Zombies are everywhere. Or at least, they were. For a solid decade, you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a "walker" or a "biter" or whatever new name a showrunner had cooked up to avoid saying the Z-word. But then there’s the In the Flesh show. It’s different. Honestly, it’s frustrating how many people missed this when it aired on BBC Three back in 2013 and 2014. While The Walking Dead was busy counting headshots and arguing about which farm to hide on, creator Dominic Mitchell was doing something way more radical in the fictional village of Roarton.
He made the zombies the victims.
The premise is basically this: the world ended, but then it started again. They call it "The Rising." People died, they got back up, they ate some folks—the standard apocalypse stuff. But then a "cure" was found. Not a cure that makes them alive again, but a medication that restores their consciousness. They call it Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS). Now, the British government is sending these former monsters back to their families. Imagine having to live next door to the guy who tried to eat your brain last year. It’s awkward. It's terrifying. It’s the most human television ever made about the dead.
The World After the End
Most zombie media focuses on the collapse. We like watching the buildings fall and the grocery store shelves go empty. In the Flesh show starts when the electricity is back on. That’s why it works. The horror isn't about being eaten; it's about the social fallout of a genocide that technically didn't stick. We follow Kieren Walker, played with incredible, quiet fragility by Luke Newberry. Kieren is a PDS sufferer who committed suicide before he turned. He's coming home to a sister who joined an anti-zombie militia and a town that wants him gone.
The world-building here is dense. You see the "treated" zombies wearing tinted contact lenses and thick, flesh-colored makeup to look "normal." It’s a metaphor for everything from mental health struggles to the LGBTQ+ experience, but it never feels like a heavy-handed lecture. It feels like a small town in Lancashire. The grit is real. The rain looks cold. The resentment in the local pub is thick enough to choke on.
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Why Kieren Walker Matters
Kieren isn't a hero. He’s a kid who is deeply ashamed of what he did when he was "rabid." In many ways, the show is an exploration of trauma and PTSD. When Kieren looks at his reflection, he sees a monster, even though the government says he’s a "treated" citizen. The nuance Newberry brings to the role is why the show won a BAFTA. He doesn't play a zombie; he plays a boy with a chronic illness that happens to be death.
His relationship with Rick Macy is the emotional backbone of the series. Rick was Kieren’s "best friend"—and it's heavily implied they were much more—who died in Afghanistan. When Rick returns as a PDS sufferer, his father, a hardline militia leader, refuses to accept the reality. He treats Rick like a soldier returning from war, ignoring the gray skin and the lack of a heartbeat. It’s heartbreaking. It shows how we use denial as a weapon against the people we claim to love.
The Political Nightmare of Roarton
Roarton isn't just a backdrop. It's a character. The village is split between the Human Volunteer Force (HVF) and people just trying to move on. This is where the In the Flesh show gets scary. It captures that specific, parochial brand of British bigotry perfectly. It’s not always screaming and pitchforks. Sometimes it’s just a cold look in the grocery store or a neighbor refusing to touch a door handle after you.
The show introduces the Undead Liberation Army (ULA) in the second season. They’re the radical counterpoint to the HVF. They believe PDS sufferers should be proud of what they are. "Life is temporary, dead is forever," they say. This creates a fascinating three-way tension. You have the government trying to manage the situation with bureaucracy and "medication," the human bigots who want the dead permanently dead, and the radicalized dead who want to stop hiding under makeup.
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The Tragedy of the Third Season
We need to talk about the cancellation. It’s a sore spot for fans. BBC Three moved online, budgets were slashed, and despite a massive cult following, the In the Flesh show was cut after its second series. It left so many threads hanging. Who was the "First Risen"? What was the deal with the prophecy? The show was expanding its mythology into something truly epic, shifting from a domestic drama into a supernatural conspiracy thriller.
Dominic Mitchell has teased bits of what would have happened in Series 3 over the years on social media. We would have seen more of the wider world, more of the brewing revolution, and hopefully, some closure for Kieren. The fact that we don't have it is a genuine loss for the "prestige TV" era. It was ahead of its time. If it had landed on Netflix or HBO a few years later, we’d probably be on season six by now.
The Visual Language of PDS
The makeup is a huge part of the storytelling. When the characters are at home, in their "safe spaces," they wash off the foundation. They show their true, pale, scarred skin. It’s a literal unmasking. The show uses color palettes brilliantly—the warm, stifling oranges of Kieren's family home versus the cold, clinical blues of the treatment centers.
And let’s talk about the "Blue Devil." It’s the street drug that makes PDS sufferers turn rabid again. It’s a perfect plot device. It justifies the fear of the humans while showing the desperation of the dead. It’s another layer of the addiction allegory that the show handles so deftly.
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Is it Actually Scary?
If you want jump scares every five minutes, this isn't for you. The horror in the In the Flesh show is existential. It’s the horror of being rejected by your own mother. It’s the horror of remembering the taste of your neighbor’s arm. There are moments of visceral violence, sure, but they are rare and impactful because of it. When a PDS sufferer "goes rabid," it’s tragic, not just dangerous.
The scene where Kieren first returns home and has to eat "brain smoothies" (actually a chemical substitute) while his parents watch him with a mix of love and revulsion? That’s scarier than any chainsaw massacre. It’s uncomfortable. It makes you squirm because you don't know how you would react in that situation.
How to Watch it Today
Finding the show can be a bit of a hunt depending on your region, but it’s usually available on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime (via BritBox or similar add-ons) or Hulu. It’s only nine episodes in total. You can binge the whole thing in a weekend.
Honestly, you should.
The In the Flesh show remains a masterclass in low-budget, high-concept storytelling. It proves that you don't need a massive CGI budget to tell a compelling supernatural story. You just need characters who feel real and a premise that digs into the dark corners of the human psyche. It's a story about forgiveness, or the impossibility of it.
If you’re tired of the same old tropes, give it a shot. It’s a zombie show for people who hate zombie shows, and a drama for people who think they’ve seen everything the genre has to offer. Just be prepared for the fact that it ends too soon. You’ll join the rest of us in the "Bring Back In the Flesh" camp within forty-eight hours.
Actionable Steps for New Viewers
- Start with Series 1, Episode 1: Don't skip around. The pacing is deliberate, and the emotional payoff relies on seeing Kieren's initial reintegration.
- Pay attention to the makeup: Notice when characters choose to wear it and when they don't. It’s the key to understanding their psychological state.
- Look for the subtext: The show deals with themes of depression, neurodivergence, and queer identity. It’s much richer if you look past the "zombie" surface.
- Support the creator: Follow Dominic Mitchell on social media. He occasionally shares scripts and behind-the-scenes tidbits that fill in some of the gaps left by the cancellation.
- Spread the word: The only way niche shows like this get "revived" or "rebooted" is through consistent viewer data on streaming services. Watch it legally if you can to show there's still an audience.
- Prepare for a cliffhanger: Go in knowing that Series 2 ends on a major beat that was never resolved. Enjoy the journey for what it is rather than waiting for a tidy ending.