Being Human "Puppy Love" REVIEW

TV REVIEW Love is in the air

THE ONE WHERE Tom gets a girlfriend, Hal gets a date, and Cutler gets a new line manager.

VERDICT An utterly hilarious, incredibly sweet episode, with four different strands which all pay off, all beautifully balanced. A gobsmacking revelation at the end (albeit one we saw coming right from the start, cos we're smartarses...) rounds things off nicely.

Everyone involved in the show deserves praise for the way that they’ve managed to sell the show’s new line-up. By rights, we should still be missing George, Mitchell and Nina, but Hal and Tom are just so entertaining. This episode really plays to their strengths: Tom’s innocence and gentlemanly concern are massively endearing, as is Hal’s awkwardness around women. Tom’s relationship with Allison is heartwarming, whilst watching Hal struggle with temptation is downright nail-biting. Will he manage to resist temptation until the end of the series?

We’re getting a lot of funny guest star roles this year, but Ellie Kendrick‘s turn as the super-geeky Allison-with-two-Ls is probably the best yet – she’s a wonderful comedic creation. She has stiff competition, though, in the form of vampire henchman Kane (Marshall Griffin), a guy who’s clearly seen one too many Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Okay, where this character’s concerned the humour’s a bit broad, but it’s still mightly amusing – especially that over-dramatic howl of “Nooooooooo!”.

And Cutler’s masterplan to unmask werewolves is becoming more intriguing now that it’s coming into focus. It’s still unclear how it benefits his people – surely spreading the word about werewolves is likely to “out” vampires too? We doubt the Old Ones will approve... Cutler may be in for a smacked wrist. But it’s refreshing to see a show like this tackling social media head on. Compare and contrast with the remake of V , which somehow managed to get through 22 episodes without anyone posting a video of the Visitors’ true reptilian faces on YouTube! Incidentally, the Twitter account seen on-screen, @LyCurious , really exists and has been going since last September – hats off to Being Human ’s online team!

FEATURED MUSIC “Got Monsters” by Keith Caputo features on the opening early-morning-routine montage. Hal treats us to his version of “I Got Work To Do” by The Isley Brothers . Donny Osmond’s “Puppy Love” accompanies the scenes of Tom training Ellie to stake vamps, and there's a cheeky blast of the Blue Peter theme after they've killed Kane. Finally, the track heard when Tom breaks up with her is “Organ In Your Chest” by Colin Smith .

REFERENCES Cutler tells the new arrivals to “Go back to your Clark Kents”;Annie quotes The Karate Kid (“Wax on, wax off”); Hal and Tom's training routine sounds very Rocky ; Kane puns on Murder, She Wrote .

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION The double date takes place at the National Museum Of Wales , which is Doctor Who ’s first port of call whenever they need a museum location. Amongst other things , it was the site of Lady Christina’s theft of a golden chalice in “Planet Of The Dead”, The Musée d'Orsay in “Vincent And The Doctor”, and the National Museum in “The Big Bang”. Entrance is free, by the way, so Allison doesn’t actually need her Blue Peter badge…

RUNNING JOKE We’re pretty sure it’s not deliberate, but Allison’s, er, unorthodox running style really reminded us of the Lakertyans in 1989 Doctor Who “Time And The Rani” !

DID YOU SPOT? In one corner of the price list on the café’s blackboard it just says “We love pies”. Seconded!

SPECULATION As Emrys tells Annie, “It might not be a good thing you have to do”. Yikes! Will Annie have to kill someone in the final episode, and if so, will that be the last we see of her? And why does ghostly-future-Eve appear to her? Could the next twist be that she will ask Annie to kill the baby Eve?

FOR ONE GLORIOUS MOMENT… We thought they’d named a character in Being Human after a member of the SFX staff. However, Golda's name is more likely inspired by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir than long-time SFX editor (and now online editor) Dave Golder . Bah.

BEST LINE Allison comes up with the most disturbing sex talk we’ve heard since Owen carked it in Torchwood : “Imagine I’m a vampire and you’re a stake plunging in and out!” Ew.

Ian Berriman twitter.com/ianberriman

Read more of our Being Human series four reviews .

Read our interview with Toby Whithouse about “Hold The Front Page” and our interview with Damien Molony (Hal).