Line #31 Series/DeadSet


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8	->'''Pippa:''' Is that Davina?
9	->'''Patrick:''' ...[[NotHerself Sort]] [[CameBackWrong of.]]
10
11	How many of you have watched ''Series/BigBrother'' and thought, "This is the beginning of the apocalypse"? Well, it seems you're not the only one.
12
13	''Dead Set'' is a British horror miniseries whose premise presents the not-so-predictable crossover of "''Big Brother'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] the ZombieApocalypse" (particularly the fast plague-zombies of ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''). It was created and written by Creator/CharlieBrooker, of then ''Series/{{Screenwipe}}'' fame and eventual ''Series/BlackMirror'' fame; it's about as satirical as you might expect. It aired its five episodes on [[Creator/Channel4 E4]] over five consecutive nights from 27 October to 31 October 2008, premiering just six weeks after the end of ''Big Brother 2008'' on the same channel.
14
15	After a ZombieInfectee staggers into the crowd at an eviction of a fictional series of the real ''Big Brother'' show, 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 cast specifically because they create tension and conflict with each other to boost ratings, that's easier said than done...
16
17	The series was adapted by Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2020 as ''Reality Z'' with the setting updated to Rio de Janeiro; Brooker served as executive producer.
18	----
19	!!This show provides examples of:
20	* ActionSurvivor: Kelly spends her first few hours of the apocalypse crying, but recovers and becomes the de facto leader of the group. Alex, from what little we know about her, appears this way. And Riq managed to stay alive in the outside world, too. [[spoiler: Granted, they all died in the end...]]
21	* AnyoneCanDie: [[ZombieApocalypse And then come back and make the other characters die, too.]] [[spoiler:[[EverybodyDiesEnding Which happens to the entire cast by the end.]]]]
22	* AntiHero: Kelly. Being caught in a zombie apocalypse would kind of force someone into this.
23	* AuthorAvatar: The sneering, cynical producer Patrick bears some resemblance to the show's sneering, cynical creator. Could also be said of Joplin, who voices many of the creator's views, sometimes verbatim quoting him. This being Charlie Brooker, the king of SelfDeprecation, these two are respectively the most loathsome and most pathetic character in the show.
24	* BitingTheHandHumor: Made by a subsidiary of the ''Big Brother'' production company, broadcast on the ''Big Brother'' channel. It even uses portions of the actual filming of ''Big Brother 9''.
25	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: A twofer. Out of the main cast, [[spoiler:the black woman Angel and the gay man Grayson are the first to die]].
26	* BolivianArmyEnding: We see Kelly make an attempt to escape, one of the only survivors at that point... [[spoiler: only to make a SmashCut to her, now a zombie, on a TV screen on the live Big Brother broadcast.]]
27	* BreakingSpeech: Patrick uses this on Joplin in the final episode. [[spoiler: It succeeds and costs everyone their lives.]]
28	* BreakingTheFourthWall: The internal fourth wall is broken twice by Kelly.
29	** First time, she has her phone on ringer while in the camera run.
30	** Second time, she breaks into the house itself when a zombie manages to make it into the house through the camera run.
31	%%* BrokenBird: Alex.
32	* CampGay: Grayson, the bitchy transvestite male nurse.
33	* [[CharacterAsHimself Character As Herself]]: Davina, along with a few former housemates.
34	* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Joplin's less-than-stealthy attempt to watch Veronica in the shower is less than successful (though as a wannabe [[PublicExposure "glamour" model]], Veronica is unfazed by it).
35	* CelebritySurvivor: Most of the characters. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, since the compound is overrun already, thanks to the early conversion of an entire Eviction Night crowd, no-one leaves alive.]]
36	* {{Cliffhanger}}: Marky spots Riq approaching the Big Brother house and, thinking he is a zombie, opens fire. Cut to black.
37	* ClusterFBomb: Being a Charlie Brooker project, this isn't a surprise. Just about everyone swears at some point during the miniseries, but [[SirSwearsALot Patrick]] is the most prone to this trope. He peppers his speech with profanity every chance he gets.
38	* ColdOpening: The beginning of the first episode is almost shot-for-shot ''Big Brother'', complete with the normal Voice Of Big Brother.
39	* CreatorCameo: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA94AV0vawg#t=0h0m18s Charlie Brooker appears as one of the undead in the second episode]].
40	* DeathByCameo: Many former housemates appear briefly only to be slain when the zombies arrive.
41	* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Space agrees to open the Diary Room -- so Kelly can make a [[BolivianArmyEnding futile attempt to fight her way out]] -- only after seeing a zombie Pippa hammering on the glass outside.]]
42	%%* {{Determinator}}: Kelly
43	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Riq dies in Kelly's arms after being shot by Patrick.]]
44	* DirtyCoward: Patrick pushing a man in a wheelchair into the path of a zombie chasing him places him squarely as this.
45	%%** Joplin.
46	* DirtyOldMan: Joplin, better known to his [[{{Hatedom}} anti-fans]] as "Gollum".
47	* TheDitz: Pippa. Veronica also has her moments.
48	* DividedWeFall: In typical ''Big Brother'' fashion, they find it difficult to get along and agree. [[spoiler:They all die.]]
49	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:London has fallen and everybody is either dead or undead]].
50	* DumbBlonde: Pippa.
51	-->'''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?
52	* FakeShemp: Davina [=McCall=] was restricted to only one day's filming, so a dummy was used in some scenes for which she was unavailable.
53	* FloweryInsults: Patrick sometimes likes to fire these off.
54	--> I didn't say it was going to be a genteel parlour game, you titted fucking idiot!
55	* FreezeFrameBonus: Blink and you'd miss it, but the entire list of contestants for the doomed version of ''Big Brother'' are visible for a few seconds under one of the screens.
56	* {{Gorn}}:
57	** Especially during the death of [[spoiler:Patrick]], who gets the slowest, goriest death in the series.
58	** Patrick rants while he [[spoiler:hacks the flesh off Grayson's body to use as bait to distract the zombies outside.]]
59	** Subverted during some character deaths - some of them, such as [[spoiler:Kelly]] and [[spoiler:Pippa]], die off-screen.
60	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Patrick manipulates Joplin into freeing him by telling him how much everyone secretly and not so secretly loathes him and views him as a joke. [[spoiler:This leads to Joplin becoming more or less suicidal and he makes a last ditch effort to survive, ramming the gates open and letting the zombies in. Everyone, including Patrick, is brutally killed.]]
61	* HostageSituation: In the final episode, [[spoiler:Patrick takes Kelly hostage, holding a gun to her head.]]
62	* HypocriticalHumor:
63	-->'''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...
64	-->'''Space:''' Where'd you learn that from, man?
65	-->'''Marky:''' Saw [[Series/TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] do it on the telly.
66	-->'''Veronica:''' No! S'not real life, is it? No! If we're doin' this, we're smashin' his ankles like in that film... "[[{{Film/Misery}} Mystery]]".
67	* IdiotBall:
68	** The Big Brother compound is amazingly secure... until one of the security gates has a car full of zombies arrive.
69	** [[spoiler: Joplin]]. Ramming a van through an iron gate and countless zombies, in hope that it will carry you to a safe place? Risky. ''Opening the gate before'' in hopes of getting to the van on time? Absurdly, flat-out unbelievably stupid.
70	** Marky shooting at [[spoiler: Riq]] screaming "I'm normal!" not because he thinks [[spoiler: Riq's]] a normal human who's a threat to their safety, but a ''zombie that's just screaming at him''.
71	** Grayson [[spoiler: untying Angel despite being warned not to by Kelly, only for Angel to turn and tear his throat out.]]
72	* InspectorJavert: The two policemen, especially the one that is '''not''' a fan of ''Series/BigBrother''.
73	* IgnoredVitalNewsReports: Patrick. Well, not ''entirely'' ignored - he just wanted to know if the next bulletin would interrupt ''Big Brother''.
74	* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite his behavior Patrick isn't wrong to lash out when the group discussed leaving him (and Pippa)in the central control room.
75	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Patrick]], who gets the most gruesome, ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985''-style tribute death. And [[spoiler:the surviving housemates in the last episode for treating Joplin like a ButtMonkey the whole series, causing him to pull a FaceHeelTurn and get everyone killed.]]
76	* KillTheOnesYouLove: Prior to her introduction, Alex was forced to kill a zombified friend.
77	* ManipulativeBastard: Patrick is shown to be this towards Joplin. [[spoiler:However, it backfires and makes the manipulatee suicidally open the gates and let the zombies flood in.]]
78	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Kelly beating a zombie to death with a fire extinguisher (splattering his brains all over the place in the process) in the first episode.
79	* NobodyPoops: Very much averted with Patrick. While he's trapped in the same room as Pippa, he can't hold it any longer and proceeds to urinate and defecate in a bucket.
80	* NotUsingTheZWord: The zombies are never references as zombies, though one person does quote ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''.
81	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Space.
82	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: These ones are victims of a virus and technically dead, psychotically violent and also capable of running and jumping. They also don't always completely devour someone, just biting them and then moving onto the next target, as demonstrated by [[spoiler:Davina's death.]]
83	%%* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]]: Kelly.
84	* PushedAtTheMonster: Patrick does this repeatedly to show that he's irredeemable. He locks his own assistant outside of the office to be eaten, abandons his staff, and pushes a man in a wheelchair to the zombies chasing him just to slow them down. Less horrifically, but still earning the disgust of everyone, he grinds up the dead housemates' bodies to use as zombie food.
85	* RatingsStunt: Subverted; the housemates initially think that Kelly is a mentally ill woman added to boost ratings. Joplin comments to the cameras, "I think this is in very poor taste."
86	%%* RealityTVShowMansion: The BB House.
87	* RegretEatingMe: [[spoiler:Patrick]] yells the famous "[[ShoutOut Choke on it!]]" line from ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985'' while being eaten by zombies.
88	* RefugeInAudacity: Kelly narrowly avoids being fired on the spot for having her mobile phone ring when she was in the camera run, allowing the Housemates to hear that there is someone there. The only thing that saves her is that, by the time Patrick isn't too busy to fire her, [[UltimateJobSecurity there's more important things to think about...]]
89	* RiddleForTheAges: As is usual in zombie media, the actual origin of the Zombie Plague is never revealed, it is easily excused by the setting, where contestants are LockedOutOfTheLoop with a media blackout, there is no Television or Radio allowed in the Big Brother House, except for special occasions.
90	* ShoutOut: As [[RegretEatingMe mentioned above]], the famous "Choke on it!" line from ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985'' is uttered, and the famous "They're coming to get you, Barbra!" line from ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' is mockingly used in the first episode. Additionally, Veronica at one point makes a reference to the film version of ''{{Film/Misery}}'' ([[TheDitz although she mistakenly refers to it as "Mystery"]]) - specifically, the ankle-breaking-with-a-sledgehammer scene - when the rest of the group are trying to decide what to do with a captive Patrick.
91	* ShowWithinAShow: ''Big Brother'', in that a completely fictional season was created just for the drama, complete with previously evicted housemates and its own logo.
92	* SmugSnake: Joplin. For all his snark and looking down on everyone else, he ends being the most stupid of all.
93	* SoundtrackDissonance: [[spoiler:Davina [=McCall=] has her throat ripped out by a zombie and is left to die]] to the tune of "Grace Kelly" by Mika.
94	* SpringtimeForHitler: Joplin claims that the only reason he applied to be on the show in the first place was in order to decry it nationally.
95	* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Joplin]]'s actions at the end may not be IdiotBall at all. Having joined the show wanting acceptance using the excuse [[spoiler:about changing the show from within]] and failing, and being subsequently rejected by literally the very last of humanity, [[spoiler:he]] in one possible interpretation actually pulls a swerve on [[spoiler:Patrick]] and uses HIM to go through with opening the gates. Even though it is now obvious to [[spoiler:Patrick]] who screams at him to stop - that given the sheer number of zombies involved the move is [[LethallyStupid literal suicide]]. Perhaps not a case of stupidity but MurderSuicide.
96	* TemptingFate:
97	-->'''Patrick''' ''(watching Pippa's eviction interview)'' Urghfff! I cannot imagine... living next door to people like that!
98	-->''(Later Patrick flees from a zombie [[spoiler:Davina [=McCall=]]] into the Green Room, only to find it's occupied by a hysterical Pippa)''
99	-->'''Patrick:''' Not you! Fuck, not you!
100	* TitleOnlyOpening: You'd be forgiven for thinking Dead Set is a dramatization of a backstage look at Big Brother, especially on versions without the advert breaks, since the title is only used sparingly, for a similar reason to Film/{{Ghostwatch}}, and only on Episodes 2-5. Episode 1 begins with the leitmotif and the ShowWithinAShow version of the Big Brother eye.
101	%%* TokenEvilTeammate: Patrick.
102	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Joplin's escape attempt in the finale ends up getting him and all of the remaining survivors killed...though many viewers regard it as witting, see TakingYouWithMe.]]
103	* VomitIndiscretionShot: The second episode opens with Veronica puking her guts up after witnessing Kelly smashing a zombie's head open with a fire extinguisher.
104	* WhatHappenedToMommy: A deleted scene shows that [[spoiler:Pippa]] was infected by her zombified mother.
105	* WhileRomeBurns: Pippa reads a magazine while [[spoiler:Zombie Davina bangs on the door outside]]. Marky obsesses about what the papers say about him.
106	* ZombieApocalypse: Firmly in the mold of ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater''.
107	* ZombieInfectee:
108	** Averted with [[spoiler:Alex]] who, when infected, calmly hands [[spoiler:Riq]] her axe. He knows what he has to do without her even asking him to.
109	** 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.
110	** Played straight by Angel, who hides being bitten, and Grayson, after Angel attacks him.
111	** Also played straight by Space, whom after getting bitten by zombie Aisleyne, manages to hold enough strength and composure to open the Diary Room for Kelly and have one last conversation with her.

Context Series / DeadSet