As the tawdry spectacle of Big Brother 2008 ground to a flatulent halt this summer there can’t have been many viewers of sound mind willing its hasty return. Having dominated Channel 4’s schedule for three months the mere mention of its name was enough to have nearly every demographic reaching for the noose.
It was therefore a brazen move of Charlie Brooker to set his Halloween slasher/satire Dead Set around a fictional tenth series of the reality show. Or rather it would have been had he not had the flash of inspiration to juxtapose the famous house with a marauding battalion of flesh-hungry zombies.
Satire
Brooker is perhaps best known for his acerbic column in the Guardian, or the 2005 sitcom Nathan Barley which he co-wrote and directed with legendary satirist Chris Morris. Dead Set is his first solo incursion into the realm of primetime television, and a most ambitious opening gambit it proves to be.
Dusting off the well-worn mantle of zombies-overrun-the-world as its premise Dead Set introduces a zesty 21st Century twist. This time around the few survivors from the outbreak are those shielded in the only place designed to withstand the prying eyes of Heat magazine: the Big Brother house.
As anyone who has read Brooker’s column would expect each survivor stands in effigy to the worst example of insipid Z-List wannabe reality star. From the vacuous blonde to the ebullient transvestite, each specimen is accounted for and waits patiently in line for their grisly comeuppance. Add to the mix an unscrupulous producer and a feisty assistant, the latter played by Jaime Winstone, and the stage is set for an epic clash against egos, ignorance and one or two zombies as well.
Shaun of the Dead
Sidestepping the issue of whether Dead Set is actually any good or not, the most blatant objection against such a programme is surely: what’s the point? It is less than five years since the excellent Shaun of the Dead lurched onto our screens. Is there really the need for another British zombie/comedy so soon?
Fortunately Charlie Brooker has avoided the pitfalls of simply rehashing Simon Pegg’s formula. For a start Dead Set is bleak, grisly and not a little unsettling. The undead don’t simply amble around like drunken octogenarians in the House of Lords; they sprint in fevered bloodlust straight for the jugular.
Likewise the humour is pointed and merciless, inflating and bursting all the bloated foibles of the fame and money-hungry. If Shaun of the Dead was an irreverent tickle of our twilight funny-bone, this is a leering razorblade straight through the humerus, taking in a couple of eyeballs and an ear en route. Think 28 Days Later crossed with Extras and you’re somewhere close.
Epic
Unfortunately all the gore and schadenfreude in the world can’t obscure Dead Set’s obvious flaw: it’s long. Really long. Originally shown episodically on E4 over Halloween the compiled DVD released this week weighs in at almost three hours.
Still, if you’re happy to set the best part of an evening aside to watch the brutal and often hilarious slaughter of a gaggle of (sadly) fictitious Big Brother contestants, then Dead Set might just push all your buttons in a rather pleasing way.
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