Dead Set

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
You have 30 minutes to say your goodbyes, then I'm coming to get you!

Pippa: Is that Davina?
Patrick: ...Sort of.

How many of you have watched Big Brother and thought, "This is the beginning of the apocalypse"? Well, it seems you're not the only one.

Dead Set is the not-so predictable crossover of Big Brother meets the Zombie Apocalypse, particularly the fast plague-zombies of 28 Days Later. After a Zombie Infectee staggers into the crowd at a BB eviction, the disease spreads rapidly through the studio, leaving just one safe place: the heavily protected house in the middle. The remaining housemates then try to survive inside the house as the infection spreads and the remaining zombies search for flesh. Problem is, when everyone in the house has been chosen specifically because they create tension and conflict with each other to boost ratings, that's easier said than done...

The show was written by TV columnist Charlie Brooker of Screenwipe fame and is about as satirical as you might expect. He went on to create another drama series called Black Mirror.

Tropes used in Dead Set include:


Patrick: Do you even understand what is going on here, or is the whole world just colours and shapes and the occasional noise in your head?

Marky: Or we could chop his Achilles tendon in the back of the heel... turns the feet into dead plates, even if he wanted to use 'em, he won't be able to operate the pedal...
Space: Where'd you learn that from, man?
Marky: Saw Jack Bauer do it on the telly.
Pippa: No! S'not real life, is it? No! If we're doin' this, we're smashin' his ankles like in that film... "Mystery".

Patrick (watching Pippa's eviction interview) Urghfff! I cannot imagine... living next door to people like that!
(Later Patrick flees from a zombie Davina McCall into the Green Room, only to find it's occupied by a hysterical Pippa)
Patrick: Not you! Fuck, not you!

  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: The second episode opens with Veronica puking her guts up after witnessing Kelly smashing a zombie's head open with a fire extinguisher.
  • While Rome Burns: Pippa reads a magazine while Zombie Davina bangs on the door outside. Marky obsesses about what the papers say about him.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Firmly in the mold of 28 Days Later.
  • Zombie Infectee:
    • Averted with Alex who, when infected, calmly hands Riq her axe. He knows what he has to do without her even asking him to.
    • Inverted with Marky who injured his arm when diving into the van. This gets him in trouble when a police officer threatens to shoot him, believing him to be infected.
    • Played straight by Angel.