Dead Set on murder in the Big Brother house – Times Online

Continuing my look at anything related to the wonderful new E4 zombie-horror-Big Brother bashing-satire Dead Set, I present this look at the series, it’s creator and Jaime Winstone, from the fantastic Times Online website.

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from The Times Online:

Very bad things have been happening in the Big Brother house. The floor is swimming in blood, claw marks score the walls; outside, the water in the spa bath is a worrying vermilion. A side door swings open to reveal even grislier terrors: bowls of innards, corridors piled high with corpses.

Have the Endemol bosses finally lost control and left the housemates to rip lumps out of each other? Only in the splendidly warped world of Charlie Brooker. As the creator of the influential TV Go Home website, the presenter of Screenwipe and an acerbic TV critic for The Guardian, Brooker has been providing twisted takes on popular culture for almost a decade. But his dreams are finally being made flesh (flesh being the operative word) as the writer and executive producer of Dead Set, a five-part series for E4 that imagines a country overrun by zombies, where the only safe haven is the Big Brother house.

Continue Reading>>> Dead Set on murder in the Big Brother house – Times Online

What the critics are saying about DEAD SET

I am always looking at ways to improve this blog, so I thought instead of me ranting on about how good, or bad a show is, I would scour the interweb and find out what the critics are saying about the stuff on our UK telly boxes.

So I shall begin with what I thought was a fantastic piece of television, the new E4 horror-feast that is Dead Set.

Andrew Billen from The Times:

Television critics don’t come better than Charlie Brooker. His BBC Four Screenwipes are in my personal archive of documentaries about telly. But sadly his comedy-horror serial Dead Set reminds me of what happened when the New Yorker’s great Pauline Kael was lured to work for Hollywood: nothing much.

There was a good plot here — zombies invade England and only the Big Brother housemates are isolated from it — and it should have led to great satire on reality TV and a warm homage to zombie flicks. But, despite some glimmers of life, it was no Sean of the Dead. The pacing was so slow that the first 30 minutes of this five-night entertainment could have been cut entirely. But do give up the day job, Charlie. Competition like yours, we don’t need

TV Scoop:

It was with huge trepidation and gleeful anticipation that I awaited the start of new Charlie Brooker show, (E4, Monday, 27 October, 10pm). The anticipation came from knowing how much I like Brooker’s work in print and on screen, and the trepidation came from willing it to be good, but worried that it might not live up to the high standards he’d set previously. Thankfully, the latter didn’t end up coming to fruition at all as I think I’ve got a new fave thing .

Keith Watson from The Metro:

So, finally, the truth that many have suspected for a long time: Davina McCall is a zombie – and a scarily convincing zombie at that. Crazy-eyed and fang-drippingly ferocious, this was the Davina we need at Big Brother eviction interviews, not the kissy-kissy, buy-my-moisturiser version.

Bravely, or foolishly – depending on how much you credit her self-awareness – Davina sent herself up something rotten on Dead Set: a zombie thriller that delighted in biting juicy great lumps out of the BB phenomenon. Taking a pretty obvious observation that reality shows have turned us all into zombies, Dead Set ran with it to spine-chilling effect.

As zombies turned Britain into a bloodbath, the only safe haven was the hermetic BB house, populated as ever by the usual bunch of fame-crazed egomaniacs. Seeking refuge from the rampage, TV assistant Kel (Jaime Winstone) had to convince the BB bunch her wild-eyed terrified act was for real; not just another mind-twisting task set by the BB bosses.

This could all have been clever satire, had it not been played so straight. Writer Charlie Brooker kept a lid on the wisecracks and created an adrenalin-pumping thriller in the process. It didn’t need to hammer home its point and, shamefully, I found myself instantly wrapped up in the fake housemates, thus revealing how deeply I’ve embraced my inner zombie.

Cunningly scheduled, it’s on every night until Hallowe’en, and with Winstone’s Kel – a convincing heroine to hold on to through the madness – Dead Set promises a white-knuckle ride. What’s the betting no one gets out alive?

So mixed reviews, the snob at The Times were not impressed, TV Scoop loved it, and The Metro liked it… but really all that matters are the TV viewing population at the end of the day. What did they think? A look at the Guardian’s TV Ratings blog says the viewers in telly land did tune in… but we will have to watch to see if it sustains these positive viewing figures through-out the week.

From the Guardian TV Ratings:

Dead Set, E4’s zombie horror series set within the Big Brother house, launched with an impressive 1.19 million viewers in the 10pm hour last night, Monday October 27.

The first instalment of the five-part series, written by Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker, averaged 8.2% of all multichannel viewing in the 10pm hour, according to unofficial overnights.

Dead Set, which featured Big Brother host Davina McCall and former contestants from the show including Bubble, also picked up an additional 220,000 viewers on catch-up service E4+1 an hour later.

The episode beat the terrestrial opposition on Channel 4 and Channel Five.

Dead Set… Dead Good!!!

Anybody who knows me, knows that I hate Big Brother! I cringe every year when it approaches, and it is my prime example of a show that showcases all that is wrong with our celebrity obsessed society.

So imagine how excited I was when I heard that Charlie Brooker, the Screenwipe guy, Guardian television critic, and creator of the once mighty but now defunct TV Go Home website, had created a series in which zombies attack the Big Brother house… I was so excited, small amounts of wee leaked out!

After my excitement waned a bit, I then got a bit nervous, as good as the premise of the show, as a telly fan, and self-confessed BB hater, what is to become of me if the show turns out to be shit… Always a possibility when dealing with any television show, especially one that is being made for E4, the only network in the world that still shows Friends during prime-time. My nervous disposition though was short-lived because after viewing the trailer, and then seeing the website, I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE INSTANTLY CLASSIC TELEVISION… Not classy, classic!

So after months of marking little x’s off of my calendar, Dead Set finally arrived to my telly box tonight, and as I guessed, it was good… really, really good!

The show began it’s broadcast with a voice-over set of warnings, standard issue in our cotton wool society, “This show contains violence, gore, swearing” etc etc, but then in an original move the voice over contained viewing instructions. “This show is best viewed in wide-screen, with surround sound, and the lights turned off”, original yes! but really is it necessary to alienate the poorer parts of your audience who don’t have a wide-screen telly and surround sound?

Anyhow, getting back to the subject at hand, I spent the next hour (45 minutes minus the annoying adverts) engrossed in glorious blood-splattered, Big Brother bashing television… And as an added bonus it also showcased the lovely and talented actress Jaime Winstone!

 

 

Truly this is “must-see TV”, so good that I actually even got to watch the lovely Davina McCall in a television show that didn’t make me cringe in horror… well actually perhaps that is not an accolade that a horror show wants, but anyone who has ever endured the horrors of Big Brother, and Davina (McCall’s failed talk show understand.

So if zombies eating BB contestants is your thing, then dash over to E4 this every night this week and check out what is sure to be one of the most talked about TV shows this year, or watch it online on the Channel4 Catch-up service.

Picks of the Week – October 25-31, 2008

• Monday 9pm, BBC1; Spooks – Seventh Series debuts, with part two tomorrow night at 9pm.
• Monday 10pm, E4; Dead Set – Charlie Brooker’s Zombie-fied version of Big Brother debuts.
• Wednesday 10pm, Dave; Lead Balloon- Jack Dee’s Curb Your Enthusiasm-like comedy series gets a repeat showing.
• Thursday 10pm, ITV3; Life, a new American detective series with a twist.
• Friday from 9.30pm, BBC4; “Neil Young Night” – three programs focusing on Outside the Box favourite Neil Young.

Coming Soon: TV Horror, Dead Set

In less then two weeks E4 is going to unleash what is looking like one of the best TV series in the networks short history, zombie-horror/Big Brother spoof, Dead Set.

Zombies? Big Brother? Sounds crazy, what is this show?

Britain has a big problem. The dead are returning to life and attacking the living. The people they kill get up and kill – and it’s spreading like wildfire. Curiously, there are a few people left in Britain who aren’t worried about any of this – that’s because they’re the remaining contestants in Big Brother. Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they’re blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding outside. Until an eviction night when all hell breaks loose.

Kelly, (Jaime Winstone) the production runner working on Big Brother finds herself caught in the impossible position of trying to fend off the walking dead alongside the remaining housemates, Davina herself, a host of former Big Brother housemates, her producer boss Patrick (Andy Nyman) and boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed).

Over the ensuing days, in a cruel reflection of the game show they thought they were entering, the contestants fall victim, one by one, to the hungry masses outside. Staying alive requires teamwork – which is tricky when you’re a group specifically selected by TV producers to wind each other up.

Information from the E4 Dead Set website

Sounds good is there a trailer?

There sure is:

Any more stuff available to get me excited?

Of course there is. The producers of the show have also gone produced one of the slickest TV show sites I have seen for a long time. Found at http://www.e4.com/deadset/flash.html it has everything you would expect from a TV show site, a gallery, video, cast and crew profiles, and the chance to win stuff. In addition there is also the chance to “get infected” by viewing some ‘exclusive footage’ only available through the site.

Autumn Viewing Guide – Part One Drama

Having survived the weak summer television offerings it is time to rejoice and celebrate the new autumn television schedule. In this first part I will be looking forward to some of the planned Dramas that have caught my attention coming soon to your telly boxes.

BBC:

Survivors – people with good memories may recall this cult TV show from the mid-1970s in which a virus decimates most of the human population. This re-vamp features Max Beesley and ex-Doctor Who babe Freema Agyeman.

Merlin -a new 13-part drama series on BBC Onewhich updates the story of the infamous sorceror of Arthurian legend for a new audience.

Apparitions – Starring Martin Shaw (Judge John Deed, George Gently), Apparitions was originally produced as a two-part special for transmission in early 2008. However, the two-part drama will now form part of a longer series.

Shaw plays Father Jacob, a priest working to promote candidates for sainthood who becomes drawn in to exorcism as he discovers a dark battle between good and evil – a battle that threatens the future of the human race itself.

Heroes- the third season of everybody’s favourite sci-fi, superhero soap opera returns to BBC2.

ITV:

The Last Van Helsing – Philip Glenister (aka Gene Hunt) shows no mercy as he rids London of it’s vampire (bastards). Mackenzie Crook who looks like the undead, is suitably cast as a vampire.

Place of Execution – dramatic tale of the mystery surrounding a missing thirteen year old girl is adapted from Val McDermid’s best selling novel.

Caught in a Trap – Sound of Music (the stage musical not the film) star Connie Fisher will make her TV drama debut as a woman obsessed with Elvis Presley.

Wired – Laurence Fox (Lewis), Jodie Whittaker (St Trinian’s), Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) and Charlie Brookes (EastEnders), star in Wired, a fast-paced three-part thriller which delves into the murky high-risk world of bank fraud.

Mr Eleven:  bionic babe, Michelle Ryan, is back on British TV in a touching new romantic comedy.

Did you know that the average British woman will marry their 11th sexual partner? But does Mr Eleven always equal Mr Right?

Channel 4 and E4:

The Devil’s Whore – John Simm (Life on Mars) travels even further back in time to star as a Puritan soldier who plots to kill Cromwell in an epic English cival war mini-series.

Dead Set: In a nightmare world the Big Brother house has become the only sanctuary… a new zombie horror is also a satire on reality TV. Outside the Box favourite Jaime Winstone stars.