BB spin-off Dead Set

[Perdita]

DAVINA McCall trades bore fest for gore fest as she tries acting.

Usually gorgeous Davina, 40, makes a cameo appearance in a zombie spin-off of Big Brother — and meets a grisly end.

The five-part thriller Dead Set — which starts on E4 later this month — sees Britain terrorised by the undead.

Only Big Brother’s contestants are unaware of the horrors in the outside world.

Jaime Winstone, 22, stars as a Big Brother production runner.

[LostVoodoo]

sounds like a laugh!
i always thought they could make a tv show of 'Dead Famous' by Ben Elton, if anyone else has read it? it's great; a murder mystery set in the BB House, one of the housemates gets murdered and no-one knows who did it!

[StarsOfCCTV]

Yeah I read that. Good book. :D

The programme sounds like a laugh.

[Abbie]

:lol: this sounds funny but strange!

[Abbie]

Starts 27th October

[Abbie]

Reminder people that it starts tonight!!!!! :D at 10pm! E4

[Bryan]

can't wait for this! it's gonna be good! on every night this week folks!!!

[Abbie]

Wow every night :D

[BeckyBee]

Zombie McCall, LMAO at this last night :lol:

[Layne]

It was weiird!
But :lol: At Davina!

[Abbie]

It was so werid and scary! :eek:

[Perdita]

If you've ever wondered what a zombie outbreak in the Big Brother house would be like, then Charlie Brooker's Dead Set is the programme to satisfy that particular curiosity. An acerbic TV commentator, Brooker writes a column for The Guardian, hosts BBC Four's popular ScreenWipe and co-wrote media industry sitcom Nathan Barley with Chris Morris. DS caught up with Charlie to get the lowdown on his new "zombie romp", his views on Big Brother and how Davina rates as a member of the undead.

Was it always your intention to use Big Brother as the idea to hang Dead Set around?
"To start with I just wanted to do a zombie thing, then I was watching Big Brother and I thought 'that is it'. I was a big fan of the original Dawn Of The Dead, which was set in a shopping mall, and seemed like a symbol of its time. It felt like the Big Brother house was a good place to set it. I wasn't wearing my satirical hat, it was more a case of it being an interesting setting and a fun setting. Primarily it is a zombie romp."

Does it come from an angle of affection or dislike for Big Brother?
"I'm ambivalent. Some people who've only seen the first episode of Dead Set will think it's not being that nasty [to Big Brother], but wait till we get to episodes four and five. I'm neither one of these people who thinks all reality shows are the absolute downfall of civilisation, nor am I someone who turns up on eviction night dressed as a cheerleader. I think that they've been around so long that they're just another show and also they're a distraction from more important things in life."

Did Davina take a lot of convincing to play herself?
"We showed up to ask her if she'd do it, she'd been sent the script, and before we could open our mouths she jumped up and said, 'I really, really want to do this. Please can I do it?' That was how little convincing it took. None."

How would you rate her as a zombie?
"Ten out of ten. Definitely one of our best zombies. It's surprisingly hard to cast a zombie because you get people trying to be scary - a bit like Alan Partridge when he dresses up as a zombie. Other people would just instinctively get it and she was one of them. I think she'll surprise a lot of people. A very, very good zombie indeed."

You once had a go at one of her hair commercials on ScreenWipe. Did she mention that to you?
"No, not at all, thank God! I don't think she reads much of her own press or anything like that. Because Dead Set is such a different thing for her, she came into it as an actress so I'd have to be mentally ill to attack her over a hair ad!"

As someone who's critical about a lot of TV, are you worried about the reaction you might get when Dead Set goes out?
"Not really. I think that everyone's their own worst critic anyway. I did Nathan Barley with Chris [Morris] in 2005 and that got some negative reviews to start with. I never thought people were attacking it because I'm a critic. Because Dead Set is a programme with a programme in it, that might throw people who think 'Oh, what is he trying to say?' What I'm trying to say is, 'Help, here comes the zombies!' To over think any zombie film would be slightly missing the point."

Are we going to see a second series of Nathan Barley?
"Yeah, I'd never write it off completely. We worked out a whole set of stuff to happen. A slightly different setting and a few years later. We were going to jettison the [media industry backdrop]. Basically [Nathan's] money had run out and he'd have to move in with his brother, who you have never seen. The same characters, but different setting was the idea. We did workshops with the cast and we haven't said we're not going to do it. Dead Set got in the way and Chris's Jihadi comedy got in the way. I dare say we'll meet up and do something else."

[Abbie]

I was wondering if it was Davania actually playing the zombie her

[Abbie]

I just cant get over how creepy it is, it makes me shiver!!