the werewolf video currently doing the rounds on YouTube. It’s already got a million hits. Frankly it’s a surprise it hasn’t had an auto-tune remix yet.

Tom falls head over heels for Allison, and the results are cuter than a bag of were-pups during a full moon. Theirs is a beautiful understated romance – as much about what isn’t said as what is – and it’ll likely turn your heart into jelly over the course of the episode. It’s an opportunity for Socha to add flesh to the character of Tom and the results aren’t just captivating, they may bring a tear to your eye.

And if that doesn’t prick your stony heart, then a montage of Tom and Allison set to a certain Donny Osmond song certainly will. Oh yes, it happens, and it’s as hilarious as it is sweet.

Writer John Jackson has created one of the most enjoyable, most moving episodes the show has ever produced; a blend of heartache, humour and horror.

If you abandoned the show because of the cast changes then we’re sorry to say you’re missing some outstanding work. And that’s before we’ve even mentioned the vampiric henchman who talks exclusively in bad action movie clichés, more references to the 1980s than you can fit in a Filofax, or Emrys, the cranky old ghost pensioner Annie is trying to help.

Hal, who’s wooed women from Constantinople to Clapham, finds it difficult to act so suavely around delightful new girl Alex (Kate Bracken) without the Dutch courage of a belly full of blood, or Kia-Ora. Like Count Dracula in a Richard Curtis movie, Hal is a once terrifying beast brought to blithering Hugh Grant-ness.

But just as you begin to find his awkwardness charming you see the fragile order of little things barely keeping him in check. Damien Molony has brought such depth to Hal, and conveys the titanic struggle of blood and order inside the character so well. As with Socha, this episode showcases his best work yet, but we’ve a feeling it’s going to get even better as the stress weighs further on him and we rocket towards the finale.

We’ve only two episodes remaining and there promises to be a coffin-load of chaos ahead. Let’s hope the quality stays as high as it has done so far. If so, we might just be looking at the best series of the show to date.

Airs at 9pm on Sunday 11th March 2012 on BBC Three.

> Order the Series 4 DVD on Amazon.

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