Aidan Turner Departs BEING HUMAN

Being Human is the stellar supernatural TV show from the U.K that boasts great production values and top notch performances and this year was adapted for U.S audiences. Though if you caught the season three finale of the vampire, werewolf and ghost show by whatever means possible, like many fans you would’ve been shocked with Aidan Turner’s character of Mitchell, making a dramatic exit from the show. For those who are yet to see the current series we won’t spoil the finale except to say it’s an exit for which a vampire has no return.

Season 3 was all about comebacks with the startling return, though set up at the end of season 2 – of the character of Herrick,  played superbly by Jason Watkins.  However when the final episode drew to a close, his character never got the chance to reveal how vampire’s are brought back with Mitchell resolved to his own salvation. The final events as fans will know,  made it impossible for his character to return for season 4 – unless by way of flashbacks which helped pave the way for Herrick’s return.

It turns out that the exit of Mitchell was at the request of actor Aidan Turner, who was cast last year in The Hobbit prequel films which are about to start filming. He would therefore be busy for sometime and would likely want to make the transition to film as he’s one of those performers who has an unquestionable screen presence.

His loss on the show will be a challenge for series creator Toby Whithouse, who gives the full story here:

From the first moment we met Aidan, we knew we were really only borrowing him from global super stardom. The same goes for all our cast. You can’t have actors as good as Aidan  and Russell and Lenora and Sinead and Jason, and not expect someone  else to notice.

I guess it really hit me back when we were doing series 2, and perhaps unconsciously I shifted the stories in a way that paved Mitchell’s exit. I thought it’d be better to have him go out in a scripted satisfying way, rather than lose him between series and open up with the rest of our heroes standing over a grave, with one of them saying “Wow, who’d have guessed Mitchell was SO allergic to bee stings…”

The consequences of the Box Tunnel Massacre were always going to be the cause of his demise, but whether that happened at the end of series 3 or series 33 was never defined. Contrary to a lot of the posts on the blog assuming that we’d chosen to kill him off, I didn’t want to write him out until I had to. And certainly right up until the shooting script of episode 8, Mitchell was still going to be undead and kicking when the credits rolled.

But then Peter Jackson came along. And it turns out he’s a fan of the show. Oh Irony, I could punch you in the neck.

Once we’d all stopped congratulating Aidan and envying him we had to decide what to do with our favourite vampire. Despite his commitments to Middle Earth, we were still planning to keep Mitchell ‘alive’. Perhaps, we thought, Wyndham could dispatch him back to Bolivia and maybe (though we had to concede it was pretty unlikely given what Aidan’s schedule would be for the next 3 years) we could get Mitchell back for an episode of series 7…?

But y’see, that Turner fella is smart. He knew that ending, while leaving the door open for him to return one day, would be ultimately unsatisfying. And so it was his decision – and with his encouragement – that we ended Mitchell’s story there.

It was like one of your children leaving home. You’re excited for them and wish them all the best… even though you really want them to stay with you forever. But like I said, with actors of that quality, it’s inevitable that they’re going to be offered other extraordinary opportunities.

Nonetheless, we shouldn’t let the end of Mitchell’s story define all that’s gone before. For me it’s been an honour to work with Aidan over the last 3 years. Watching him mature as an actor has been one of the great pleasures of working on this show. And aside from his skill and professionalism and talent, he’s also a ridiculously nice and funny guy, and…

Actually, damn him. Seriously. I’m glad he’s dead.

So let’s raise a glass to Aidan Turner. It’s been a blast. You appallingly talented man.

Being Human returns in 2012.

via: BBC