The coming week in tellyland sees the start of several new and much touted series but personally, I cannot wait for the new mini-series Dead Set to start next Monday 27th on E4 at 10pm. To be honest, I think this could be better than the actual Big Brother! Here’s a bit of info about the show in case you’ve been on Mars lately and haven’t seen the trailers and teasers…

‘Britain has a big problem. The dead are returning to life and attacking the living. The people they kill get up and kill – and it’s spreading like wildfire. Curiously, there are a few people left in Britain who aren’t worried about any of this – that’s because they’re the remaining contestants in Big Brother. Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they’re blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding outside. Until an eviction night when all hell breaks loose.

Kelly, (Jaime Winstone) the production runner working on Big Brother finds herself caught in the impossible position of trying to fend off the walking dead alongside the remaining housemates, Davina herself, a host of former Big Brother housemates, her producer boss Patrick (Andy Nyman) and boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed).

Over the ensuing days, in a cruel reflection of the game show they thought they were entering, the contestants fall victim, one by one, to the hungry masses outside. Staying alive requires teamwork – which is tricky when you’re a group specifically selected by TV producers to wind each other up.’

Davina has a role in the show and gets murdered in very gory style; it’s going to be interesting to watch her in something other than standard presenting roles.

E4 has also set up a really good flash site to accompany the show – if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s well worth a look at http://www.e4.com/deadset/index2.html

Before Dead Set we’ve a new drama of an altogether more genteel kind in the form of the Dickensian classic tale of love and murder, Little Dorrit. The first of fourteen episodes airs on Sunday 26th at 9pm and there’s an impressive cast in this one too including Tom Courtenay, Matthew Macfadyen, Bill Paterson, Freema Agyeman, Maxine Peake and Judi Parfitt. I love these period dramas and anything Dickens is a must-watch for me.

The story revolves around the Dorrit family and Marshalsea prison – which Dickens became fascinated by when his father was imprisoned there for running up unpaid debts. William Dorrit is a long-term inmate of the Marshalsea prison for debtors but he derives comfort from the presence of his daughter Amy, ‘Little Dorrit’, who was born in the prison.

It’s unexpectedly discovered that William is the heir to a fortune and with the notable exception of Amy, the family becomes arrogant as a consequence. As paupers, Old Dorrit and Amy were befriended by Arthus Clenman so when Clenman is imprisoned for debt, Amy looks after him. Clenman’s family history is also the key to an elaborate mystery in which the Dorrits are involved.

If you were forced to read Dickens at school and found it a ginormous yawn, you might find that you’ll have a renewed interest if you watch this drama.

Sunday also sees the start of the much hyped Britannia High at 6.15pm but if you don’t want to wait that long, you can watch the first episode online at www.itv.com/Drama/family/BritanniaHigh/default.html

Created by choreographer and Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, there’s also original music composed by some of the biggest names in pop including Gary Barlow, Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Mark Owen and Eliot Kennedy. I suppose it’s going to appeal to fans of the High School The Musical type genre of programming; it doesn’t appeal much to me personally but I may just tune in to see if all the fuss about it is warranted!

Don’t forget to check out the articles we’ll have on Unreality about all these new dramas and leave us your comments on what you think of them.