How many of you have watched Big Brother 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 Brothermeets the Zombie Apocalypse, particularly the fast plague-zombies of 28 Days Later. After a Zombie Infectee 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. Problem is, when everyone in the house has been chosen specifically because they create tension and conflict with each other to boost ratings, that's easier said than done...The show was written by TV columnist Charlie Brooker of Screenwipe fame and is about as satirical as you might expect. He went on to create another drama series called Black Mirror.This show provides examples of:
Bilingual Bonus: Apparently, the French broadcast says: "Boats are overcrowded and leaving or entering the country is now impossible. People are strongly advised to reach their nearest emergency shelter as soon as possible".
Biting-the-Hand Humor: Made by a subsidiary of the Big Brother production company, broadcast on the Big Brother channel.
Caught with Your Pants Down: 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).
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...
Veronica: No! S'not real life, is it? No! If we're doin' this, we're smashin' his ankles like in that film... "Mystery".
Idiot Ball: 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.
Ignored Vital News Reports: Patrick. Well, not entirely ignored - he just wanted to know if the next bulletin would interrupt Big Brother.
Karmic Death: 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 Butt Monkey the whole series, causing him to pull a Face Heel Turn and get everyone killed.
Manipulative Editing: Patrick is seen indulging in this. It backfires and makes the manipulatee suicidally open the gates and let the zombies flood in.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Kelly beating a zombie to death with a fire extinguisher (splattering his brains all over the place in the process) in the first episode.
Nobody Poops: 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.
Ratings Stunt: 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."
Self-Insert Fic: 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 Self-Deprecation, these two are respectively the most loathsome and most pathetic character in the show.
Shout Out: As mentioned above, the famous "Choke on it!" line from Day of the Dead is uttered, and the famous "They're coming to get you, Barbra!" line from Night of the Living Dead is mockingly used in the first episode. Additionally, Veronica at one point makes a reference to the film version of Misery (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.
Smug Snake: Joplin. For all his snark and looking down on everyone else, he ends being the most stupid of all.
Soundtrack Dissonance: Davina McCall has her throat ripped out by a zombie and is left to die to the tune of "Grace Kelly" by Mika.
Springtime for Hitler: Joplin admits that the only reason he applied to be on the show in the first place was in order to decry it nationally.
Patrick(watching Pippa's eviction interview) Urghfff! I cannot imagine... living next door to people like that!
(Later Patrick flees from a zombie Davina McCall into the Green Room, only to find it's occupied by a hysterical Pippa)
Patrick: Not you! Fuck, not you!
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: The second episode opens with Veronica puking her guts up after witnessing Kelly smashing a zombie's head open with a fire extinguisher.
What Happened To Mommy: A deleted scene shows that Pippa was infected by her zombified mother.
While Rome Burns: Pippa reads a magazine while Zombie Davina bangs on the door outside. Marky obsesses about what the papers say about him.
Your Cheating Heart: Kelly cheats on Riq with a co-worker prior to the zombie apocalypse, although Riq never learns this.
Averted with Alex who, when infected, calmly hands Riq her axe. He knows what he has to do without her even asking him to.
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.
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