Get an intimate look at the British reality show Big Brother. During a zombie plague. Most of you reading this have probably fired up your favorite file sharing app by now and need to read no further.

In addition to the usual BB stars (preening bimbo, dumb hunk, social outcast, flamboyant gay nurse, etc.) we’re privy to the personality conflicts behind the scenes. While petty squabbles flare up over who’s sleeping with who and who’s going to fetch the egomaniacal producer’s nicotine gum, news of violent rioting pops up in bits and pieces on background monitors. The mysterious outbreak charges towards the studio, but both cast and crew are oblivious to how quickly the throng of fans’ cheering mutates into inhuman shrieks and hungry wails. Soon the epidemic engulfs the control room and most of the staff is eaten or assimilated into the growing undead mob. Meanwhile the confined contestants continue to flirt and conspire for lifeless cameras.

Of course this five-part miniseries is tongue-in-cheek from the get-go. The obvious metaphor of TV audiences being a mindless self-consuming mass is front and center. The stereotypes are extremely broad from beginning to end. The big set-ups and scares are exactly what you’d expect. The soap opera beneath the horror is pure fluff. What’s surprising is how compelling it all is.

One reason it works so well is that being wrapped up in their petty affairs allows characters to react genuinely to the mayhem. It’s a while before most make the connection to what’s happening, even with the few who get it screaming the answer in their faces. They try to reason with lovers gnashing for their necks. They look for safety in the directions that other panicking people are running from. They think it’s just another twist to the game they’ve signed up for even as their cohorts are torn limb from limb. Of course there has to be at least one hero of the bunch, a timid lackey who takes charge when confronted with the apocalypse. She figures out the monsters’ habits and weakness early on but has a hard time keeping her fellow survivors focused. They can’t help but bicker despite their world falling apart around them.

Dead Set is full of contrasts. The scenes inside and beyond the fantasy household are well balanced and the action moves outside before we’re sick of the contrived set. There’s no shortage of comic dialog and ironic humor but it heightens the terror when they slam together. The unnaturally beautiful actresses transform into some of the scariest creatures I’ve seen. For such a gimmicky premise the zombie makeup and gore effects are better than many big budget films. Instead of limiting the story’s scope, producing this for the small screen allows plenty of cliff-hangers and threads between commercials and installments.

Having never watched Big Brother (either the US or UK versions) I’m sure lots of references were lost to me. Smartly this series goes way beyond the elevator pitch and considers incredible events somewhat realistically. Maybe my original low expectations color my opinion, but the show provided me with lots of fun and thrills. It works in chunks as well as an extended feature, so there’s little risk of commitment if you want to try a taste.

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