Date with the supernatural

MANILA, Philippines - Anyone who has had housemates, would know how easy it is to get on each other’s nerves without even trying. Yet, the companionship and listening ear of an understanding housemate can get you through the roughest of days. But what if your housemate isn’t even human to begin with?

Premiering Feb. 2 and airing Wednesday nights at 9 on AXN Beyond, Being Human follows three 20-something housemates — vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer of Battlestar Galactica), ghost Sally (Meaghan Rath, 15/Love, The Assistants) and werewolf Josh (Sam Huntington, Superman Returns) — for whom leading normal lives is a lot harder than it looks. The paranormal trio shares not just a Boston brownstone, but also each other’s secrets, and together, navigate the complexities of living double lives.

Being Human’s premiere on AXN Beyond marks a breakthrough in the speed that new US drama series reaches Asian shores. From an average of six to eight months gap for most American TV series, Being Human is coming to Asia after just two weeks of its premiere in the US. This represents a unique opportunity for viewers in the region to enjoy a fresh American drama without the long wait.

Being Human is a re-imagining of the acclaimed UK drama series of the same title created by Toby Whithouse. The original Being Human won the Best Television Drama Series honor at the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards in November 2010.

By turns frightening, witty, and romantic, Being Human explores what it means to be human through the eyes of three outsiders.

Aidan was a Revolutionary War soldier who sacrificed himself to vampires to spare his men. Now, some 260 years later, he is still struggling to escape the clutches of his charismatic, yet menacing and powerful mentor, Bishop (Mark Pellegrino, Lost, Supernatural). Josh was a promising medical student forced to abandon his family and future after a werewolf attack left him cursed with uncontrollable, beastly transformations each month. Sally, happily engaged before her tragic accidental death in her new home, must now figure out how to move on as a ghost.

As the trio learn that there are fates worse than death, they also realize that there is more to life — and the afterlife — than most “normal” humans could ever imagine.

In the US, Being Human debuted Jan. 17 on primetime cable TV to almost two million viewers and has become the TV network’s most-watched, winter-launched scripted drama since 2005. The series also garnered positive reviews from the media, notably an accolade from the San Francisco Chronicle: “While the actors are attractive and the performances winning, what will make viewers come back to Being Human is the thematic base of wanting to fit in with a world that can’t begin to understand you.”