| Author | Message | ||
     Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
So, did anyone else watch the first episode this evening? I thought it was rather fine. Well written, acted and put together. Some surprisingly graphic moments throughout(especially the superb fire extinguisher scene), and some great references to zombie films - "She's got a face like a Manchester Morgue, "They're coming to get you, Barbara" and a one-footed zombie dragging itself across the floor ala the opening scenes of Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Not heard of it - what channel was it on? | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
I'm ashamed to say I missed the references (except for the Manchester Morgue), but I liked the blend of Big Brother satire and visceral horror. It's nice when zombies sprint, don't you think? The shakey-cam was in use again, but I certainly adds an element of panic to the events. And surely Davina's odds on to bag next year's best acting Bafta? | ||
| Martin Roberts (Martin_roberts) Username: Martin_roberts Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.5.239.91 |
I liked enough to carry on watching it but felt that the shaky cam was over used and distracted me from the action... | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
Mick, it was on E4. Every night this week at 10, I think. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Cheers Steve - I'll give it a go... | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
They said the first episode can be watched for free via the website, if you missed it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Shaky-cam was a bit overused, but unfortunately that's the trend these days. It also seems to be taking place during the 28 DAYS LATER "Rage" virus outbreak. Other than that, though, I thought it was very good. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
The idea of having an apocalypse scenario coupled with the isolation of Big Brother is quite good and I'm looking forward to the character developments and tensions in the Big Brother house when they realise what is happening. Charlie Brooker - the script writer - is a superb humourist and some of the jokes were spot on. Just hoping for a bit more biting (pun intended) satire as they go along. I love the fact that the bastard producer used the disabled guy as the human shield, just so you know what kind of c*nt he truly is. Also loved the lines: "Is that Davina?" "Sort of." It's a joy to see Kevin Eldon in anything as he is a truly superb comic performer and capable of great range. He's especially good at handling pretty dark material. Shaky cam was overused and it would be nice to see a zombie film/slasher film that didn't use it for once. As you say Zed, some of the scenes were pretty stark and gruesome. I just hope they go for substance as well as splatter. Knowing Brooker though I'm sure there's lots more good stuff on the way. | ||
| Mark West (Mark_west) Username: Mark_west Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.39.177.173 |
For the most part, I did enjoy it and it's great to see stuff like this on a relatively mainstream channel. My biggest issue, though, was the shaky-cam - I found it really distracting. I also liked the colour scheme, which worked surprisingly well. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.196.28 |
I haven't seen any of this yet, but, by God, I will be glad when the day comes that sees filmmakers not relying on shakycam to lend their work a sense of immediacy and realism. Give it a rest already, guys! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.42.78 |
I loathe the shakycam stuff! Missed the one last night. Watched the new episodes of SPOOKS instead. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.32.47 |
Is that series 7, Ally? I've just finished series 6, and really enjoyed it. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
I got 'er indoors to Skyppppluuuuss the Zombie thing. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I've just watched it again and liked it even more. Emily was terrified... :-) | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
There's an omnibus edition on saturday night for those of us (me!) who missed the first ep... | ||
| Mark West (Mark_west) Username: Mark_west Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.39.177.173 |
The second episode was definitely better (perhaps because of the shorter running time) but some of the camerawork was still nauseating. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Bloody adverts! I really wish they'd run this as feature length. At the moment second episode was okayish. Couple of good jokes but so far it's fairly run of the mill zombie fair. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
I really wish they'd run this as feature length. If you can wait, they're doing that at 10pm on saturday. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.29.243 |
I'll give it a try at weekend. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
Interesting that this seems to be TV's first real attempt at a 'cinema' horror genre - zombies. In fact, we really get little or no horror on TV full stop these days. Plenty of science fiction. BTW, Merlin on Saturday nights is the new Bonekickers. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Yep, for a show aimed firmly at a mainstream(ish) audience, it shows a lot of genre know-how. I'm loving it. But I love zombie films. Surely that doesn't make me a bad person? :-) | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
Of course not Zed! I haven't seen it yet, I expect we will watch it at the weekend. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Still loving this, btw.  | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
I watched the first three! There's a part of me that is screaming "You seen it all before sunshine, it aint got an original thought in it's head" but yeah, its fun - aren't zombies always? Basically it's a TV remake of Dawn Of The Dead with the Big Brother house replacing the Mall. But still, fun - and quite gory for telly too! gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Of course it's all been done before - but 90% of the people its aimed at haven't even seen DAWN OF THE DEAD and don't know who George Romero is. Context, fella: context. Taken on its own terms, its brilliant. It comes across more like 28 DAYS LATER than DotD; it even has the same look and feel as Boyle's film. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
- Last part tonight! gcw | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
The producer fella is absolutely brilliant. Like Mark, I'm enjoying the colour tone of the shot. And I like the brutality. The first episode was E4's second highest viewing figures of the year, beaten only by a recent episode of Hollyoaks(!?). I'd love to see a Werewolf version of X Factor next. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
"The producer fella is absolutely brilliant." SPOILER God, yes. He's such a cunt that he's brilliant. last night, when he was hacking up that corpse...it was brilliant. I can't believe they got away with showing that... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Wow. Wow, Wow. Dunno about you lot, but I thought this was absolutely fucking brilliant. Tonight's finale was...well, superb. The DAY OF THE DEAD reference I saw coming a mile off, but still bloody loved it, and the ending was pitch-perfect. Well done E4. This is exactly the kind of thing I want on my TV, thank you very much. I've already pre-ordered the DVD. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
I'm waiting to wait it on E4+1. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Good call, sir - I'm off to watch it again. With another glass of Lophroiag (thank you Barbara Roden, for recommending this tipple several weeks ago). | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
Wow! SPOILERS - The bit where they ripped Patrick to bits has got to be the most explicit thing I've ever seen on a British tv show. I really enjoyed it. Bleak, bleak, bleak. With a bit of comedy. No one but Channel 4 could be behind this. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
That was the DAY OF THE DEAD reference I was on about: "Eat it. I've got a bowel full of shit. Eat it!" To be juvenile for a moment: awesome. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 81.155.19.145 |
In many ways I'm not surprised. It seems to fit in with many things I've said about BB over the years. BB is its own satire - and like two negatives, a fabrication upon a fabrication can result in a positive (a suspended-disbelief non-fabrication). I shall have to watch DEAD SET for real... Thanks for keeping non-watchers of DEAD SET in the loop. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
Des, it's repeated in one big chunk on E4 tonight. 10pm, I think. | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.43.119.113 |
I watched the last one just now, great fun, and of course it ended as it only could.... I enjoyed it a lot (Soozy hated it) but I didn't feel I was watching anything I haven't seen before, and lets be honest, the in jokes & satire for us "in the know" people would have passed right over a lot of viewers heads. Still.Fun! -and Patrick was brilliant. gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
Yes, but the sly references were put in specifically for us. And as I said above: "Of course it's all been done before - but 90% of the people its aimed at haven't even seen DAWN OF THE DEAD and don't know who George Romero is." | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
There were a couple of women who work in my office who normally point-blank refuse to watch horror, even though they are regular Big Brother addicts, so they watched this. After they first episode they said they thought it was incredibly frightening and gruesome. Of course, I encouraged them to continue watching the rest of the shows. By wednesday they were addicted to this, desperate to know what was going to happen. I've managed to convince them that, in fact they are now card-carrying horror fans, and now I'm obliged to lend them DVDs of Korean or Spanish horror. All joking aside, I hope the success of Dead Set is that people - people who wouldn't normally watch horror - enjoyed this. | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 124.180.225.42 |
Have always said that anyone who appears on BB deserves to be ripped apart by zombies I'm downloading the first 3 episodes now. Sounds good. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 81.155.19.145 |
Des, it's repeated in one big chunk on E4 tonight. 10pm, I think. ================= My video timing didn't work!! :-( | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Des, do you have a DVD player? If so, I can dump the 'one chunk' version to a disc for you. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 81.155.19.145 |
Mick, yes. That's a kind thought. Please contact me here: dflewis48@hotmail.com | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.39.55 |
Watched it last night - truly gory! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Des - email emailed. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
'I'm a humanite!' Ha! I want to see a whole series set on the canal boats. How beautiful and different that was. Aickman was right. | ||
| Jonathan (Jonathan) Username: Jonathan Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.143.178.131 |
Dead Set was good but nothing new. There were some good Brookerisms in there and the bit with the producer cutting up the zombie for bait was perhaps the most gruesomely funny thing I've seen this year. Shaky cam and permanent filter to make everything look overcast no matter where they were were really annoying though. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
I agree. Enjoyable to watch but quick to fade from the memory. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Well, it's still going round in my head, mainly due to Jamie Winstone's fine performance. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
I thought it was pretty good tv - some of those lines really cracked me up - the one Tony quoted above, and the "shit, it's one of them water door things, innit?" - "A lock"! The shaky-cam stuff isn't too bad, but the filter effect Jon notes above is really irritating. It just looks as if they've applied a filter, with no benefit at all. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
"...Afghanistan, or that uvver place, Palestinia..." | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.209.220.3 |
I've heard worse things said, Mick, on the real Big Brother. | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 121.219.228.84 |
Downloaded this in one chunk - loved it! Still can't believe this was aired on TV! 'Patrick' was brilliant. The fire extinguisher scene was shocking, as was the clean up afterwards. Would liked to have seen more of the side story though - the two holed up in the manor house and their trip down the canal. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Yay! Another fan. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I couldn't bloody find this thread when I posted last night. Anyway - Zed will be pleased to hear that it has been playing on my mind today. My absolute favourite bit (are you listening Tony?) had to be when the girl looks at the guy and says 'I liked our farmhouse' and then he has to axe her to death at the lock. Searingly, infinitely affecting, tragically beautiful horror. Which I must confess the older more mature JLP now seems to prefer to zombies running around and guts being munched on. Other good bits: The pre-episode announcements: "This programme should be ideally watched on a widescreen TV with surround sound in a darkened room." Bloody right. Kevin Eldon The toilet / wheelchair bit Davina McCall Oh, and I suppose the ultimate accolade must be that it made me wish I had watched even a microsecond of Big Brother - a programme I have never seen and probably never will. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
'Are you listening Tony?' ? I think you're agreeing with me! Yes, these scenes would have been nice as a whole film. But really, how to rejig the zombies? For me we need to omit them altogether, except maybe for one or two, or go the whole hog and have a sea of the buggers. And make them neither slow nor running; make them stroll, walk like people perhaps. Channel Bergman, mebbes. Actually...I have a chunk of novel tackling this same thing. I should just bloody finish it. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.71 |
Tony my dear chap there's no think about it - I am indeed and very muchly agreeing with you. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.114.136 |
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