Dead Set

For the live album by Grateful Dead, seeDead Set (album).

Dead Setis a Britishsatiricalzombiehorrortelevisionminiserieswritten and created byCharlie Brooker.The show takes place primarily on the set of a fictional series of the real television showBig Brother.The five episodes, aired over five consecutive nights, chronicle azombie outbreakthat strands the housemates and production staff inside theBig BrotherHouse, which quickly becomes a shelter from the undead.

Dead Set
Genre	Horror Satire
Created by	Charlie Brooker
Written by	Charlie Brooker
Directed by	Yann Demange
Starring	Jaime Winstone Andy Nyman Riz Ahmed Chizzy Akudolu Liz May Brice Warren Brown Shelley Conn Beth Cordingly Adam Deacon Kevin Eldon Raj Ghatak Kathleen McDermott Davina McCall
Composer	Dan Jones
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No.of series	1
No.of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Charlie Brooker Annabel Jones
Producers	Angie Daniell Chrissy Skinns
Cinematography	Tat Radcliffe
Editor	Chris Wyatt
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25-45 minutes
Production company	Zeppotron
Original release
Network	E4
Release	27 October(2008-10-27)– 31 October 2008(2008-10-31)

Dead Setis a production of Zeppotron, part of theEndemolgroup of production and distribution companies that produces the actualBig Brother.The series first aired onE4starting on 27 October 2008, just six weeks after the end ofBig Brother 2008on the same channel.

Cast

• Jaime Winstoneas Kelly Povell, a runner on theBig Brotherset
• Riz Ahmedas Riq Rahman, Kelly's boyfriend
• Adam Deaconas Space, a housemate inBig Brother
• Andy Nymanas Patrick Goad, the producer ofBig Brother
• Warren Brownas Marky, a housemate inBig Brother
• Beth Cordinglyas Veronica, a housemate inBig Brother
• Kathleen McDermottas Pippa, a housemate inBig Brother
• Kevin Eldonas Joplin, a housemate inBig Brother
• Raj Ghatakas Grayson, a housemate inBig Brother
• Chizzy Akudoluas Angel, a housemate inBig Brother
• Liz May Briceas Alex Bryson, a survivor who Riq encounters
• Elyes Gabelas Danny
• Shelley Connas Claire Oberon
• Kelly Wenhamas Chloe
• Jennifer Aries as Sophie
• Davina McCallas herself
• Charlie Brookeras azombie
• Krishnan Guru-Murthyas himself
• Marcus Bentleyas himself

Cameos by formerBig Brotherhousemates

Housemate	Big Brotherseries
Helen Adams	Big Brother 2
Paul "Bubble" Ferguson	Big Brother 2
Eugene Sully	Big Brother 6
Kinga Karolczak	Big Brother 6
Makosi Musambasi	Big Brother 6
Saskia Howard-Clarke	Big Brother 6
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace	Big Brother 7
Imogen Thomas	Big Brother 7
Brian Belo	Big Brother 8
Ziggy Lichman	Big Brother 8

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	"Outbreak"	Yann Demange	Charlie Brooker	27 October 2008(2008-10-27)	1,465,000 317,000 (+1)
During an eviction night onBig Brother,riots occur in several cities across the UK, with emergency services struggling to cope and the military being called in, and the live show may be bumped for related news. Producer Patrick tries to maintain control, issuing orders to the runners and his assistant Claire, while former seasons' housematesAisleyne,Imogen,Helen,Bubble,Brian,Kinga,Eugene,MakosiandZiggyare having a reunion party in the studiogreen roomandpresenterDavina McCallprepares for the post-eviction interview. The current housemates, Marky, Veronica, Grayson, Joplin, Angel, Space, and Pippa, get ready for eviction. Runner Kelly and co-worker Danny flirt in an outer office until co-worker Chloe interrupts, making frank accusations about Kelly and Danny's activities. Meanwhile, Kelly's boyfriend Riq is stranded at a railway station after his van is stolen. Another runner, Sophie, travels to the studio with Pippa's mother and their driver, who is bitten by a zombie on the way there. They reach the studio as he dies and reanimates, killing both women and biting a security guard. As Pippa's eviction is announced, the guard stumbles into the crowd of fans, dies, reanimates, and begins infecting others. The zombies invade the studio's interiors and attack Davina, the production crew, and the former contestants. Zombie Danny kills Chloe, but Kelly manages to barricade herself in an office and sees a news report of the zombie outbreak. Meanwhile, Patrick hides in a toilet cubicle after sacrificing Claire and a disabled man to save himself; then, he finds Pippa in theBig Brothergreen room while trying to escape from zombie Davina. In the morning, the housemates are bickering, oblivious to the situation and wondering why Big Brother seems to ignore them, with only Space realising that something is wrong. Kelly kills Danny by stabbing him in the head with a knife. She is then chased outside and attempts to escape in a van. She gets the keys but is forced back inside the closed studio, where she escapes from a zombie cameraman lurking in the camera runs by entering the house via the Diary Room's fire exit door. Most of the housemates believe that she is a new contestant, and she tries to explain that there is a zombie outbreak and that something is behind thetwo-way mirrors,with Space the only one to believe her initially. Marky opens a door to taunt her, and the cameraman bursts into the house, biting Angel before Kelly smashes his head with a fire extinguisher. Cast :Marcus Bentley,Krishnan Guru-Murthy,Davina McCall,Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace,Brian Belo,Imogen Thomas,Helen Adams,Paul "Bubble" Ferguson,Kinga Karolczak,Eugene Sully,Makosi Musambasi,Ziggy Lichman
2	"Can the Housemates Keep Angel Alive?"	Yann Demange	Charlie Brooker	28 October 2008(2008-10-28)	1,038,000 336,000 (+1)
Riq hides from zombies in a petrol station, where he is rescued by another survivor named Alex. The two set off for the coast in her car, which eventually breaks down. Riq attempts repairs while Alex stands guard, occasionally shooting approaching zombies. While Riq struggles to fix the car, Alex yells at him, angrily revealing that she had to shoot her zombified best friend dead to survive. The sound of them arguing attracts many zombies, forcing them to leave the car and escape on foot. They take shelter in an abandoned country house. Patrick and Pippa are stuck in the green room with no means of communication; they begin to argue as they try to defend themselves from zombie Davina as she prowls the corridor outside, making the occasional attempt to get in. The housemates move Angel to the greenhouse in the garden so that she is contained if she turns. Grayson, a nurse, explains that he needs proper medical supplies to help her. Kelly, Marky, and Space plan to use the van outside to fetch supplies from the nearby supermarket. Kelly tells Grayson to stab Angel in the head if she dies. Veronica and Joplin create a diversion, buying the others time to get to the van to which Kelly has the keys. Several zombies, including Claire, chase Kelly, Space and Marky, who barely manage to escape, though Marky injures his arm while leaping into the back of the van. Cast :Davina McCall
3	"Live Feed"	Yann Demange	Charlie Brooker	29 October 2008(2008-10-29)	842,000 360,000 (+1)
Kelly, Marky, and Space make it to the supermarket and gather supplies. When they are chased out of the store, two policemen looking for looters shoot the zombies. One of the cops is bitten and then shot by his colleague, who explains that those bitten die and turn quickly. Thinking the wound on Marky's arm is a bite, the policeman threatens to shoot him, refusing to believe that it is not. Kelly picks up the dead policeman's gun and shoots his partner in the leg. More zombies appear, and Kelly, Marky and Space escape in the van, leaving the wounded policeman to the zombies. Grayson tries to comfort Angel, but when she stops breathing, he hesitates to stab her, and she attacks. Veronica and Joplin, hearing the screams, run to the garden. Grayson stumbles out of the greenhouse clutching his neck, and zombie Angel chases after Veronica until Grayson pushes Angel into the pool just before he dies and then reanimates. Joplin and Veronica trap zombie Grayson with a bed cover, and Veronica stabs him in the head just as Kelly, Marky, and Space arrive. Seeing that Angel cannot escape the pool, they conclude that zombies have little intelligence. Kelly declares that the living will win the day because they can still reason, then fatally shoots Angel in the head with the policeman's gun. At the country house, Riq turns on the television and discovers theBig Brotherlive feed is still broadcasting onE4.Alex hears a French radio broadcast say that a rescue boat has just left, stranding them and any other survivors. Suddenly, Riq sees Kelly and the others on screen. Cast :Davina McCall
4	"Running"	Yann Demange	Charlie Brooker	30 October 2008(2008-10-30)	907,000 299,000 (+1)
Riq decides he must get to Kelly and convinces Alex to leave the safety of the country house with him so they can make their way to the studio by boat along the river. Alex is bitten by a zombie while opening a lock gate. Knowing that she will turn, Alex hands Riq her axe, and he reluctantly kills her with it. With Pippa's reluctant help, Patrick kills zombie Davina, and he and Pippa make it to the studio control room. Using thePA system,they communicate with the housemates and eventually join them in theBig Brotherhouse. Patrick wants to leave the safety of the house and head for the coast, but Kelly shows him the crowd of zombies at the gates, preventing them from leaving the compound. Patrick suggests they cut up Grayson's remains to use as bait to distract the zombies while they escape in the van. Most of the housemates disagree, but Joplin and a reluctant Kelly allow him to do so. Riq makes it to the studio and approaches theBig Brotherhouse, where Marky shoots the zombies inside the compound with the policeman's assault rifle. Marky spots Riq and starts to shoot at him, thinking he is a zombie. Cast :Davina McCall,Brian Belo
5	"A Way Out"	Yann Demange	Charlie Brooker	31 October 2008(2008-10-31)	705,000
Marky misses shooting Riq several times before Kelly recognises him and stops Marky from shooting. Once inside, Riq warns that Patrick's plan will not work as there are too many zombies. The housemates decide to stay in the house as long as possible and tie up a resistant Patrick, who later manages to turn Joplin against the others, comparing their situation toBig Brother's changing social-dynamics, and takes Kelly hostage while Joplin carries the bowl of bait. Everyone follows them outside, but in the struggle, the bait is dropped, and Patrick fatally shoots Riq. As a devastated Kelly tries to shoot Patrick in a rage, a traumatised Pippa runs back to the studio's offices, and Space follows. A panicked Joplin opens the gates and is devoured by the oncoming zombies. Kelly, Marky, Veronica and Patrick run for the house, but the zombies, including Saskia, rip Patrick apart. Space makes it to the control room and communicates using the PA system. Zombies quickly fill the camera runs, and Kelly realises they will easily make it through the two-way glass and fire doors. She urges Space to open the Diary Room – zombie Aisleyne bites him. He opens the Diary Room door just after the zombies force their way into the house. Only Kelly makes it into the Diary Room; Marky and Veronica are eaten alive, and Space sees that Pippa is one of the zombies trying to get into the booth alongside her undead mother. Kelly congratulates Space on winning the series ofBig Brother,and tells him to open the outside door to the fire exit so she can fight her way to the van. He refuses, knowing she is vastly outnumbered and will be killed until Kelly reminds him of the advice he gave her to face her fears and seize the day. He relents and opens the door. The next morning, Joplin, Space, Marky, Veronica and Kelly are seen as zombies; Joplin, Marky and Veronica feast on human remains, Space stares blankly around the control room, and Kelly stares into a camera in theBig Brotherhouse; her zombified stare is broadcast on theBig Brotherlive feed on multiple televisions in the United Kingdom. Cast :Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace,Saskia Howard-Clarke

Production

Writing

Charlie Brookersaid that the basic idea for the series came about in 2004, as he watched the American series24.He commented: "I'm enjoying this, but these terrorists are just ridiculous. They're like waves ofSpace Invaders.They might as well be zombies. "Following this, he imagined an apocalypse occurring during the filming ofBig Brother.He cited the Big Brother House as an excellent place to hide during a zombie apocalypse.

The first draft of the script was written in 2005, during the airing ofBig Brother 6.He based some of his fictional housemates on actual former housemates. For example, he citedMaxwell WardandSaskia Howard-Clarkeas inspirations for Marky and Veronica, with Pippa and Space being loosely based onHelen AdamsandKieron "Science" Harveyrespectively.For further inspiration, he attended the live eviction ofGeorge GallowayduringCelebrity Big Brother 4,where he also visited the camera runs that surround the House.

BeyondBig Brother,Brooker noted several examples ofzombie fictionthat had inspired him, including theDeadseries of films byGeorge A. Romero,Zombie Flesh Eaters,28 Days Later,The Walking Dead,The Living Dead At Manchester MorgueandZombie Creeping Flesh.

Angela Jain, then head ofE4,announced that she had commissioned the series in April 2008,although the true nature of the project was not publicly revealed until August of that year.

Filming

TheBig Brothereye logo featured inDead Setwas described by Brooker as a combination of several of the real logos used throughout the series.The design of the fictionalBig Brotherset was made to look as authentic as possible – it featured similar cameras,two-way mirrors(which could be angled to avoid revealing the camera crew),astroturfand the actual (albeit slightly modified) Diary Room chair fromBig Brother 8.Filming inside the fictionalBig Brotherset for the first episode was done usingDigital Betacamtechnology, to retain the look and feel of the actualBig Brotherseries. The rest of the scenes were shot using theArriflex D-20.

Filming for the series took place over the summer of 2008, mainly atLongcross Studiosand the surrounding areas. The eviction of Pippa (Kathleen McDermott) was filmed at the actualBig BrotherHouse in Elstree on 18 July 2008 – the same night thatBelindawas evicted. Before she left the house, McDermott was placed in the stairwell of the House and "evicted" in front of the show's live audience. McDermott andDavina McCallhad previously shot an improvised "eviction interview".In addition, several formerBig Brotherhousemates appeared as themselves. They were filmed chatting to each other as part of a fictional "reunion" beforeDead Set's crew members "surprised" them to film a shocked reaction.

Scenes featuring McCall as a zombie were filmed in one day, and the bodies lying around the corridor during the scene were created with SFX dummies (besidesEugene Sully's, which McCall is seen feasting on). McCall stated that she was covered in bruises the next day due to hammering on the door in several scenes. She based her zombie-running style on theT-1000from the 1991 filmTerminator 2: Judgment Day.As she was restricted to only one day's filming, a dummy of McCall was used in some scenes for which she was unavailable.

Filming of the series was found to be difficult due to budgetary and time constraints. Some extras were redressed to play different zombies due to the cost of the contact lenses used as zombie eyes, and the scene in Episode 2 in which Alex and Riq's car breaks down was initially meant to be an explosive car crash.Brooker cited similar constraints for eliminating his original concept for the final episode, which would have been set six months after the outbreak.Many of the zombies featured in the crowd scenes – including the final assault on the house – were volunteers recruited through the internet.

In the second episode, Charlie Brooker also has a brief cameo as a zombie.

Release

Promotion

Dead Setlogo

A map for theBorehamwoodregion, the site of the realBig BrotherHouse, was added to theUrban DeadMMORPG – with a competition to win a copy of the DVD as part of the promotion of the series.A website forDead Setwas launched on 17 September 2008. There also was aviral marketingsite at UnseenScreen.com, which had a clip of an interruption to the Big Brother live feed. The website would ask for your name and birth date to ensure you are 18 or over. This clip shows an unknown woman wearing a leather jacket and trousers trapped in a destroyed Diary Room, covered in blood and screaming for help. The sound cuts out for the majority of the video, only her screaming "Help me." and the name entered can be heard. She then turns to the wall behind her and struggles to write "Help me (Name)”, and the date of birth entered on the wall in blood. The video then goes to a card saying "Dead Set Coming Soon" with an address to the E4 Dead Set site. Advertisements for the show were aired onE4and its parent,Channel 4,with a final trailer appearing onYouTubeon 27 October.

Original broadcast

The series launched onE4on 27 October 2008 and concluded on 31 October 2008. All five episodes were broadcast consecutively as aHalloweenfeature length (2.5 hours) version on E4 on 31 October 2009.Dead Setwas repeated on Channel 4 from 6 to 8 January 2009, reformatted into three-hour-long episodes.

International broadcasts

Country	Channel(s)	Date(s)
Australia	SBS One	9 November 2009
Brazil	Multishow	15 October 2009
Spain	Canal +	25 July 2009
South Africa	DstvBBC Entertainment	3 September 2009
France	Ciné+ Frisson	17 and 18 October 2009
Poland	BBC Entertainment;Cinemax,Cinemax 2	28 October 2009
United States	IFC	25 to 29 October 2010
Italy	MTV Italia	12 November 2010
Sweden	TV11	20 February 2011
Bulgaria	AXN	7 August 2012
Israel	HOT V.O.D	4 July 2013
The Netherlands	OutTV	31 October 2013
New Zealand	The Zone	28 January 2015

Home media

The entire series was released on DVD on 3 November 2008 and again in a repackaged format on 19 October 2009. The running time for the DVD is 142 minutes.The DVD extras include interviews with the director, writer and cast, behind-the-scenes and special effects featurettes, and a selection of deleted and extended scenes, including:

• Pippa's eviction in full (featuring scenes shot from inside the actualBig Brotherhouse staircase)
• A segment from a fictional episode of8 Out of 10 Cats
• A scene featuring Patrick discussing "recycling" Grayson's body
• An extended version of Patrick mocking Veronica over her relationship with Marky
• Pippa's death in the final episode at the hands of her undead mother.

The series is currently available to stream in the UK, Canada and the US onNetflix.

Reception

Dead Sethas been acclaimed by critics and the public alike.Metacriticassigned the series a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".In 2009, it was nominated for aBAFTAfor "Best Drama Serial", but lost out toCriminal Justice.

Simon Pegg,a co-writer and star of the zombie comedy filmShaun of the Dead,commented onDead SetforThe Guardian.While generally praising the series, he expressed dismay at the move away from the traditional slow zombies of the Romero films to the modern 'fast zombie' used inDead Setwhich were akin to the infected from28 Days Lateror the zombies from the 2004Dawn of the Deadremake.Brooker responded that this was due to a variety of reasons, including budgetary constraints, the fact thatDead Sethad to differentiate itself fromShaun of the Dead,as well as the plot requiring that the infection could put the entire country out of action before the producers had time to evacuate the studios. He also cited twoGeorge A. Romerofilms in which the zombies behaved non-traditionally, including a scene in the originalDawn of the Deadwhere two zombie children run.

Legacy

In 2013, Brooker confirmed that theBig Brother 14production team sought his approval (which he granted) for a "quarantine" task inspired byDead Set,which saw housemates being subjected to a fictional viral outbreak.

Steve Greene ofIndieWire,reviewing the series in 2017, noted similar themes inDead Setand Brooker's later series,Black Mirror.He described the former as "an analog precursor to the digital-themed entertainment" featured in the latter.

On 24 April 2019, the production of the Brazilian seriesReality Z,which was based onDead Set,was announced. The show premiered onNetflixin 2020.

TheCOVID-19 pandemic,which saw contestants ofBig Brotheraround the world being isolated from news of the pandemic before being released back into a world under lockdown, drew comparisons withDead Set(albeit, with theCOVID-19disease instead of a fictional zombie virus).However, this didnothappen with the UK edition ofBig Brother,which was the edition of the show thatDead Setis based on.Big BrotherUK (which moved fromChannel 4toChannel 5in 2011) was cancelled in 2018, slightly under two years before the global pandemic began in 2020.

See also

• One Cut of the Dead

External links

• Official website.Archived on 2008-12-02
• Dead SetatIMDb