http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DavinaDeadSet.jpg
[[caption-width:190:You have 30 minutes to say your goodbyes, then I'm coming to get you!]]

-->'''Pippa:''' Is that Davina?
-->'''Patrick:''' ...Sort of.

How many of you have watched ''BigBrother'' and thought, "This is the beginning of the apocalypse"? Well, it seems you're not the only one.

''Dead Set'' is the not-so predictable crossover of ''Big Brother UK'' [[XMeetsY meets]] the ZombieApocalypse, particularly the fast plague-zombies of ''[[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]''. After a ZombieInfectee staggers into the crowd at a BB eviction, 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.

The show was written by TV columnist CharlieBrooker of ''Screenwipe'' fame and is about as satirical as you might expect.
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This show provides examples of:
* AnyoneCanDie... [[ZombieApocalypse and then come back and make the other characters die, too.]] [[spoiler:[[KillEmAll Which happens to the entire cast by the end.]]]]
* BetterThanItSounds: Who would have thought "Zombies + Big Brother, not a comedy," could have turned out so well?
* BitingTheHandHumor: Made by a subsidary of the ''Big Brother'' production company, broadcast on the ''Big Brother'' channel.
** [[IncrediblyLamePun I see what you did there.]]
* CanonFodder: The cause of the zombie outbreak is known by one character, but he [[spoiler: is shot]] and can't say.
* CampGay: Grayson, the bitchy transvestite male nurse.
* [[CharacterAsHimself Character As Herself]]: Davina, later Zombie Davina.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Joplin's less-than-stealthy attempt to watch Veronica in the shower is less than successful (though as a wannabe "glamour" model, Veronica is unfazed by it).
* ClusterFBomb: Most characters, but Patrick especially.
* DeathByCameo: Many former housemates appear briefly only to be slain when the zombies arrive.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Joplin]] crosses this when he [[spoiler:opens the gates to let the zombies flood in]].
* DirtyOldMan: Joplin, better known to his [[{{Hatedom}} anti-fans]] as "Gollum".
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Everybody is either dead or undead.]]
* {{Gorn}}: Especially during the death of [[spoiler:Patrick]], who gets the slowest, goriest death in the series.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Patrick, who gets the most gruesome Day of the Dead-style tribute death. And the surviving housemates in the last episode, for treating Joplin like a ButtMonkey the whole series causing him to pull a FaceHeelTurn and getting everyone killed.]]
* [[spoiler:KillEmAll]]
* ManipulativeEditing: The producer is seen indulging in this. [[spoiler: It backfires and makes the manipulatee suicidally open the gates and let the zombies flood in.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Patrick, the producer, is pretty mean from the get-go, but to really hammer this home, the show has him ''throw'' a man ''in a wheelchair'' into the path of a zombie.
* NightmareFuelUnleaded: The final shots of [[spoiler:zombie Kelly staring directly at you through dozens of TV monitors]] will ''haunt'' you.
* NotUsingTheZWord, though one person does quote ''NightOfTheLivingDead''.
* RatingsStunt: Subverted; the housemates think the runner who manages to get into the house is a mentally ill woman added to boost ratings. One housemate comments to the cameras, "I think this is in very poor taste."
* RealityTVShowMansion: The BB House.
* RegretEatingMe: [[spoiler: Patrick]] yells the famous "Choke on it!" line from ''DayOfTheDead'' while being eaten by zombies.
* SelfInsertFic: The sneering, cynical producer Patrick bears some resemblance to the show's sneering, cynical creator.
* SoundtrackDissonance: Davina [=McCall=] has her throat bitten out and is left to die by a zombie to the tune of "Grace Kelly" by Mika.
* ZombieApocalypse: Firmly in the mold of ''[[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]''.
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