British miniseries »Dead Set« is five episodes of sweet decline and apocalypse. It is set in the »Big Brother« reality show house and the production process around it. When »Dead Set« starts we’re only hours away from live transmission and anticipation is at max. Enter: Zombies.
»Big Brother« host Davina McCall plays herself as she prepares to meet the screaming fans of the reality show. In the production center, the hour is stressful. So many things to prepare and so many in staff not showing up for work. Why is that? And certainly the network won’t cancel tonight’s broadcast just because of the riots that have been reported throughout Britain?
»Dead Set« is like a prequel to »28 Days Later«. I like to think it depicts the events of 28 days earlier, when everybody went about their carefree lives, waiting for the next »Big Brother« elimination night.
There’s sharp criticism of mass media in »Dead Set«, albeit at a subtile level (until the closing scenes).
What makes the miniseries (or film, when combined) brilliant is the setting.
The »Big Brother« house was built to keep people inside, but suddenly its purpose becomes to keep zombies out. Like »Cloverfield« or »Andromeda Strain«, the essence of »Dead Set« is depicting a small fragment of a much larger picture. We don’t get to know what caused it, what happens next or if there was any government or military left to tackle the zombie infestation. We just see a small portion of the night’s event and it’s tantalizing.
It’s amazing that you can tell so much by telling so little.
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