Free Fire, High Rise and A Field in England director Ben Wheatley is to make Generation Z, a new 6-part series for Channel 4 that sees rapacious baby boomers and disaffected teenagers literally at each other’s throats.
Produced by The Forge, the 6 X 60’ comedy drama is a satire of the divisions between the older baby boomer generation and the youthful ‘Generation Z’.
“The future looks bleak for today’s youth – seemingly-endless austerity, astronomical house prices, insurmountable student debt, a political system which appears intent on destroying itself… And to add insult to injury, their hard-earned taxes are being eaten up by the old – smug, self-satisfied, small-minded, “Little Englander” pensioners whose remaining sole purpose in life is to make it a misery for everyone else.”
The action takes place in a small British town where a mysterious military convoy crashes outside the Sunnywise Retirement Home. The vehicles were carrying a toxic substance which infects the residents of the retirement community. “The symptoms of this infection quickly manifest – an overwhelming appetite for raw flesh. They’re old, they’re angry and they’re on the rampage. A group of regular teenagers find themselves in the thick of the battle against these flesh-eating baby boomers.”
Generation Z is billed as a “compelling, macabre, timely, outrageous, and scabrous satire presenting a modern Britain at war with itself.”
Ben Wheatley says: “I’m excited to be working with Channel 4 and The Forge. Generation Z is my first original created TV project and I couldn’t think of better partners.”
Caroline Hollick, Head of Drama at Channel 4, says: “Ben is a unique creative force, and I’m delighted that he’s bringing this hilarious, frightening and political horror series to Channel 4. I can’t wait to see him transform the zombie genre into something both outrageous and cannily perceptive.”
George Faber, Executive Producer, says: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with the hugely talented Ben Wheatley on his epic comic horror series and very much look forward to discovering how Generation Z will fight the plague of Baby Boomer zombies who are after their young flesh.”
Generation Z is produced by The Forge for Channel 4 and has been commissioned by Channel 4’s Head of Drama Caroline Hollick and Commissioning Editor Lee Mason. The 6 X 60’ series will go into production in 2020 and will be Executive Produced by Ben Wheatley, Mark Pybus and George Faber. It is written and directed by Ben Wheatley.
All3media International will handle global sales.
Staff Reporter
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