Mini Series Review: DEADSET (2008)

 DEADSET (2008) United Kingdom 2hrs 21mins 

Director: Yann Demange

"What is television anyway but a big arrow pointing away from the problem?" - Joplin

"You killed Davina!" - Pippa  "I hired her... I can do what I like." - Patrick

This British mini series was written by satirist, presenter and producer Charlie Brooker. His background in political satire from shows like THE 11 O'CLOCK SHOW (1999) and  BRASS EYE (2001) may not seem like a gate way to horror but probably had some hand in him delving into more fictional satire and set him up perfectly to come up with the idea for a show based around a popular reality TV show and a fictional phenomena like a zombie apocalypse. The two concepts are not completely different from each other and he makes the point of saying that the human race is never going to be ready for a real apocalypse. We will never heed the warnings until it is too late. There may be a pocket of society that will survive but you can guarantee that no matter how hard they try they will fuck that up along the way too. The idea itself is pure genius and with the help of Yann Demange the execution is nothing short of perfection. You can see from DEADSET how Charlie Brookers imagination works and how this and his political commentary blossomed and grew into the madness of BLACK MIRROR (2011-) and how this set Demange onto things like LOVECRAFT COUNTRY (2020).

Big Brother was a huge thing in the UK during the early 2000's and well established at the time Brooker thought up this crazy concept. The first draft of the script was written in 2005 during the sixth season of Big Brother but took a little while to get off the ground and came out a couple of years later just after the eighth season of Big Brother. The reason that it is pure genius is that many zombie/horror fans who were also avid Big Brother viewers had probably had the same thought whilst watching the show. "Where would be the best place to go during a zombie apocalypse?" If the Big Brother house is not in your top five then you have not thought hard enough about your zombie survival/escape plan,  it is almost like Brooker had read my mind and if I wasn't already a member of the undead I would be seriously considering this as a viable option. He took it that one step further though and decided to introduce the zombie outbreak during a live eviction episode, which keeps the anticipation going long after the first episode.  DEADSET first aired in the UK around Halloween 2008 and was split into 5 episodes of about 40 minutes, back in the day when episodes didn't feel like they were feature length, and played everyday after for those 5 episodes. 

The mini series is based at the Big Brother house and follows the story of crew members behind the scenes, mainly runner Kelly (Jaime Winstone) and producer Patrick (Andy Nyman) as they prepare to go live for eviction night. News reports of civil unrest, riots and looting are growing and are threatening to kick Big Brother off the air for a special report which Patrick is not happy about. The reports are on in the background but few are paying attention as they hurry to get things ready for the live show regardless. The zombie apocalypse hits the studio when another show runner and driver are bringing the evicted house mates family back to the studio. The driver stops the car at an abandoned vehicle where he is attacked and mortality wounded by a bite to the throat. The runner drives them back to the studio where she hopes to get a signal to call an ambulance but the driver dies on the backseat. The car makes it back to the studio, as do the occupants however, much to the surprise of the security guard who opens the door, not as they once were. Oblivious to this the show goes live as the infected begin to infiltrate the crowd and crew outside of the Big Brother houses walls. Inside, the house mates carry on as normal not knowing what has happened. As carnage reigns throughout the studio overnight a few of the crew manage to find a place to hide, Kelly is trapped in an office whereas Patrick spends the night in a toilet cubicle, as zombies now swarm the studio grounds. Resourceful Kelly is the first to make it into the Big Brother house but can she convince the remaining house mates that what is going on outside the walls is real?

DEADSET (2008) is very cleverly done in everyway. Thanks to Charlie Brookers writing, Yannn Demange's direction,  a skilled crew and a stellar cast. Having real past Big Brother contestants, the actual host of the show Davina McCall and the voice of Big Brother UK narration Paul "Bubble" Ferguson on board to play themselves, really helps to add to the realism of the show. Andy Nyman is super great as the obnoxious, insensitive producer Patrick and Jaime Winstone is a stand out final girl of sorts. The actors playing the fictional house mates all do a fab job of portraying the broad demographic of characters that you expect to find in reality TV shows and they all have their time to shine. Kevin Eldon as Joplin the kind of weird creepy housemate is a great touch. For fans of past Big Brother series you do get to see previous contestants like Eugene get his guts ripped out as well as Brian and Davina getting the full zombie treatment. There is a side story accompanying the goings on in the house as Kelly's boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed) is out in the real world as the ZA hits and it gives you an impression of the situation outside the walls of the Big Brother house. The plot and storylines have been well thought out. It's well paced and wholly entertaining throughout. There are incidents that occur within the story that means there is a necessity to leave the safety of the house otherwise it could have been a little boring but many scenarios pop up that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It's also a good thing that this was split into episodes as the sheer anticipation of watching in one go may have been a bit too much. When they are not giving you heart palpitations due to the numerous zombie related jump scares and chases they fill the time with great character arcs and dialogue; be it Patrick calling Pippa "a fetus" or shitting in a bin, there is never a dull moment.

The special FX, prosthetics and gore are mostly practical, very plentiful and supremely effective. There is so much blood I really wish I knew how much was used as I feel it would almost rival the stats I revealed for my EVIL DEAD piece. I love the fact that there are multiple dead bodies lying around in the background during most of the shots in various stages of decomposition and consumption, it kind of brings home the bleakness of the situation knowing there is no one there to clean up. As this is about normal humans and not elite soldiers weapons are mostly improvised and only a few guns are used in this. Kelly dispatches her first zombie by use of some oversized scissors. Other kills involve fire extinguishers, an office lamp stand and a great double team kill with a duvet and a kitchen knife. One of the bloodiest non zombie bits sees Patrick dismembering the corpse of a fallen house mate which is nicely graphic.

The zombies are insanely good and there are plenty of them. A lot of effort has gone into their individual looks and wounds. They are the fast type of zombie though choosing to run and scream as much as possible, very quick to turn and there is no explanation behind the origin of the infection/outbreak which in itself can be pretty scary. They still look quite like the old school Romero/Fulci type zombies with bits hanging off them, shredded clothing, severe wounds and very freaky eyes. There are a few nods to other zombie movies namely Romero's Dead series as Marky (Warren Brown) quotes the well known "they're coming to get you Barbara" phrase and Patricks death sequence is reminiscent of Captain Rhodes. One of my favourite zombies is Davina, she really gives it her all and gets quite a lot of screen time as well as two memorable deaths. 

The story is played straight with some real tragedy and heartbreak that hits home and makes you wonder how you would deal with those kind of situations yourself. The story of Riq and Alex (Liz May Brice) although of bit of a side note,  is something that you get really invested in. The way that it all ends as well is just incredibly desperate and bleak. The extras and special features on my DVD edition have some great insights into the filming processes, the cameras used as well as in depth interviews on the practical FX , with Charlie Brooker and Yann Demange as well as some of the deleted scenes which are great to check out. Despite the fact that DEADSET (2008) is about 15 years old now it still holds up incredibly well. It doesn't look dated at all and is still as relevant now as it was then. I revisit DEADSET pretty much every year and I will never tire of it. I score DEADSET (2008) 5 brains out of 5. DEADSET (2008) is available on DVD and Blu Ray as well as available on Amazon Prime.

Incidentally, if you love DEADSET then it may interest you to know that there is a sister show or remake of sorts currently showing on Netflix. REALITY Z is based on DEADSET but is set in Brazil and occurs during their version of Big Brother. This 10 episode mini series first came out in 2020 and starts off by playing out just like DEADSET however as it is longer there are a few twists which takes the story off in a slightly different direction. REALITY Z does try to follow the story the same, however unfortunately the cast are not quite as strong but their introduction of a new set of characters is a clever way to introduce a more political stance on the situation. I wasn't sure about this series at first as it was close to just straight up copying DEADSET but as things started to change I warmed up quickly to it. I prefer the subtitle option to the dubbed version which I feel dumbs it down somewhat but with the twists and extensions to the original source material they made sure I was once again fully emotionally absorbed in it. I find it a great reimagining of the original which is a great accompaniment to it and it is another heartfelt recommend from me. I score REALITY Z (2020) 4 brains out of 5.