First scene of the new series of Being Human: ghost Annie lying in a pool of blood saying, “Everyone dies…” She then goes onto explain, with the use of flashbacks, how her housemates, Mitchell and George, became a vampire and werewolf respectively. Mitchell was savaged during World War II, while George was ripped to shreds on a trip to Scotland during a romantic break with his partner. Now they were living together, each with their pasts and current states hanging over them like a big heavy thing. Quite a first few scenes. Of course, we kind of know who Annie, George and Mitchell are, thanks to last year’s excellent pilot. After much speculation, and thanks to the enthusiasm of fans, it got picked up for a whole series and, last night at the BFI, I was invited to a fan screening of the first episode. Many of those passionate fans were in attendance last night, and most of them had one question on their minds – would the cast changes and the fact it was now a proper series have an effect on its quality. They, myself included, needn’t have worried.

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The first person to mention is Lenora Crichlow. I’ve always had a soft spot for her, as she’s always played striking, quite saucy and feisty roles in the past (Sugar Rush, Kiss Of Death et al). Anyone who saw the Annie character in last year’s pilot will have Andrea Riseborough’s shy, sensitive and very kooky portrayal firmly stamped on their memories. It was the start of Andrea’s amazing year (The Long Walk To Finchley and The Devil’s Whore followed) lest we forget, so I was intrigued to see whether Lenora could do the business.

The good news is that she definitely did. The new Annie is less kooky, more girly and, dare I say it, more real. Lenora reigns in her natural feistiness, and the sensitivity is still there, but it’s more rooted in the real. Scenes when her fiance, now landlord of the house, visited were great and tugged on the heartstrings.

Next up is the vampire, Mitchell. In the pilot he was played with gothic languor by skinny and pale Guy Flanagan (who was great). In the Q&A afterwards (where the writer Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who exec producer and Head Of BBC Wales, Julie Gardner (who’s always good value), Russell Tovey, the head of Touchpaper films and the series producer were gathered to answer questions), it was explained that they wanted to make the series even more rooted in reality, and didn’t want the series to descend into the same kind of cliches most fantasy series seemed all too read to embrace. So the new Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is less gothic, is much swartheir and warmer. He’s still menacing, and his story of being tempted by Bristol’s coven of vampires (not sure what the collective noun for a bunch of vampires is) to join with them and feed indiscriminately.

Mitchell’s big story in the first episode was coming to terms with the one recent time he did feed indiscriminately – a fellow hospital worker called Lauren.

Then there was George. He definitely still provides the humour, and Russell Tovey camps it up rather a lot. We also find out more about his encounter with the Scottish werewolf.

I had initial reservations about the cast changes (just because the original trio worked so well together), but this first episode of the news series was terrific. The difference between this and, say, Demons (poorly written etc) was the writing. There’s some really funny and sharp dialogue (Mitchell, on finding a nasty vampire about to feed off a patient in the hospital: “What are you doing?!” Vampire: “What blood group is he? Ah, O negative… a bit Jacob’s Creeky for me, but doesn’t matter”) and at its core is three disaffected outcasts. The fact they are a ghost, vampire and werewolf is almost incidental.

What Being Human still is, you’ll be pleased to hear, is really brilliant and breathes new life into a stale genre. There’s plenty of funny bits, as well as some genuinely heart-tugging scenes. In fact, this will be 2009′s first must-watch series; I’m happy to put my neck on the line on this one.

It starts on BBC Three next week (Sunday, I think).