Josh Levison

Josh Radcliff is a fictional werewolf and one of the principal characters featured in the North American television series Being Human. The series is based on a British programme of the same name, which premiered on the BBC in February, 2008. Known primarily as just "Josh", he is played by actor Sam Huntington and was introduced in the series' pilot episode, "There Goes the Neighborhood (Part 1)", and has appeared in every subsequent episode to date. Josh's counterpart in the original series is George Sands, played by English actor Russell Tovey.

Early life
Josh was once just a normal, upstanding young man growing up in Ithaca, New York. He has a younger sister named Emily and attended school at MIT (or so he says). After school, he returned home where he fell in love with a young woman. The two were engaged to be married, but fate had other plans for Josh. During a camping trip, Josh and his friends were attacked by a werewolf. Josh awakened with deep scars across his body, but was otherwise okay - or she thought. At the time, Josh believed that he had been attacked by a simple animal, but while having dinner at a diner on evening, the full moon rose in the sky and Josh found himself doubled over in pain. He ran out into the nearby forests where he transformed into a werewolf for the first time. Awakening the following morning, Josh found himself naked in the woods with blood smeared across his body. He had no memory of what had happened, but soon came to understand that he was now something other than human. Josh researched the phenomenon extensively and although his rational mind refused to accept what he had learned, all signs pointed towards one irrefutable fact - he was a werewolf. Josh began keeping a diary, recording everything he could find regarding werewolves, but nothing he learned indicated how to cure his situation. Left with no alternative, Josh broke things off with his fiancée and left home. He didn't have any contact with his parents or his sister for more than two years.

The Vampire
Josh's journey eventually brought him to Boston, Massachusetts where he found work as an orderly at Suffolk County Hospital. His innate fear of his condition prevented him from forming any close relationships and most of the staff at Suffolk found him to be a quirky, nebbish bundle of nerves. Following a violent altercation, Josh met a male nurse named Aidan McCollin. Aidan helped Josh out of the situation and the two became friends. Josh discovered that Aidan was a creature of the night as well - a vampire. Traditionally, vampires and werewolves were sworn enemies of one another, but the two men shared a common commitment towards holding fast to their humanity, denying their animalistic urges whenever they could. Aidan found an old, closed off wing of the hospital fitted with a deadbolt and large steel door. Once a month, whenever Josh felt the change coming on during the nights of the full moon, Aidan would lock him up in the room and collect him in the morning.

The Ghost
Josh and Aidan decided to lease a house together, believing that they could now have a place of their own where they could feel normal, free to discuss their lifestyles without having to worry about anyone discovering their secret. They leased the house from a young man named Danny Burge who told them that he once lived there until the tragic passing of his fiancée, Sally Malik. Although Sally was deceased, she was not quite gone. Her ghost lived on beyond her death and was anchored to the house. As creatures of the supernatural, Josh and Aidan were the only ones who could perceive her. Her presence made Josh increasingly nervous and agitated, as there was no way he could dispel her or "shoo" her away. The privacy that he had hoped to maintain was now gone. Initially, this made Josh kind of resentful towards Sally, but as he came to understand her situation, he sympathized with her plight and the two became close friends.

Josh's sister Emily eventually tracked him down and followed him to Boston. She wanted to reconnect with her brother, but Josh feared for her safety and refused to let her get close. Emily was undeterred however and, realizing that her brother suffered from some kind of mental abnormality, pressed the issue even further. She even found herself trapped with Josh inside the secret room at the hospital and witnessesed him go through the first stages of his transformation. Fortunately, Aidan arrived in time to get Emily to safety before Josh could fully change. Though convinced that her brother was deeply troubled and suffering from some unspoken malady, she had no idea that he was a werewolf.

The Werewolf
Josh awakened in the woods one morning following an evening spent as the wolf. A man named Ray discovered him and instantly knew what he was. Ray confessed that he was a werewolf as well, and was desperately in need of companionship. He took Josh deeper into the woods to an old cabin that he availed himself of on the nights of the change. As per his nature, Josh was extremely distrustful of Ray and his motives, but over the course of several days, came to value him as a friend and mentor. Ray showed him how to hunt freely and safely without needlessly endangering the lives of humans. In exchange, Josh invited Ray to stay over at the house for a short time.

Unlike Josh, Ray held a deep resentment for vampires and could not understand why Josh would elect to associate with one. Josh defended his friendship with Aidan, telling him that not all vampires were the same, and that some of them were actually decent people. Ray could not abide this however and whenever Josh was away, he made every effort to voice his distaste for vampires to Aidan, even going so far as to empty his stores of sealed blood.

On the days immediately preceding the nights of the full moon, a werewolf would themselves with an increased libido and a lack of inhibition. Ray took Josh to a bar and showed him how his heightened pheromones could be used to seduce women. Taking Ray's cue, Josh attempted such a feat on a hospital colleague named Nora Sargent with disastrous results. Nora was unimpressed with Josh's straight-forward proposition and threatened to report him to Human Resources.

Ray took Josh out again, this time to a neighborhood known for its high vampire population. They watched a group of vampires exit a night club - intoxicated after gorging themselves on human blood. Ray attacked one and beat him to a pulp and Josh, following Ray's lead, did likewise. News of the incident reached the ears of James Bishop, the vampire elder of Boston, as well as that of his lieutenant, Marcus Damnian. Bishop knew that Josh was a friend of Aidan's and warned the vampire to keep his "dog" on a tight leash.

The following day, Josh was disgusted by what he had done. He could not believe he would allow himself to give in to the ravages of the beast and realized that Ray was not truly a friend to him at all. It was soon after this that Josh learned the truth about Ray - that he was the one who had bitten Josh two years earlier and cursed him as a werewolf. Ray confessed that he had been searching for him ever since, but Josh could no longer tolerate his presence. He evicted him from his home and told him that he never wanted to see him again.

The Girlfriend
Josh was ashamed for the way he had acted towards Nora Sargent and offered her a deep and earnest apology. She forgave him and even displayed a slight interest in Josh. He finally mustered up the nerve to ask her to dinner and she accepted. He invited her back to his house, but the meal was disrupted by the surprise appearance of Emily, who was now homeless and needed a place to stay. Josh was not about to turn his back on his sister, so she came to stay with Aidan and he. Sally thought that Emily was simply adorable and Nora took an immediate liking to her as well. After dinner, the two finally had a little time alone together and shared their first, intimate kiss.

The night did not end well however. Emily came home bearing severe bruises and lacerations across her face. Nora had her taken to the hospital right away. Josh was furious with Aidan who was supposed to have been keeping an eye on her. Aidan felt terrible and his guilt only worsened when he discovered that Emily's attacker had been a vampire.

Family reunion
Once Emily was released, she asked Josh to take her home to Ithaca. Josh acquiesced, but had no desire to see his parents, whom he had no spoken with for more than two years. The family reunion was extremely uncomfortable for him, particularly when his father revealed that he knew about Josh's belief that he was a werewolf. Josh denied this seemingly insane accusation until his father presented him with his journal. Josh continued to deny it, but ultimately confessed that he was in fact a werewolf. Naturally, his parents did not believe such an outlandish claim.

Marcus Damnian, the vampire who had attacked Emily, followed them home with the intent of finishing her off. This was his way of punishing Josh for his previous attack against his vampire brood. Once again, Aidan came to his rescue and fought against Damnian while Josh raced throughout the house trying to protect his family. Once the situation righted itself, Josh and Aidan returned to Boston.

Intense romance
Josh resumed his relationship with Nora but on the night before the full moon, his libido overtook him and they had violent, angry sex with one another in a room at the hospital. Nora, being sexually adventurous, actually enjoyed their time together, but Josh was once again disgusted with himself. The following day, he apologized to her for how he had acted.

Josh and Nora went on another date, which consisted of sitting at Josh's house watching movies. Josh dozed off and dreamed that he had transformed into a werewolf in front of her. Fearing that his growing relationship with her could only endanger her life, Josh tried to distance himself from her. Nora thought that he was breaking up with her, but he insisted that this was not the case. He told her that he was afraid of hurting her, but Nora responded by showing him deep scars across her stomach, citing that she has been hurt by men before and is more than capable of taking care of herself.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of was created by Jeremy Carver and his wife Anna Fricke, based on concepts originally developed by Toby Whithouse.


 * In werewolf form, Josh has been known to eat his own feces whenever proper food was unavailable.


 * Outside of the Being Human TV show, actor Sam Huntington has also been involved in the Superman comic franchise. He played eager cub reporter Jimmy Olsen in the 2006 film Superman Returns. Sam's other films credits include Jungle 2 Jungle, Detroit Rock City, and Not Another Teen Movie. His television credits include episodes of CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Veronica Mars and Cavemen.