The Death and Life of John Mitchell

John Mitchell (Aidan Turner)[7] is a 116-year-old vampire (originally born on July 29th 1893) with the appearance of a young man in his twenties. He has chosen to give up drinking blood and preying on humans, attempting instead (insofar as it is possible) to become human again. Like other vampires, Mitchell has enhanced strength and sense of smell, and his eyes turn completely dark when he has blood lust or when he wills it; though it appears that he is slightly weaker when he abstains from drinking blood, he can survive without it. His image can't be captured on film and he has no reflection in mirrors. Although he can survive daylight, his eyes are overly-sensitive to natural light, prompting him often to wear sunglasses outside in the daytime. He often wears dark clothing, rings and fingerless gloves. Publicly quiet and calm, he works as a hospital cleaner ( a deliberate choice, as it's a low-status, low profile job which enables him to live quietly with the minimum of commitments or chances of exposure).
Born in 1893 and Irish by birth, Mitchell fought as a young soldier in World War I, when he was originally recruited as a vampire by William Herrick. He encountered Herrick after a battle, stumbled upon him and several other vampires who were picking through piles of bodies for anyone living to feed on. Mitchell agreed to feed Herrick and become a vampire in exchange for Herrick leaving the rest of his men alone. He rejoined his regiment, hoping that no one had realised that he's changed, but became so hungry that he steals poison from the medical supplies, kills one of his friends and drains his blood before deserting the army and running away. At some later point he rejoined Herrick and the vampire community, accepting his new vampire nature.
In his early years as a vampire (and before his conscience was reawakened), Mitchell was quite a hero within the vampire community, who still circulate stories of his exploits amongst themselves. These seem to be a cause of great guilt for Mitchell who has asked Herrick to stop the retelling of the stories as he would prefer to be forgotten.[9] At several points, he has faced a conflict of emotions as he debates whether to 'convert' people dying around him to prevent their deaths. In the 1960s, Herrick gave Mitchell the opportunity to kill a young girl that they had lured into their car. Mitchell showed guilt and anger at the easiness of the kill and let her go. He told Herrick that she had escaped, prompting the suspicious Herrick to say that he would keep a closer eye on Mitchell.[6] Mitchell has attempted several times to abstain from drinking blood (one attempt was a New Year resolution for 2000, with the aid of a fellow vampire called Carl). At this time, Mitchell showed an extreme addiction to blood, as well as heightened aggression, lack of control and extreme panic due to blood withdrawal.
Mitchell's reluctant rescue of the werewolf George from a squad of fellow vampires, and the subsequent development of their friendship, further awakened his conscience, and he eventually opted to drift away from the vampire group in Bristol and to join George in living quietly. After 'converting' Lauren into a vampire (as covered in both the pilot episode and Series One Episode 1), Mitchell, infuriated at himself, decided to fully give up the blood and to attempt "being human" once more. He continues to take care of George, particularly around the full moon when George transforms.
In episode 3 of series 2 Mitchell has become the new "king" of the vampire group in Bristol, hiding evidence of their feedings, recreating their human front and intending to wean them off blood, although his activities are hampered by such problems as Ivan – his oldest apparent 'recruit' – being unable to completely forsake blood after so long, forcing him to allow Ivan to feed in secret while maintaining his public front. After the deaths of his vampire group by an explosion at the funeral parlour, subsequently receiving confirmation that they have been betrayed by the coroner despite a deal he had made, Mitchell realises that he has wasted his time trying to hide his blood lust and goes on a frenzy with Daisy, the now-widow of Ivan. Paying a last visit to George and Annie, he briefly seems to return to normal when warning George to stay away from cities in future before returning to his more arrogant, blood-crazed ways. A confrontation with a priest while searching for Lucy reminds him that George saw him as a good man when he was injured by Herrick, and reveals Lucy's connection to the organisation that seeks to 'cure' George and Annie. Finding the organisation's headquarters, Mitchell confronts Lucy, countering her claims that he and his kind are evil with both the theological argument that God made them just as he made mankind and by pointing out that she killed despite having a choice, but he nevertheless refuses to kill her or Kemp. He later shows evident grief when Lucy is killed by Kemp.
When Mitchell enters Purgatory to rescue Annie - following a terminally ill patient at the hospital where George and Nina now work through the Door after his demise -, he learns that the time and date of his death has been confirmed, and he will be killed by a werewolf at some unspecified- but apparently not-too-distant- future date, although he later comments to Annie that he doesn't believe a word of what he heard. Although haunted by both the 'prophecy' of his death and the continued police hunt for the person responsible for the 'Box Tunnel Twenty' massacre, Mitchell rejected an offer to depart Britain to live with the vampire 'Old Ones', commenting during a talk with permanently teenage vampire Adam that his friends help him remain clean as their goodness inspires him by forcing him to think about the disappointment they would feel if he succumbed to his thirst. After a confrontation with vampire 'fan' Graham, Mitchell tried to tell Annie the truth about the tunnel massacre, but Annie simply told him that whatever he had to tell her didn't matter, assuring him that all she wanted was the man he was now and that what he'd done in the past didn't matter compared to what he'd done for her and George, the two subsequently kissing. Although Annie tries to find ways for their relationship to become physical at first, Mitchell admits that he actually prefers their current bond, as sex has always been about violence rather than love with him, and he prefers for his relationship with Annie to be 'pure' and apart from that.
Despite some tension with werewolf vampire-hunter MacNair due to Mitchell's concerns regarding the 'prophecy' of his death- although he claims to Annie that he doesn't believe in fate-, Mitchell and MacNair reached a certain understanding when they worked together to save George and Nina from a group of vampires, although MacNair still feels that Mitchell's sins will catch up to him eventually. When Herrick returns to life, Mitchell initially attempts to stake him- particularly after Cara stakes herself before she can tell Mitchell how she and Daisy brought Herrick back-, but is convinced by George to let Herrick live on the grounds that he deserves the same chances everyone has given Mitchell. When Annie learns about Mitchell's role in the massacre, she tearfully convinced him to allow himself to be arrested, Mitchell going along with it to prove his love for her even as he tries to escape being processed due to the risks if his true nature is exposed.
Although Herrick released Mitchell- revealing in the process that his resurrection was aided by the fact that he was torn apart rather than just being staked-, Mitchell finally staked Herrick when he concluded that he had seen and done enough in his life. With the news that another man had been framed for the Box Tunnel Twenty he returned to the house to ask George to kill him, recognising that whoever had set up that frame would want a favour later and wanting to free his friends of the taint he had brought to their lives. He is then killed by George, after 'The Old Ones' attempt to use Mitchell to do their dirty work. George's last words to Mitchell are: "I'm doing this because I love you"