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Aidan Turner, who plays effortlessly cool vampire Mitchell, says he was hooked on the first reading of the scripts for Being Human.

"From the first episode it really works. It's a great premise, it's all in the title really – it's very realistic situations and deals with tons of real issues. It's dark and witty – Toby is a fantastic writer."

What also appealed to Aidan was the sense of reality which shone through in the characters and the story.

"When tackling a supernatural subject I sometimes find it difficult to invest in the characters because they don't really exist – but there's so much heart to this story, so much reality to it, it's easy to relate to the characters.

"Certainly George, Annie and Mitchell because they are three normal guys, which is evident from the first episode. They're not flying around putting spells on people – they work in the hospital, live in a flat together, watch TV and go to clubs. I hope that people watching think, 'I'd like them to be my friend.' I think that's important."

For Aidan, the fact that Mitchell is a vampire was a big attraction to the role. "Everyone wants to play a vampire – it's something I've always wanted to play! It's just one of those parts. I look a bit like a vampire, I think someone might have said that to me before. Also when you research into vampires there are all these cults around the world that are influenced by them one way or another, so that was a really interesting aspect to discover."

The fact that Mitchell is a vampire, and has therefore been around a long time, makes him a complicated character to play. As Aidian explains: "Mitchell is 118 years old and to play someone like that is brilliant. With his maturity he has a certain kind of responsibility and a worldly experience that not all people have. He's not bothered by a lot of things – that side of him I aspire to be like.

"He's also like a father figure in some ways. I certainly think he's a father figure to Annie. He's the more mature person in the three-way relationship. Mitchell is the one where if something goes wrong, the others talk to him. I think he's just a cool guy."

On working with Russell Tovey (George) and Lenora Crichlow (Annie), Aidan says: "It's been brilliant working with Russell and Lenora, it's been an absolute joy. We got to a stage very quickly where we couldn't do a scene without bursting out laughing in the rehearsal!

"That's a good point to be at, we were really comfortable with each other straight away. I think everyone is perfectly cast – Jason who plays Herrick, Annabel who's Lauren, Dylan who plays Seth – everyone, it's all spot on."

Finally, Aidan believes that audiences will relate to Mitchell and his struggle.

"Everyone has a dark side that they don't expose too often – but when they do, you know about it."