Dead Set

'Dead Set' is TV mini-series scripted by Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker. Its premise is essentially a hybrid of that of 'Night of the Living Dead' and of 28 Days Later. Like 'Night of the Living Dead', the population is overrun suddenly and mysteriously by an allegedly extra-terrestrial plague that brings the dead back to life, and a bloodthirsty life at that. Like '28 Days Later', the setting is England, and the zombies are of the ultra-violent fast-running kind. The twist, and the series' defining plot point, is that the series follows the outbreak from the vantage point of the Big Brother house.

It is a nice idea. There have been plenty of times when the world has been gripped in crisis during a series of Big Brother, and as a viewer I've reflected on the housemate's obliviousness to the events of world outside. Its an interesting and amusing 'what if' to imagine a full-blown zombie apocalypse going on around the petty daily squabbles over toilet paper and who wants to snog who, and a premise full of potential for the kind of wry commentary on the media that Brooker excels in (particularly when he has Big Brother as a focal point, as any fan of his 'Screen Burn' column will testify).

So just how good is 'Dead Set'? Well, there was much enjoyment to be had in the first episode, introducing as it does a gaggle of housemate stereotypes ripe for the kill, and sending up the production team behind the reality TV show, including Davina McCall (who plays herself). The satire is juxtaposed with scenes of the outbreak of the zombie plague, whose visual style is heavily influenced by '28 Days Later'. By the end of the first episode all hell has broken loose, and the zombies are at the gates of the Big Brother house.

The second and third episodes become a more conventional zombie story - that of survivors outnumbered and surrounded, struggling to find ways of getting essential provisions and protecting themselves from infection at any cost. And in that respect it disappoints. Anyone who has seen Romero's zombie movies, or especially '28 Days Later', will find the whole thing somewhat familiar. There are no surprises in the development of the plot, or the set pieces. There's the scene in which a van is used to break through the surrounding hordes in an attempt to reach the outside world. There's the scene in which the team of survivors has to deal with a potentially infected person in their midsts. And so on. Brooker's affection for the genre is clear, but it treads a fine line between homage and the seen-it-all-before.

Things pick up again by the final two episodes, when several key characters are re-acquainted and the group dynamic amongst the survivors begins to echo the kinds of divisions and alliances seen in an average series of Big Brother - only this time with deadly consequences. The script becomes increasingly inventive at this point, and in contrast to the rather lack-lustre horror of the earlier episodes it builds up to a very effective and genuinely scary climax (including a particularly graphic homage to the disembowelment scene in 'Day of the Dead').

As a barbed satire on 'Big Brother', the media in general, and of the viewing public's relationship with it, 'Dead Set' is witty, intelligent and sharply observed. As a zombie-fest it arguably follows a little too closely the footsteps of the movies that it admires, but is lovingly put together and in its climax delivers a bite rarely seen on TV. Recommended.