BBC3 picks up Being Human and Phoo Action

BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has ordered six more episodes of Being Human, the one-off drama pilot about a flatshare between a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire broadcast earlier this year.

Cohen has commissioned the full series of Being Human from independent producer Touchpaper Television, part of the RDF Media group, after the one-off episode was shown in February as part of the channel's drama pilot season and peaked at nearly 450,000 viewers. Filming on the series, which will once again be written by Toby Whithouse, will start later this year for transmission in 2009.

The BBC said it would confirm casting at a later date. Russell Tovey, Andrea Riseborough and Guy Flanaghan starred in the pilot. BBC Wales head of drama Julie Gardner, who was one of the show's executive producers, said: "BBC drama is always looking for diverse and surprising pieces, and Being Human hit the spot with its irreverence and wit."

Cohen added: "Of all our recent drama experiments on BBC3, Being Human struck the most powerful chord with the audience. At its heart is a bold and adventurous concept and I'm looking forward to seeing how this is realised across a series."

Another of the series of pilots to win a full series commission on BBC3 is the kitsch kung-fu drama pilot Phoo Action. The drama, which starred actor Ray Winstone's daughter, Jaime, as a high-kicking futuristic crime fighter, will return for a full six-part series next year. Phoo Action pulled in 232,000 viewers and a multichannel share of 1.1% between 9pm and 10pm in February and was recommissioned before it was broadcast.