‘Dead Set’ Gruesomely Predicted Our Current Reality TV Crisis
Erin Brady
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The current state of reality television is, without mincing words, a dire one. In a way, it always has been due to its intensely voyeuristic nature. Whether or not a reality show is scripted isn’t really the point when its subjects are still filmed so intimately for millions to see. That intimacy can certainly make for compelling television and conflicts varying in relatability, but one specific question has to be asked at some point: when does it become too much?
This question likely crossed the mind of Charlie Brooker in 2008 with his zombie limited series Dead Set. The five-episode story is your standard zombie invasion story, except for one major detail—it takes place during a fictionalized season of Big Brother UK. When the apocalypse comes during a dreaded eviction night, contestants and production assistants must fight for survival. Of course, the show isn’t as simple as that, as just three years later, Brooker and producing partner Annabel Jones would make the acclaimed horror satire Black Mirror. There are a few similar threads between the two shows, particularly how they utilize hot topics to critique societal woes.
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Upon release, it was already a semi-popular opinion that reality television shows were arguably the lowest art form. This was the era of MTV shifting away from music and into these types of programs, after all. Keeping Up With The Kardashians was a year into airing at this point, and other now-nostalgic shows included The Simple Life, Flavor of Love, and The Hills. Despite some vocal critics and mockers, reality television was proven to be a viable source of entertainment because the subgenre upheld an image of providing a real look into our lives as regular people—at least, somewhat regular people.
What makes Dead Set feel so real in comparison to other fictional reality show send-ups is the way its fictional contestants act. They aren’t that dissimilar in action and personality to their real-world counterparts because they share that same feeling of being under duress in front of an audience. Some people do their best to help their fellow man in need, while others try to take advantage of the power gaps left open by a society gone to hell. Some people do neither and instead just fall apart, becoming the shells of who they once were.
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As Dead Set shows, there is a distinct pattern to the people who fall into these categories. Sex symbol Veronica (Beth Cordingly) and drama-fuelling Grayson (Raj Ghatak) emerge as capable assets to potential survival, while the quiet Joplin (Kevin Eldon) becomes the angry and exploitative contrarian. The same can also be said for the people behind the camera. While bigshot producer Patrick (Andy Nyman) becomes both the show’s comic relief and its ultimate human baddie, production runner Kelly (Jaime Winstone) becomes the de facto leader due to her knowledge of what’s actually happening.
There is a harsh divide shown between when Big Brother was watching and when it wasn’t, showcasing how shallow reality programs can actually be. While this isn’t the most revolutionary analysis someone could make about reality television, it is worth mentioning how extreme the situation at hand is. You will never truly know someone unless you are in an extremely distressing predicament, and the zombie apocalypse certainly is distressing.
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However, Dead Set benefits from the fact that, despite integrating a real-life reality show into its premise, it ultimately is fictitious. The same cannot be said for the numerous reality show participants currently having their lives broadcast for millions to see. Earlier this year, the popular Netflix dating show Love is Blind was accused of fostering inhumane working conditions for participants, with some former contestants claiming that producers deprived them of sleep and nutrition to create conflict. Big Brother itself has also had numerous controversies involving racism, favoritism, and bullying across its numerous international productions.
Dead Set does not turn a blind eye to this type of manipulative behavior. It simply showcases it in a way that wouldn’t get Endemol, the production company behind both this series and Big Brother, too terribly upset. For instance, in the series’ penultimate episode, Patrick and recently evicted contestant Pippa reunite with the rest of the survivors by speaking to them through the control center. In an attempt to get the rest of the survivors to let them into the house, Patrick blares loud sirens into the house until they relent. Why are such sirens even a part of the house control system in the first place? It certainly doesn’t sound like the alarm used to wake contestants up on the real show, and it is piercing enough to keep people on edge throughout the competition.
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Given how Dead Set takes place 64 days into the season (the average season lasts between 85 and 95 days), it’s not hard to wonder if it has ever been used in a similar fashion before.
What makes the voyeurism aspect of reality television like Big Brother even more chilling is how they specifically portray women. The Artifice’s 2014 article “Stereotyped: Women in Reality TV” details that many female contestants on reality TV shows are portrayed as sexualized, dim-witted, controlling, or dependent on a male contestant, or all of the above. Even more female-centric shows such as the Real Housewives franchise often fall into these trappings, so much so that the production’s narrative allows for these contestants to experience sexual violence. This came to a head during a recent episode of the superyacht-set Below Deck: Down Under, where a ship bosun attempted to sleep naked with a drunk and unconscious third stew and was stopped by the production crew—the same episode also revealed that another stew had a similar accusation lobbied against them.
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The ease with which these violent acts can be perpetrated on modern reality television sets is the genesis of arguably Dead Set’s most chilling scene. A stressed Veronica rejects the offer of a chai tea from Joplin before getting into the shower, leading him to sneak into the monitor room that houses a two-way mirror to the bathroom. Perhaps knowing what he is capable of, she senses that he is masturbating to her from behind the mirror and scolds him for being a pervert. Unfortunately, the circumstances don’t allow Joplin to be kicked out of the house, but he thankfully receives his much-needed comeuppance when the series concludes.
Much like how it isn’t hard to question why the production crew of Dead Set had ear-piercing sirens in their control system, it’s not unreasonable why they would construct the Big Brother house to have two-way mirrors in the shower. While a fictionalized scenario, it shows the casual ease with which opportunities to exploit and sexually abuse women seem to be constructed in modern reality shows.
As previously mentioned, Veronica was shown throughout the Big Brother broadcast as nothing more than the dim and sexual girlfriend of Marky. However, when the apocalypse came, she proved how strategic she could be in a life-or-death situation. Most people would not see that part of Veronica, though, as they likely died with the manufactured impression that she was the house’s sex symbol. An impression that was likely curated through voyeuristic cuts and angles that could only be achieved through hidden cameras placed in rooms where she and other female contestants would strip naked.
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When Dead Set was released in October 2008, reality television as we currently know it was still in its growing pains. However, it came out right at the precipice of the medium’s reluctantly widespread acceptance. While many still felt that it was an affront to the concurrent Peak TV phenomenon, more and more people became desensitized to the exploitative practices reality producers would create as long as the result was trashy fun. The way that Brooker saw the medium for what it was and would become makes it startlingly poignant in all the worst ways. Thankfully, there is hope for a better landscape, especially if the proposed unionization talks for reality television participants go through.
From the objectification to the constant pressure looming from producers, the finale of Dead Set seems like it was its logical conclusion. A horde of zombies pushing through the once-sturdy barriers of the Big Brother house to consume and turn all of the survivors was the only way it could have ended. In a way, it symbolizes the constant dread and anxiety that reality television enforces onto its subjects on a 24/7 basis—the only way that these contestants could ever be rid of that danger was if that same feeling ate them whole.
Categorized:Editorials
