Dead Set

Considering this is a low budget TV film Charlie Brooker has pulled off a fantastic little gem, based on the premise of a Zombie Outbreak in England and the tale of a eclectic band of survivors (most of whom already hate each others guts) stuck in the Big Brother House, a satirical comment on the vacuousness of Reality TV to rival Romero's commentary of consumerism in the original Dawn of the Dead.

Taken as a gore fest with a huge dollop of black humour it works a treat and even the nihilistic ending fits so well into the message. Some great references throughout for Zombie Film Fans and Big Brother Fans alike. I like fast Zombies, much scarier and more threatening than traditional shufflers and considering the limited time this mini-series had they really were a necessity. Having some of the real ex-house mates and Davina as Zombies was a great touch.

If you enjoyed Dawn of the Dead (2004), 28 Days and Weeks Later, REC and Shaun of the Dead, Dead Set is definitely worth a viewing.

I was going to say this could have been really bad but the mind of Charlie Brooker probably wasn't going to mess this up, and it delivered on multiple layers. brilliant acting, brilliant characters, possibly too brilliant gore effects. This is so much more than a zombie flick and it really had to be to succeed.

Andy Nyman had many of the best lines but there were so many to go round, including Kathleen Mcdermotts delightfully dense pippa. all of em were engaging and believable, and Jamie Winstone obviously inherited some skills from her dad, she rules her scenes.

watching something like this renews your hope in TV. there's probably more depth than can be consumed in one sitting and its incredibly entertaining to boot. I'll be thinking about this show for the next few days. more please.

An eviction night in the UK's Big Brother TV show is interrupted by worldwide zombie outbreak, the house-mates are left none the wiser locked up, but outside mayhem reigns as the living dead's numbers increase. For a TV production I thought it was very gory and the sfx were also of a very good standard. The script by Charlie Brooker is to the point and very amusing. I wasn't too enamoured early on with the TV producer Patrick, i thought his character was a complete bastard, but as the show went on, i grew to like him somewhat, he had some very funny lines and I guess he turned into an anti hero of sorts.. I did think it started quite slow but the pace and gore factor increased rapidly towards the end so i wasn't disappointed. The Big Brother factor was done quite well, i guess fans of the show will be happy seeing all the familiar faces and those who hate it will love the house-mates getting their comeuppances, so everyone goes home happy. Of course its not without its moments of social comment, the baying mob outside the BB house showing little difference to the real thing.

Although I'm fan of Big Brother, I have only just got round to watching Dead Set. I love the idea around this mini series and it turned out to be a great watch.

The characters were likable and portrayed well, they was like proper housemates. Having Davina as the host also made it feel more real. The plot was great and progressed at a nice pace, leaving you wanting more after every episode had finished. This action was extremely fast paced and gory, there was also quite a lot of humour which I liked, it was just a good solid drama series in general. Jaime Winstone who played Kelly really stole the show, she was great.

It was kept short and sweet with just 5 episodes, 4 of which were only 25 minutes. The set looked great and the zombies were very detailed. The action was thick and fast.

The way it all ended might not be everyone's favourite but for me that was inevitable. Overall an extremely good series, better than I thought it would be. Would recommend it to anyone, although it isn't that scary.

9/10.

Maybe it's impossible these days to make a zombie movie which doesn't feel reminiscent of others; in the case of the Charlie Brooker-scripted TV movie Dead Set, too much of the zombie carnage feels lifted from 28 Days/Weeks Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake. But to focus on that would be to overlook the brilliant angle Brooker brings to the genre, not least its premise: that some of the few survivors of the zombie holocaust are the house-mates in Big Brother. Other horror films have been had reality TV settings, but this Endemol-produced flick has the advantage of featuring actual BB stars: Davina McCall and a host of former house-mates. Of the actors, Andy Nyman stands out as the BB director whose character is clearly Brooker's stand-in for himself, and whose comedy scenes are sensibly kept separate from the horror until the final scenes. And it's so well-written that you'll actually be rooting for everyone to survive.

If you love (a) zombie movies, or (b) Big Brother, Dead Set is *unmissably* good.

However, I would recommend waiting for the 138-minute DVD on 3rd November, as I can't imagine it having half the impact when it's chopped up into five episodes, complete with ad breaks, as it will be on E4 next week.

Hopefully Dead Set won't be quickly forgotten as a quirky little TV series on a minor channel, and will be recognised internationally as one of the decade's best zombie flicks.