"I Survived A Zombie Apocalypse" Is Just The Weirdest British Reality Show

    The concept doesn't really make any sense, and it's remarkable that they managed to pull it off in the first place. Warning: contains unsettling images of zombies.

    Scott Bryan
    by Scott Bryan

    BuzzFeed Entertainment Editor, UK

    So there's a game show presented by Greg James in which people try to avoid getting eaten by zombies.

    BBC / bbc.co.uk
    BBC / bbc.co.uk

    I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse is on BBC Three on Sundays, and it's a mixture of Big Brother and Release the Hounds, the show in which members of the public run away from dogs.

    There's essentially a lot of this.

    Spoiler alert: zombies.

    Here's the backstory: The government has introduced a new 5G phone signal, but despite good speeds it accidentally mutates people's DNA.

    BBC / bbc.co.uk

    Newspapers such as The Radiograph and The Moon freak out because people are turning into zombies like this:

    BBC / bbc.co.uk
    BBC / bbc.co.uk

    These newspapers have nothing to do with The Telegraph and The Sun. NOTHING.

    We then meet contestants locking themselves into a shopping centre, awaiting to follow instructions from Greg James and the army so they can survive.

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk
    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    Challenges include getting through very limited food rations, popping out to track down essential items to stay alive (such as bedding), and generally running away from zombies.

    However, the more you think about the format of the show, the more you realise it has some flaws.

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    How can BBC Three afford to keep a shopping centre hostage by people pretending to be zombies for 24 hours a day, seven days straight?

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    BBC Three is in bit of a funding crisis, you know. Does this mean that it is all reality, or is it a bit like scripted reality, like Made in Chelsea?

    And for a show that is reality, why do all of the contestants do this when they leave the competition?

    Warning This image is graphic Tap to reveal Click to reveal
    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    When a zombie catches them, this is what happens. Does that mean that they lose in reality and then they make this fake death scene? How does it all work?

    Why do the contestants constantly act scared about a zombie threat, when zombies aren't real?

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    The statement above happens when the contestants are out getting supplies. I mean, of course a zombie is going to turn up. Zombies aren't there and there is an absolutely huge film crew filming everything that they do outside.

    During a challenge consisting of many dead bodies, why does a contestant act is if he is about to be sick? The zombies aren't real.

    Vine
    View this vine on Vine
    vine.co / Via BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    These bodies aren't real, and they know that. It's all plastic and ketchup surely.

    And why do the contestants talk about the non-existent zombie apocalypse as if it is happening?

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    They debate whether their families are alive. They wonder if they will starve (it's the BBC, they won't) or be killed. Some of the contestants say lines like, "There could be other people who could be saved, like my family and stuff."

    Then again, the contestants might think that there really is an apocalypse, as some of the contestants aren't smart.

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    This show is so weird. So so so so weird.

    Despite this, you should watch it because it's pretty mindless.

    BBC / Tiger Aspect / bbc.co.uk

    And it's on Sunday, when you're feeling pretty mindless. GO FIGURE.

    I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse is on BBC Three on Sundays at 10pm. You can catch up with the first three episodes on iPlayer.