Being Normal

On Sunday night, settling myself on the sofa to watch Match of the Day 2 in lovely HD, I turned on the box to find I was five minutes early and caught the end of the latest episode of Being Human. Being Human is a great cult hit, now in its fourth series, and is one I've always meant to watch - it's written by Doctor Who writer Toby Whitehouse and stars the excellent Russell Tovey. The premise sounds great too - a flatshare between a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost. I have just never got around to watching it.

I could tell that what was unfolding was meant to be dramatic and epic, especially as it featured the death of Tovey's character, George, but I just couldn't stop laughing. Poor Tovey was having to impersonate a werewolf, which seemed to consist of having some padding up his jumper, dodgy contacts, fake teeth and a walk that looked as if he'd crapped himself. It was comedy gold. Meanwhile, Ron Weasley's dad in a funny hat was running around with a baby while some evil policemen vampires were trying to kill it. There was some vamp staking (but without the fab dissolving that you used to get in Buffy) and the baby was saved but poor George departed to heaven, which consisted of walking through an Ikea door with a bright light behind it. It all just looked so cheap and fake and rubbish.

And then it hit me - this must be what it is like to be a normal person. I'm so used to being a nerd and a fan that I never stop to think how funny a lot of the stuff I watch must seem to an average non nerd. There's a friend who regularly reads this blog, and he's very complimentary about the film reviews I write, but he confesses he always avoids the Doctor Who ones. To him, catching a bit of Who must be like me watching the end of Being Human. I see Daleks, he sees a dustbin with a sink plunger; I see Matt Smith's 900 year old Timelord, the same man as Tom Baker, while he sees some young chap who can't keep his arms still gurning around in a bow tie and running in and out of a Portaloo.

Tremble in fear - it's the Myrka!!

I always remember, when Doctor Who wasn't cool, trying to defend the show against the laughter of others but they're right in the end. We may hate Michael Grade for putting Doctor Who into Room 101, but the clip he used as evidence was the shoddiest piece of TV ever - a monster called the Myrka, which was a green lizard pantomime horse, wobbling around at 1mph and bumping over a foam door. It was utter rubbish and, the truth is, a lot of Doctor Who is utter rubbish, even the new stuff. How many times have we fans urged our mates to watch the show proclaiming 'it's much better now', only for them to turn on to see Catherine Tate and the Adipose? It doesn't mean I love it any less - I'll still happily waste two hours of my life watching The Sensorites or Colony In Space - but a lot of it is awful.

So, for a brief five minutes I had an insight into what it is like to be normal. It doesn't happen very often so I should just sit back and enjoy the strange sensation when it comes my way.