Dead Set and Spooks

It’s that violent time of the television scheduling year!

So I know that technically the film 28 Weeks Later didn’t feature zombies since the “Infected” were still alive. But it’s my closest point of reference to E4’s Dead Set that was shown a week or two ago.

Written by the Guardian’s TV reviewer Charlie Brooker, the zombie, horror satire is set inside the Big Brother house. It’s eviction night, but something goes wrong. Riots break out across the UK, forcing the live eviction show to be taken off air and replaced with a special C4 news bulletin. But as the eviction goes ahead outside the house, zombies run amok amongst the crowd.

Soon the madness is erupting in the production areas, and works its way into the camera runs. Kelly – a runner on the show – seeks refuge in the BB house, though the contestants mistake her for a new housemate (albeit covered in blood and more tense than normal).

There’s a zombie Davina, a variety of violent methods to smash the head of a zombie (seems to be the only way to kill them), and a great ending. Not the usual squared-eyed fodder for AiB, but jolly good TV if you can stomach a bit (a lot) of gore.

For the PC/Windows users out there, it’s still available to watch online (there’s a feature version or else the five episodes) or for free download via 4oD.

Spooks is back on BBC One. That’s grown up Spooks and not BBC Three’s baby Spooks - Code 9 spin-off that took a while to warm up by the end of series. The first episode lost a major character (careless! but not unusual), the second was a lot less tense than normal, and the third show was back with its sinister, chest-tightening soundtrack and the countdown to disaster and split second redemption.