Zom nom nom nom: The Walking Dead (2010) and Dead Set (2008)

It's been a real nom-fest at our house recently and we've devoured The Walking Dead and Dead Set (2008), a mini-series from the UK. Both immediately follow the zombie-pocalypse, with bitey mayhem.


The first season of The Walking Dead aired recently, a Day of the Triffids/28 Days Later opening falling quickly into Survivor-like squabbling interspersed with some bitey scenes that seemed all too infrequent and fleeting. Stand out episodes were 1, 2 and 6, with the middle of the season frustratingly slow. There's some decent character dynamics going on, which saves it somewhat, but I'm looking for more nomming next season. I have high hopes of this as Stephen King has been asked to pen an ep. Can I get a frak yeah? Lets hope season two has better zombie make-up and direction. They're simply not scary enough as they are.


Dead Set takes place mostly in the Big Brother house. The location is ideal. Where else better to ride out the zombie-pocalyse that an autonomous compound with security fencing? Things quickly deteriorate, however, as these fast moving zombies converge on the studios and in-house squabbling threatens to derail the housemates. Dead Set is not only one of the best zombie-related pieces of entertainment I've watched or read recently, but it's also a stand-out piece of television. The characters are borderline heinous but you find yourself clinging to them as they're forced into smaller and smaller areas and picked off one by one. The parallels with Big Brother itself are too numerous to recount here. Massive props to the writers and directors who took every nomming opportunity they could get to freak out the audience. One of the most frustrating things about The Walking Dead is that it's full of missed opportunities, as if zombies are just a handy prop to have staggering past every now and then rather than the show actually be about the zombie-pocalypse.

Report to the Diary Room ... for nomming.

A word one zombie cliches:
1. The word "zombie" cannot be spoken. It's as if Walt Disney will slap a lawsuit on your arse if the z-word is even uttered. Instead the characters invent naff names like Walkers.
2. No one knows the importance of SHUTTING THE HELL UP. This was by far the most popular reason for yelling at the television while watching both series, second only to HOW ABOUT YOU KEEP A LOOKOUT, MORON?