Jamie Winstone in Dead Set
For some time now I’ve been a fan of Charlie Brooker. His TV reviews in The Guardian often have me chuckling away and more often than not I find myself nodding along in agreement with wry views on TV, celebrities and life and general.
So when I read that he’d been commissioned to write to write Channel 4’s first scripted horror series – centred on zombies (a personal favourite of mine) I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into it.
I’ve only watch one episode of Dead Set so far, number two has been downloaded on my 4OD and is waiting to play when I have a chance.
The series is fairly absurd, but then anything slightly to do with zombies generally is isn’t it? In Dead Set, zombies lay siege to the Big Brother house in the style of 24. The opening episode starts with eviction night and the start of an apocalyptic crisis across the UK. While the housemates remain oblivious, hordes of fast-moving (yes, zombies can run it seems) undead decimate the studio company.
The first episode is crammed with wicked little scenes that channel the spirit of Brooker’s scathing television criticism – the fictional producer of Big Brother using an employee in a wheelchair as a shield against one of the flesh eaters, TV presenter Davina McCall having her throat bitten out, and the spiritually brain-dead contestants mistaking the screaming of the dying outside as the hysterical adulation of their “fans.”
There are five episodes in total and all are available to download free on 4OD. Watch the trailer below and here Charlie Brooker writes about his inspiration for Dead Set.
Filed under: Reviews | Tagged: Channel 4, Charlie Brooker, Dead Set, Guardian, Horror, programmes, Reviews, TV, zombies
