Oi, Charlie Brooker - I got that 'Dem Bones' tune stuck in my head now.
Dead Set wasn't bad at all.
I sorta wish I hadn't known Charlie Brooker had written it, though. I had an image in my mind of him sitting down and drawing up a list of oh-so-clever rules for writing zombie dramas.
For example, never let the characters refer to the zombies as...'zombies'. Even though that's what they patently were, and the characters were obviously aching to call them zombies. They called them 'things' mostly. Explained how they started out as people, got bit, died, then turned into..."them...things" who just wanted to bite more people. I may have missed it, but I don't recall a single 'zombie' mention even though E4 explicitly marketed it as a ZOMBIE drama. I got a bit too preoccupied, wondering if Charlie had made a bet about writing a drama about zombies while never once mentioning the z-word.
Also, Charlie has obviously got hung up on the stating-the-obvious criticism of 'traditional' zombie films - that zombies only walk, therefore any human who can run stands a fair chance of escaping, so why don't more get away? He hammered home the point by making these zombies run! I loved the visuals; zombies sprinting, or breaking into a loping werewolfy chase. Praps that's why he didn't want to call them 'zombies'?
The absence of proper daylight concerned me. Zombies can't control the sun, can they? They can't even get out of paddling pools, apparently. Actually, that bit was really good, their stupidity, overtly commented on - by people who eventually couldn't outwit them - hah. I suspect many people were disappointed by the ending. I quite liked it, although I fear it means there's not much chance of a sequel.
I also liked the bits and pieces that were set outside the Big Brother House. I was even a little bit moved by the obligatory 'kill me before I turn (even though it was completely your fault I got bit)' scene by Liz May Brice. There was an appropriate amount of gore for such a series, and, yeah, the fire extinguisher scene was...enough.
The comedy was pretty good, but some of it was a bit predictable - i.e. 'Davina's coming to get you' - the, um, bucket was completely unexpected, though - genius and disgusting all at the same time. Those two characters in that room were brilliant, and really well played. Davina too - she was a bit of a revelation, and the parts with the ex-BB contestants fitted in nicely.
I'd be a lot more full-on with my praise if E4 hadn't oversold it. I've seen dramas like this before, set around reality TV shows. There was one called 'Sandman' set in the studio of a 'touch the truck' competition. A couple are closer to 'Dead Set' - one called 'If...', set in the future, around a suicide on a reality show (it was very sad and serious, that one, full of gloom and foreboding). I also remember another one along very similar lines - suicide of reality show contestant and asking who's responsible - the contestant, her fellow fame-hungry bullying contestants, or the programme makers, or society? I can't for the life of me remember the name of it, and I can't find it anywhere, but it was broadcast six or seven years ago. It was closer to drama-as-entertainment than 'If...', although it still had some elements of 'the inevitable outcome of reality shows'. There's also loads of films. The one that jumps to my mind is My Little Eye, which is full of underhandedness and people not being what they seem all the way through. I liked it quite a lot.
So yeah, Dead Set was good, in itself, if you can manage to ignore all E4s overhyping. It's not super-original, but the storylines, acting, production values and special effects are really, really good. If you want to dissect it and look at the other layers - the social commentary stuff and the nature of reality tv (e.g. Zombies watching Big Brother on the tv monitors) then that's there for you too. It can make you think, if that's what you want. Or not. I enjoyed it as a solid little piece of drama. If I started thinking about it I just got annoyed at the smugness.
PS. So now officially count me in as a fan of Merlin. I could make a naff quip about it working its magic on me, but I'll just say it's good quality Saturday night entertainment, with added slashiness as a bonus.
ETA: I'm not ignoring the American Elections. Just...monitoring and keeping quiet.
I sorta wish I hadn't known Charlie Brooker had written it, though. I had an image in my mind of him sitting down and drawing up a list of oh-so-clever rules for writing zombie dramas.
For example, never let the characters refer to the zombies as...'zombies'. Even though that's what they patently were, and the characters were obviously aching to call them zombies. They called them 'things' mostly. Explained how they started out as people, got bit, died, then turned into..."them...things" who just wanted to bite more people. I may have missed it, but I don't recall a single 'zombie' mention even though E4 explicitly marketed it as a ZOMBIE drama. I got a bit too preoccupied, wondering if Charlie had made a bet about writing a drama about zombies while never once mentioning the z-word.
Also, Charlie has obviously got hung up on the stating-the-obvious criticism of 'traditional' zombie films - that zombies only walk, therefore any human who can run stands a fair chance of escaping, so why don't more get away? He hammered home the point by making these zombies run! I loved the visuals; zombies sprinting, or breaking into a loping werewolfy chase. Praps that's why he didn't want to call them 'zombies'?
The absence of proper daylight concerned me. Zombies can't control the sun, can they? They can't even get out of paddling pools, apparently. Actually, that bit was really good, their stupidity, overtly commented on - by people who eventually couldn't outwit them - hah. I suspect many people were disappointed by the ending. I quite liked it, although I fear it means there's not much chance of a sequel.
I also liked the bits and pieces that were set outside the Big Brother House. I was even a little bit moved by the obligatory 'kill me before I turn (even though it was completely your fault I got bit)' scene by Liz May Brice. There was an appropriate amount of gore for such a series, and, yeah, the fire extinguisher scene was...enough.
The comedy was pretty good, but some of it was a bit predictable - i.e. 'Davina's coming to get you' - the, um, bucket was completely unexpected, though - genius and disgusting all at the same time. Those two characters in that room were brilliant, and really well played. Davina too - she was a bit of a revelation, and the parts with the ex-BB contestants fitted in nicely.
I'd be a lot more full-on with my praise if E4 hadn't oversold it. I've seen dramas like this before, set around reality TV shows. There was one called 'Sandman' set in the studio of a 'touch the truck' competition. A couple are closer to 'Dead Set' - one called 'If...', set in the future, around a suicide on a reality show (it was very sad and serious, that one, full of gloom and foreboding). I also remember another one along very similar lines - suicide of reality show contestant and asking who's responsible - the contestant, her fellow fame-hungry bullying contestants, or the programme makers, or society? I can't for the life of me remember the name of it, and I can't find it anywhere, but it was broadcast six or seven years ago. It was closer to drama-as-entertainment than 'If...', although it still had some elements of 'the inevitable outcome of reality shows'. There's also loads of films. The one that jumps to my mind is My Little Eye, which is full of underhandedness and people not being what they seem all the way through. I liked it quite a lot.
So yeah, Dead Set was good, in itself, if you can manage to ignore all E4s overhyping. It's not super-original, but the storylines, acting, production values and special effects are really, really good. If you want to dissect it and look at the other layers - the social commentary stuff and the nature of reality tv (e.g. Zombies watching Big Brother on the tv monitors) then that's there for you too. It can make you think, if that's what you want. Or not. I enjoyed it as a solid little piece of drama. If I started thinking about it I just got annoyed at the smugness.
PS. So now officially count me in as a fan of Merlin. I could make a naff quip about it working its magic on me, but I'll just say it's good quality Saturday night entertainment, with added slashiness as a bonus.
ETA: I'm not ignoring the American Elections. Just...monitoring and keeping quiet.