Sue Johnston, Anita Dobson, Robert Lindsay, and Johnny Vegas

Sue Johnston, Anita Dobson, Robert Lindsay, and Johnny Vegas are to star in   Channel 4’s new darkly comic zombie apocalypse series Generation Z, the broadcaster has announced. 

Royle Family star Johnston, pictured, and character actor Paul Benthall  play Cecily and Frank, the leaders of a band of OAPs trying to 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, Buket Komur, Lewis Gribben and Viola Prettejohn  –  find themselves at the centre of the virus when Kelly’s nan Janine, played by Dobson, below becomes infected and attacks her.

Channel 4 say: ‘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.’

Lindsay, below, plays a ‘grandad-figure’ called Morgan, while Vegas plasy Jason, part of a family dynamic with Kelly and Lorraine (Suzanne Ahmet). 

The six-part show has been written and directed  by  Ben Wheatley, the director of Sightseers, Meg 2:The Trench and A Field In England.

He said it was ‘amazing’ to work on the show, adding: ‘It’s my first original series and a project very close to my heart. I hope everyone loves it as much as we do.'

Channel 4 commissioning editor Rebecca Holdsworth added: ‘We are so excited that Ben Wheatley has chosen C4 as the place to make his first original TV drama. 

‘Generation Z promises to have all of the unique visual flair and mischievous spirit that characterises Ben’s film work; it is in turn wickedly funny, deftly political, and delivers on the kind of eye-popping shocks and thrills that mean this is shaping up to be a zombie drama like no other.’

Production company The Forge  say Generation Z is about ‘intergeneration justice and community breakdown’ adding that it ‘boldly satirises a world where truth is stranger than fiction’ and explores ‘not just the political fault lines in our society but also the very real issues facing teenagers today’.

Produced by: The Forge in association with ZDF and All3media International
Written and directed by: Ben Wheatley 
Producer: Alex Kazamia
Executive producers: Ben Wheatley, Mark Pybus, George Faber and Beth Willis.
Commissioned by: Channel 4’s head of drama, Caroline Hollick and commissioning editor, Rebecca Holdsworth

Published: 18 Oct 2023