Annie Sawyer | |
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Being Human character | |
Lenora Crichlow as Annie
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First appearance | Pilot episode (2008) |
Last appearance | "The War Child" (2012) |
Created by | Toby Whithouse |
Portrayed by | Lenora Crichlow |
Other portrayals | Andrea Riseborough (Pilot) |
Information | |
Full name | Anna Clare Sawyer |
Born | 1985 |
Died | 2007 |
Anna Clare "Annie" Sawyer is a fictional character in the comedy-drama TV series Being Human, portrayed by Lenora Crichlow. The female lead for the duration of the show's first four series, Crichlow appears as Annie in thirty-one episodes altogether.
Within the series narrative, Annie is a ghost haunting the house she lived in with her fiancé whilst she was alive. Prior to the first episode, she is joined by George Sands (a werewolf) and John Mitchell (a vampire), who are able to see her because of their own supernatural conditions. The extent of Annie's visibility to humans varies depending on her mood and her confidence. Annie's eyes turn blue when she is visible to humans, and violet when she is haunting. She always appears in the clothes she was wearing when she died, which change subtly depending on her state of mind.
Annie's storylines have involved her coming to terms with her own death, avoiding death's door and being trapped in purgatory, in addition to several doomed attempts at romance. After losing Mitchell, the love of her life, and friends George and Nina, Annie becomes a mother figure to Eve (George and Nina's daughter) and new werewolf and vampire housemates, Tom and Hal respectively. Annie is written out of the show at the conclusion of series four in which—having made a difficult decision—she averts a dark future for mankind and is able to move on the afterlife.
The first series premiere (2009) establishes Annie as being unable to remember her death. She believes ex-fiancé Owen's (Gregg Chillin) claims that she fell down the stairs accidentally. Annie frustrates George (Russell Tovey) because of her temperament and her tendency to constantly make tea she cannot drink, though Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is more sympathetic towards her. In the third episode, he introduces Annie to Gilbert (Alex Price), another ghost, who falls in love with her. When Owen arrives to clear a blocked pipe and produces a thong, Annie's memories of her death are triggered and shown in flashback. Owen had pushed her down the stairs after an argument; their relationship had been abusive, not the loving one she had imagined to be true. Memories of her death cause Annie to become a poltergeist able to move objects and turn machines on without touching them although she cannot control these abilities. To resolve her death Annie seeks a confession from Owen; he taunts her haunting effects as ineffectual and reveals that he was unfaithful throughout their relationship. Annie is inspired by her and George's rescue of Mitchell from a vampire coven and with their help stands up to Owen. After Owen has a mental breakdown and confesses, the Door to Death appears for Annie but she stays behind because her friends need her. In the final episode, a more confident Annie shows the ability to teleport further distances and greater powers of telekinesis, which she describes as "a whole new skill set."