During a fictional series of Big Brother, a zombie outbreak occurs, but the house-mates are unaware of the impending doom outside of the Big Brother House.During a fictional series of Big Brother, a zombie outbreak occurs, but the house-mates are unaware of the impending doom outside of the Big Brother House.During a fictional series of Big Brother, a zombie outbreak occurs, but the house-mates are unaware of the impending doom outside of the Big Brother House.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 nominations total
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10hoppz
What can i say, i was expecting really bad zombies and really bad horror from dead set, and i'm glad to say i was pleasantly surprised.
although the acting wasn't amazing the rest of the programme was excellent, the zombies looked good, the special effects where OK and i really enjoyed the jerky camera angles.
although any fan of horror wont find this scary (think dawn of the dead 2004 or 28 days later) it was very enjoyable.
Channel 4 have done a great job making something original for a TV audience, i can honestly say i have not seen any original "horror" programming this good on TV since Ghost Watch about 15 years ago.
well done channel 4!
although the acting wasn't amazing the rest of the programme was excellent, the zombies looked good, the special effects where OK and i really enjoyed the jerky camera angles.
although any fan of horror wont find this scary (think dawn of the dead 2004 or 28 days later) it was very enjoyable.
Channel 4 have done a great job making something original for a TV audience, i can honestly say i have not seen any original "horror" programming this good on TV since Ghost Watch about 15 years ago.
well done channel 4!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaSimon Pegg was a big fan of the show though he did bemoan the fact that the zombies are the "fast" type as seen in the L'Armée des morts (2004) remake and 28 jours plus tard (2002). Charlie Brooker revealed that they didn't opt for the slow, shuffling zombie types as they wanted to depict the breakdown of society in extremely rapid time (ie, one week in the Big Brother house).
- GoofsAt the end, Marky, Veronica and Joplin were ambushed by the zombies and torn apart. In the last scenes, they are shown walking about bodies intact.
- Alternate versionsThe E4 channel edited all five episodes into one movie for halloween 2009.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Screenwipe: Episode #5.1 (2008)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Dead set: Muerte en directo
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 28m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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