The Z is for zombie as Anita Dobson, Sue Johnston and Robert Lindsay star alongside a large ensemble cast.  

Channel 4 have revealed the cast and first images from Generation Z which is currently filming.

The show comes from Ben Wheatley, better known for his movie career – both indie films and bigger budget fate like High Rise and The Meg 2: The Trench – this is his first original series. It’s described as “… a coming-of-age parable for our very strange times – cut with a heavy dose of outlandish gore.” 

Generation Z will apparently look at intergenerational justice and community breakdown while exploring teenage issues.

Here’s the synopsis:

Set in the fictional town of Dambury, the kind of place with stark opportunities and not much to do. Grey, unassuming, forgotten. It’s the last place you’d expect the apocalypse to begin… But when an army convoy overturns outside a care home, a chemical leak starts to have an adverse effect on the residents there. The OAPs, led by Cecily and Frank, played by Sue Johnston (The Royle Family) and Paul Benthall (The World’s End), escape the grasp of the army looking to contain their angry, violent, insatiable hunger for raw flesh.

On the night of the outbreak, teenagers – Charlie, Kelly, Steff and Finn, played respectively by Jay Lycurgo (The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself), Buket Komur (Our House), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), and Viola Prettejohn (The Nevers) – are living normal teenage lives: tinnies, messy feelings, complex relationships and ignoring their A-Level prep. But the gang abruptly find themselves at the centre of the virus when Kelly’s nan Janine, played by Anita Dobson (EastEnders) becomes infected and attacks her.

Just because it’s the end of the world, it doesn’t mean your home life and relationship problems comes to a halt, as the gang come up against the zombie horde, battling with their parents, friendship betrayals and old family secrets rearing their ugly heads. And life is just as complicated for the zombies, with the virus fuelling single-minded desires, bringing a whole new dimension to their zombie rampage. Meanwhile, Finn worries for grandad-figure Morgan, played by Robert Lindsay (My Family), when she comes to the realisation that there might be more behind the chemical spill. Just what exactly was being transported? 

On top of the core cast, the show includes appearances from Johnny Vegas and T’Nia Miller.

Ben Wheatley says:

“It’s been amazing working on Generation Z with The Forge and Channel 4. It’s my first original series and a project very close to my heart. I hope everyone loves it as much as we do.”

Generation Z comes from The Forge (National Treasure, Kiri) for Channel 4, in association with ZDF and All3media International. Ben Wheatley writes and directs, and Alex Kazamia produces. The executive producers are Wheatley, Mark Pybus, George Faber and Beth Willis.

We’ll keep you posted on Generation Z.