There's finally a zombie apocalypse reality TV show

Forty-seven years after Night of the Living Dead, 37 years after Dawn of the Dead, 11 years after Shaun of the Dead, and five years into The Walking Dead, we’ve finally reached the inevitable pop culture singularity. Yes, a zombie-themed reality game show is currently airing on BBC Three.

I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse asks its 10 contestants to engage in an extended roleplay exercise that, make-believe though it may be, must nevertheless be terrifying — which would explain their chillingly realistic reactions to the horror unfolding before them.

Hiding out in an abandoned mall, the apocalypse-mates are tasked with gathering supplies and other missions to ensure their continued survival, all the while being beset by an army of convincingly gruesome and flesh-hungry zombies.

According to the show’s mythology, the zombie invasion is the result of an infectious bacterial mutation brought about by the introduction of 5G wireless service (WHY MUST YOU FLY SO CLOSE TO THE TECHNOLOGICAL SUN, HUMANITY?).

If the contestants can survive one week, they’ll be airlifted to safety. But should anyone be caught by a zombie in the meantime, they’re out — or, more specifically, eaten alive. Three have perished so far.

ABC’s tragically short-lived murder mystery series Whodunnit? taught us about all the wonderful things that can happen when you persuade non-actors to stage their own gory deaths on camera, including but not limited to the fact that some viewers will believe the producers really killed them. Please, President Obama, do whatever it takes to bring this show to America.

[h/t The Guardian]

Molly Fitzpatrick is senior editor of Fusion’s Pop & Culture section. Her interests include movies about movies, TV shows about TV shows, and movies about TV shows, but not so much TV shows about movies.