Generation Z review: It's a hoot being an OAP zombie... orgies are more fun than jigsaws, writes ROLAND WHITE

Generation Z (Channel 4)

Rating:

There was a handy tip in the second episode of Generation Z for young men in search of romance: choose your moment wisely.

Is it a bad time to say I really like you? said lovelorn Steff to his school-friend Kelly.

Steff had just shot Kellys zombie grandmother through the heart with a crossbow bolt as she was attacking her grand-daughter with a kitchen knife in the hope of feasting on her flesh.

This is just a wild guess, but Kelly probably had other things on her mind.

Generation Z is basically Scooby Doo with a much bigger budget for blood and body parts. Its a rather clever horror story which pitches generation against generation: a group of teens must save the world from their zombie grandparents.

Generation Z is basically Scooby Doo with a much bigger budget for blood and body parts. Its a rather clever horror story which pitches generation against generation: a group of teens must save the world from their zombie grandparents

Zombie life looks a hoot. At one point the oldies have a wild orgy in the woods, which is more fun than watching Antiques Road Trip or doing another jigsaw

Just outside the town of Dambury, a road accident results in the leak of a dangerous gas.

The first to be infected by this mysterious gas are residents of a care home, who suddenly develop a taste for human flesh and break out of the home in search of adventure.

Zombie life looks a hoot. At one point the oldies have a wild orgy in the woods, which is more fun than watching Antiques Road Trip or doing another jigsaw.

The undead have a voracious appetite. The bloody spectacle of zombies feasting on flesh got a bit repetitive. Apart from anything else, arent they noisy?

But there is a serious message amid all the gore.

The cast is excellent. Robert Lindsay (right) plays a mysterious drug-pushing conspiracist What they [the government] rely on is the death of curiosity, he says to Finn. Dont ever stop questioning things

The exact nature of that message depends on your age. If you were born between about 1997 and 2012, youll be furious that yet again you must take responsibility for the mess created by the oldies. 

Just like the time you were locked up in your room during Covid to protect the nations grandparents.

If youre a baby boomer, youll be cheering on the OAPs. The youngsters, led by Viola Prettejohn from The Crown who plays nerdy Finn, are obviously going to save the world in the remaining four episodes. Meanwhile, the old folk are having the time of their lives.

Did we see Sue Johnstons character having zombie sex up against a tree in the woods? I think we did, although it was a bit dark and I might have been mistaken.

But there is a serious message amid all the gore. The exact nature of that message depends on your age. If you were born between about 1997 and 2012, youll be furious that yet again you must take responsibility for the mess created by the oldies. Pictured: Sue Johnston who plays Cecily

The cast is excellent. Not just The Royle Family star, but Anita Dobson as the nan who tried to eat her granddaughter, Johnny Vegas as her son, and Robert Lindsay as a mysterious drug-pushing conspiracist. 

What they [the government] rely on is the death of curiosity, he says to Finn. Dont ever stop questioning things.

Ah yes, the government. Nobody seems to know quite whats going on in Dambury because officials are deliberately spreading false information and confusion. 

The Government cynically misleading the public? Surely not. Wherever did writer Ben Wheatley get that idea?