Review: Being Human 3.6: Daddy Ghoul

George meets the apparently late George Sands Snr. (James Fleet)

The passage of time and a worn and cynical view have resigned me to the fact that Being Human has uprooted from its comedy upbringings and now survives mostly as a quirky drama. Such was ever apparent in this week's significantly lighter outing, which managed to throw in a few more laughs alongside the now-usual dramatic slog. Series Three has now overcome its shakeyness and can be taken on its own merits - an increasingly enjoyable examination of human nature.
     This week's sitcom undertones came from established actor James Fleet, best known for his work as the loveable ditz Hugo Horton in Richard Curtis' Vicar of Dibley. Here he gives an appropriately straightforward performance as George's father, George Sands Snr. Having seen an add for his father's funeral in the local newspaper, George went to said funeral and encountered his father, whom he believed to be a ghost (thus the title). George is persuded that his father's unfinished business lies in the household that he was forced to leave three years ago after becoming a werewolf - his mother left Sands Snr. for an arseholish P.E. teacher (Danny Webb, who has also been in everything) because she thought he wasn't exciting enough. After an impromtu meeting with a bag of crisps reveals that George Snr faked his death, George and Nina manage to convince him to go round and win his wife back.
      Fleet and Webb are fighting not only for their in-story wives, but also for the best comic performance: Webb as the ridiculously angry and obnoxious ex-P.E. teacher; Fleet as the understated, tragic cosmic plaything. In the end it's Fleet's rise from insignificance that makes him stand out in this episode, as is right for the eponymous character.

Nancy speaks with a deranged Herrick.

   Meanwhile, Mitchell and Annie are suffering the consequences of Nina's anonymous tip-off last week, as detective Nancy (Erin Richards) comes-a-knocking, asking about the Box-Tunnel-20. She's quickly shooed away, but Herrick, whom Mitchell has been trying to make drink blood, is enthralled by the blood left by a gash on her leg. Determined to get to the truth, she visits again and while visiting the bathroom is nearly eaten by Herrick, who resists and shows her the book containing the Box Tunnel 20 newspaper clippings. Jason Watkins is yet again incredibly subtle in his acting style, every nuance of his inner dichotomy coming out on screen. He makes this subplot, and yet all of the other factors are working well in unison; Lenora Crichlow has gone back to her non-annoying persona and Aiden Turner's flexible despair is perfect.
     This week continued Being Human's streak of brilliance, throwing us a perfect salad of comedy and drama that puts this series' early episodes to shame. It's everything I could want in a comedy drama - fun and tense in equal measure. I'm quite hoping that this brilliant run lasts us through to the finale, which creeps ever nearer.

Thanks.