New iPhone gets bigger screen

The upcoming iPhone 5 has been the subject of more rumour than even the Galaxy S3 but today one rumour has been confirmed by two independent and reputable sources – Reuters and the Wall Street Journal with both stating publically that they have highly placed sources inside Apple confirming that the new iPhone will have a four inch screen.

While the majority of such rumours are usually proven untrue this is as good as one gets to at least this one being a fact with wo respected news sources unlikely to be making this up and risking their credibility. The reported manufacturers of the new screens will begin production in August ready for an October release.

A larger screen will help the iPhone compete against large screen Android rivals, with an October release almost certain to make the iPhone 5 the best selling gadget in the run up to Christmas. Less well supported rumours have claimed recently that the new model will feature near field communication (NFC), while that rumour is not confirmed it’s one of the few that are likely to be accurate. Apples main rival, Samsung, already has the NFC enabled Galaxy S3 out and, as the iPhones main rival in smartphone sales, it would make good commercial sense for Apple to include the same feature in it’s own phones rather than risk being left behind as NFC devices begin to become more common.

Being Human – series five to have less episodes, but why?

When the first series of the BBC’s Being Human hit our tv screens in 2009 it ran for six episodes. The BBC were rightly hedging their bets and giving it a shorter run, long enough to gauge popularity but not the full eight episode run that series two three and four would later be given.

With the show now a firm fan favourite and with viewing figures averaging, despite an overall down turn, around 950,000 per episode it would seem straightforward that series five would again have eight sixty minute episodes so it comes as a surprise to find that instead the BBC are giving it just six, two hours shorter than usual.

In with the old and out with the new? Annies exit leaves room for new ghost Alex to join the cast

But why?

The lower audience figures for this series did put the shows future in doubt, though they did improve a little it’s clear a number of people were put off of viewing this series for whatever reason with figures suggesting that some fans returned only for selected episodes and with talk on a number of internet forums suggesting that some were put off by the Eve story in which a time travelling ghost sought to change the future by affecting events in her past.

There are two equally valid reasons for series five having less episodes than normal. One is that the BBC are being cautious, seeing if the fans return but spending less on the show in order to be able to cut their losses if it doesn’t work out. The other is that series five could be the end, that the BBC are giving the show one last series to wrap up the Being Human story.

The original Annie (Angela Riseborough) in a scene from "The Devils Whore"

To be fair that second option is less likely, the BBC could have ended the series as it stands. The main characters have all now left the series and as such there are no loose ends that really need wrapping up, those that remain could be comfortably concluded in a one or two part special, so it seems more likely that the BBC are hedging their bets a little and giving the series a chance to re establish itself now that the cast has changed and now that the potentially off putting story of Eve has been resolved.

It’s been confirmed that Annie (Lenora Chrichlow) will not be returning for series five, which will be shown in 2013, but that Vampire Hal and werewolf Tom will be although no confirmation as yet on whether new ghost Alex also returns – although it’s highly likely she will indeed be the shows new resident ghost (but perhaps played by a different actress as happened with the character of Annie who was originally played by Angela Riseborough before Lenora Chrichlow took over after the pilot episode).

So it’s good news and bad news for fans of the series, good news – it is coming back, bad news – all the original characters have left and it will have less episodes. It’s not unusual for a series to have less episodes than eight (the popular Sherlock only has a three episode series, although each episode lasts longer than those of Being Human) but it is unusual for a series used to eight episodes to suddenly have its run shortened. Hopefully it is indeed just a case of the BBC adopting a cautious wait and see approach to the shows new dynamic.

For those who want a little more of the lovely Lenora she can be seen discussing the character she plays in a BBC video about Annie on the Being Human website, which can be seen below.

It’s official – Being Human gets fifth series after shock finish, teases new plot

The BBC’s supernatural drama, Being Human, has been officially renewed for a fifth series after what was, to say the least, an interesting final episode last night. If you haven’t seen it then you won’t want to read any further as it will spoil the ending. If you have seen it, or if you don’t mind spoilers, read on….

Will Annie be back making her cups of tea in series five?

As expected Annies door finally appeared after her unexpected act of heroism in which she saved the world from the old ones, wrapping up the Eve situation in a shocking and unexpected act of self sacrifice that saw Annie being responsible for the baby meeting a very violent end, something that will no doubt divide some fans but which was definitely a brave and unexpected move, and one that opens the door for a new enemy to emerge in series five – as teased yesterday on the official Being Human blog with an interesting new photo.

Posting a picture of the cryptic phrase “he will rise” written on a scrap of vampire parchment it’s the BBC’s nod towards the plot of series five, but just what does it mean? It’s written on what appears to be the same material as the war child prophecy so the first thought would be that it refers to a vampire, that Mister Snow will somehow rise from the dead (it happened with vampire Herrick in series three so it is possible).

But is it really mister Snow?

Eagle eyed fans may have noticed the presence of a young girl (possibly an old one) being taken out of the building before the explosion. It could well be that she has something to do with the person who “will rise”, she was certainly important in some way given that she was being protected from harm.

Could it be the mysterious mister Rook? Perhaps but then he isn’t meant to be nasty, after all he never harmed any of those who saw Tom transform, and if the mystery figure hinted at is indeed the new bad guy Mister Rook would seem an unlikely choice although it is clear he will play a key role in it.

Will Hal and Alex be more than friends in series five, as Mitchell and Annie were in series three?

Whatever secrets series five holds there will of course need to be an explanation as to just how vampires such as Hal still exist given that Eve is dead, but it’s probable that the answer will be tied in with the new mystery character and that with Annie gone Alex will take over as the shows resident ghost.

But fans of Annie needn’t be downhearted as she may well return, when telling her that she couldn’t go back Eve added that all important line “but then you were never one for following the rules”, hinting that she will indeed be brewing her tea in Barry again sometime in the future.

Will the new series continue with the trips between future present and past or will it return to form with a formidable new enemy for what is effectively “being human – the next generation” to confront?

Time, of course, will tell but the final episodes have shown that there’s still life in the show and it’s good to see that, as fans hoped, the BBC still have faith in it.

Fangs a lot – fans throw Being Human a lifeline

The Being Human audience grew to a healthier 862,000 for episode four before falling again to 820,000 viewers for last weeks episode meaning that although the number of people watching it has still fallen considerably since the first episode aired, the overall figures show some fans are returning to the show and giving it a much needed increase in ratings. It’s not a lot but it’s a shot in the arm for the popular series and something it needs more of.

The figures fell every week until episode four, which saw the mysterious Kirby arrive at the house with a message from Nina, which saw them rise again before falling again for the return of Adam in episode five. Will they continue to fall or will this increase in overall ratings continue?

Did Kirby's mind games bring back the fans?

It’s not uncommon for the first and last episodes of a returning show to get the highest viewing figures, viewers naturally want to know how things pick up from the previous series and how they conclude, but a look at the episodes that stopped the down turn show an interesting factor in common.

The Kirby episode was advertised as being about a ghost who returned to help Annie and had a message from Nina, and the following episode brought back a former character from series three, teen vampire Adam.

Its likely, based on the viewing figures, that fans were hoping to see the return of werewolf Nina in some way (even if only as a ghostly cameo), she was after all mentioned as sending Kirby to help Annie in the run up to the episode airing, but there was no Nina and it seems some of the fans who tuned back in decided again to give up on the show, resulting in another drop, but that enough watched the next episode, which they knew really would feature a returning character (Adam), that it was enough to stop the figures dropping as dramatically as they had.

With two episodes left it’s likely the figures will stabilize, though the reintroduction of time travelling Eve in the next episode may put some off, and that as result the series overall audience figures will average out at around 780,000 per episode (based on all figures to date and with an extrapolated increase for the final episode).

The previous series averaged over 1.2 million viewers per episode (only one episode ever had an audience share of under one million) but even allowing for a likely increase of viewers for the remaining episodes this series will have performed far worse in the ratings. Will this cause Being Human to be cancelled?

Will Eve win Annie over?

It’s too early to say, and there has been no word on it yet from the BBC, but while it’s borderline for the show it would make sense for the BBC to commission another series and have that series end in such a way that, should audience figures be consistently low, they could at least wrap it up with a solid finish. Whether they will or not remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure, the sometimes farcical subplot of the time travelling Eve seems to be a key factor in putting off a number of fans.

So here’s hoping they make one more series, and drop the off putting story of a time travelling ghost (Eve saying she has “travelled through her own lifetime” immediately brings to mind cult sci fi classic Quantum Leap whose title sequence used the almost identical phrase and which again suggests that Being Human is borrowing ideas from the world of science fiction and trying to fit them, somewhat unsuccessfully, into the Being Human universe).

Back to that Eve storyline, and just what will happen in the final episodes?

It would seem, based on the trailers and episode guides (and Annies advice from her neighbour in last nights episode) that the show will end with Annie having to choose whether or not to kill the baby and that Hal, despite the burnt arm, may actually be the one who saves her (Eve has been trying to kill the baby, and as the man with the burnt arm Hal is Eves nemesis but the reason could be because he stops her plan to kill the baby. After all a nemesis usually stops someones plans, not help them along, and if Hal is her nemesis he can’t also be the one to kill her as this would be helping her plan succeed and would of course make him an ally, not a nemesis).

This would indeed create a great cliffhanger, Annie crying as she is about to kill the baby and Hal getting in the way as the weapon (possibly one of Toms stakes) heads toward the crying child, the camera stopping as the weapon sinks into Hal or as he lies dying on the floor with Annie  about to try again.

Annie faces a tough decision in the final episode

Whatever happens you can be sure that as usual the final episode will get a good audience and leave them on the edge of their seats wanting more. But if the Eve situation is left unresolved and carries on into a new series it’s likely to be the death blow that finally fells the show. Last night it delivered a less Eve-centric episode and, until her appearance at the end, it felt much more like it used to. Hopefully the producers will wrap the series up by resolving the time travel aspect and returning to concentrating on the interplay between the characters which is when the show is at it’s best.

Being human….or being boring? The hit series risks running down fans as it takes a new direction

Warning: If you haven’t seen episode one of the fourth series of Being Human, and intend to, don’t read any further as this will spoil it for you.

Ghost Annie returns in series four of Being Human

The hit bbc horror series being human returned Sunday for its fourth series and promptly managed to divide fans by killing off two main characters and then taking the story into a new underworld cum terminator direction with flashes of future events being contrasted with those of the present.

The key to the series success had been the interplay between the four main characters. Mitchell the handsome vampire torn between his growing feelings for ghost Annie, and his friendship with werewolves George and Nina, struggles to control his lust for blood. George and Nina, werewolves are trying to be normal and find a cure while Annie the sweet and sometimes ditzy restless spirit finds herself falling in love with the ultimate bad boy, vampire John Mitchell.

But at the end of series three Mitchell was killed and at the start of series four we find that Nina has also been killed and by the end of the episode, in what is admittedly a moving scene, werewolf George is also killed leaving their baby, Eve, to be looked after by fellow werewolf Tom and ghost Annie as, in the future, another ghost (apparently grown up Eve) heads off through a door to kill “that baby”.

Throughout the series its supposed to be that the living together of a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire is a first and unique but now we find that for decades before them another set of vampire werewolf and ghost lived together and conveniently the werewolf is about to die.

This however turns the series on its head because the new team say they did it to protect mankind, yet if they managed to do so for so long why is it only ever Mitchell and co that were sought out and how do they remain so un noticed by the other vampires when the original being human characters are successfully hunted down?

One assumes that future Eve is somehow going to travel back in time to kill the baby she refers to (who, incidentally, is not who you may think) in order to save the world as her last words as she stepped into the afterlife were that she was going to kill “that baby”.

Excusing the nonsense of a time travelling ghost, which would completely destroy the story (if ghosts time travel and can interact with things physically they could easily just undo whatever went wrong in the past and mess up history for example) the problem is that we now have just another vampire, werewolf and ghost living together and its essentially “being human – the next generation” but with an apocalyptic future thrown in where vampires rule the world.

The cast of Being Human series four

Many fans are now divided. With all main characters except Annie now out of the series it feels as if the writers had to cobble together an exact same mix of replacement characters (vampire werewolf and ghost) to keep the story going, yet the whole point of the show is that the original characters were unique in doing something that none of their kind had done before.

Some are now saying they will never watch it again. Personally I think that’s a childish attitude and I for one will give it a chance but it does mean that the American version of Being Human is, at least for some, more interesting than the bbc version that spawned it.

The American version, now in its second season, has the same premise but rather than copy the British episodes it has gone its own way and delved much deeper into the past of the characters, it has a more emotional overtone and throws in a few “oh my god” moments now and then to keep the viewer hooked while showing us what the British version doesn’t show so well, the nitty gritty personal lives of the characters and how their problems affect their lives.

In an ideal world the US version would be shown in the UK, by the channel who produce it (syfy) but as yet it isn’t. If it does get shown it is likely that the American version will gain a new legion of British fans, and rightly so, with its stories sticking much closer to the feel and spirit of the original while crafting its own unique style.

The British show now faces a very real problem. Will transposing like for like characters work or, as some suggest, will it now be almost a re-run of the earlier series but with fresh faces? It would appear the writers fear the same outcome, hence the addition of a super hero baby, death dealing ghost from the year 2037 and the awkward terminator like flashes of a vampire controlled Britain that steer it in a completely different direction and risks alienating many of its fans.

Time will tell.