Generation Z

Went in blind to this show as I saw it on Channel 4s streaming service. Looked like fun and it has a first rate cast of top actors. The first episode sets things up nicely and since it is a short series I decided to give it a watch. I thought, unlike some reviews, the acting was pretty good but that comes with a caveat. The story line is ludicrious which is should be a a zombie series, but its neither serious enough or funny enough to be fully entertaining. By halfway through the series I was getting restless, storylines were unravelling and characters seemed to suddenly change attitudes for no reason. I stuck with it to the end, so you don't have to. It get 4 because of the start, its a 2 by the end.

With all of the horror writing and production talent in the UK I would think Channel 4 could have come up with something interesting - reasonably interesting at least.

But this is one of the most boring 'horror' TV series I have ever seen. It is the standard 'zombie' story - but tedious - so tedious I was glad when it was over.

The only thing that makes it anywhere near more watchable than a washing machine are the talented actors - who seem to be trying to do the best they can with very little to work with. After all they can only work with the story and direction they are given.

Really - don't waste your time with this nonsense.

An army truck crashes with a tank of zombie juice crashes - seen that before, ticket updates, seen that before,, boring- seen that before, Just because you put Z or Zombie in the title does not make it interesting of good. That died with Romero and Shaun of the dead! We do not need 6 episodes of this tat. Such a waste of everyone's time to even give this rubbish a bit of time.

Go and watch Danny Boyles 28 Days films if you want a zombie film rather than this loaded full of adverts piece of junk. ITV at its worst, no original ideas and just stealing from the pioneers of the genre who should be ashamed.

There's a throwaway comment on the movie industry; they sometimes call extras 'moving scenery'. Here, they're the scenery that gets chewed by many of the cast.

This is such a hodge podge. Occasional scenes are ghoulishly funny, riffing on the cliches about 'older people' and the younger crowd; and, of course, the many tropes abounding after 60+ years of mainstream zombie films.

The third agers- Anita Dobson, Sue Johnston leading - have the, erm, 'meatiest' roles here; plenty to get their teeth into! Others, including Robert Lindsay and Michael Smiley, are good but initially peripheral.

There are many scenes that some might prefer to 'unsee'; there is a taste (!) of the 1960s Hammer horror classics that goes way beyond what was possible then.

Where it falls apart is the multiplicity of characters, generations and their stories. It needs three generations; school age, pensioners and that 'squeezed middle'. There ends up being such a muddle of characters, quite diverse, so that by the time you've worked out who is related to whom, they're toast; with lots of extra strawberry jam.

One final problem for the school agers; some decent acting here, but a couple are still in sixth form aged 28 and 26, and there's no acting around that fact.

The first episode was ok and we thought perhaps it's building to something. Unfortunately it doesn't.

The story just gets worse, some of the acting is awful and it's such a shame as the talent available on screen are some of Britains finest, Sue Johnston, Robert Lindsay, Michael Smiley to name a few are all incredible when they have the material to work with. However they're given such unbelievable scripts that it's laughable.

This could have been a great British tv series but it just feels like they creators were given a day to write it, a day to film it and a day to put it together. Shame.