Review*: In The Flesh

*Yeah, I do these now.

I was quite looking forward to In The Flesh. I love me a bit of zombie. Also, since Being Human became unrecognisable from the first series that I loved with all my heart (no programme can survive an entire cast change and still be the same) I was looking for some Sunday night supernatural BBC Three action.
 
I wasn’t disappointed. I would have been quite content with the usual zombie apocalypse fare, but In The Flesh offered something interesting and different. Set a few years after the dead became reanimated it focuses on those who’d been ‘infected’ (exactly how the undead became the undead wasn’t gone into. Hopefully that’s a treat for later in the series). The zombies were taking medication to help them live again amongst their friends and families. It also showed those who thought there was no place for them back in society.

If focuses on the story of Kieran (Luke Newberry) who relies on daily shots to stop him reverting to a flesh eating monster when he moves back in with his family. He's described, rather brilliantly, as having Partially Deceased Syndrome. His sister, Jem (Harriet Cains), is part of the HVF, the Human Volunteer Force who are anxious to stop the undead coming back into the community and prepared to use violent means to stop them if necessary.

I think it’s fantastic to set a zombie drama after the chaos and bloodshed and it not be just another ‘they’re all dead, Dave’ post-apocalyptic scenario. I can’t think of another film or TV series that has given the zombies back their humanity and tried to imagine how they would be received. It’s pretty interesting stuff.

Last night’s episode touched on a lot of quite complex, often moral, themes. Horror and fantasy (also sci fi, but to a lesser extent) often skirt round anything contentious or political and instead. It’s implicitly understood that supernatural dramas don’t need to do that. All the more reason why In The Flesh is so new and exciting.

Firstly it addresses the idea of redemption. Can someone who has done such evil things ever truly be sorry and be forgiven? Also, should acceptance be forced on those who don’t want it, and what might the consequences be if it is? Parallels can be drawn with every violent criminal you can think of.

There’s also the question of medication. Is someone truly ‘cured’ if they still rely on medication, and can they truly be sorry if it’s a chemical that makes them appear so? Also, these people were dead (the programme was very clear that they all died and then were brought back as zombies rather than become zombies from being healthy, living human beings) and once someone is gone is it perhaps better to accept that they are gone rather than try and bring them back? This is quite a well explored theme already. We’ve had mummies trying to bring back their dead girlfriends and vampires killing people they love to make them immortal. In a majority of cases this does not end well, but it’s still an area ripe for exploration.

The plight of the undead can also be read as a metaphor for intolerance. Many people living in Kieran’s village, particularly members of the HVF, will not accept the return of the PDS sufferers regardless of what evidence is put in front of them. But it’s because they’re scared. They’ve seen friends and family be killed and don’t want to see it happen again. It’s quite a mature representation. These people have a genuine reason to be nervous and its fear that fuels their hatred.
 
It’s set in ‘the North’. I know this because there was a poignant shot of Kieran being driven by his parents over the Humber Bridge. Also, the cast all have Manchester/Lancashire accents. This adds to a sense of isolation. The focus put on ‘the cities’ during the initial trouble is brought up several times, indicating a community that feel abandoned. Anyone who is not from London will know this feeling well. Roarton, the village its set in, is described as being ‘radical’ in its anti-zombie attitudes. This could easily be seen as a nod to the northern towns who are caricatured as backwards and resistant to new ideas. You know, the racist ones.  

In The Flesh made me think of these questions, but it didn’t give me any answers. In a way I’m glad. I’m not really one for heavy and clumsy moralising. Perhaps some of these themes will be addressed more closely in the rest of the series. But I’m still delighted that the programme goes into such unconventional territory. This is the kind of thing we need to see more of. Something genuinely imaginative and innovative that isn’t afraid to engage with the difficult questions that often come up when life and death are explored. 

In The Flesh on iPlayer and IMDB.