Warning: You may never look at TV treasures Anita Dobson and Sue Johnston in the same way ever again after watching Channel 4’s gory new series Generation Z.
In the scary six-part satire Anita, who starred as Angie Watts in EastEnders from 1985 until 1988, and Sue, who became a household name as Brookside matriarch Sheila Grant from 1982 until 1990, have been given terrifying makeovers, transforming them from law-abiding pensioners, Janine and Cecily, into blood-thirsty hunters.
Written and directed by Ben Wheatley (Strange Angel), the comedy horror was filmed on location in Wales and set in the fictional town of Dambury, a quiet place plunged into chaos after a chemical spill infects the older population with an appetite for human flesh. Infused with a new lease of life and led by Cicily and her boyfriend Frank (Paul Bentall), they roam the region indulging their deadly appetites.
But does Cecily’s ex, conspiracy theorist Morgan (Sherwood star Robert Lindsay), know more about their ghoulish regeneration than he’d care to admit?
Here, Anita, 75, Sue, 80, and Robert, 74, joined What to Watch to tell us more about this dark comedy-drama…
Anita Dobson, Sue Johnston and Robert Lindsay on Generation Z
First things first, are we talking Zombies or Infected here?
ANITA: "They’re Infected. Ben told us at the very beginning that they are flesh eaters, not Zombies. These people are cognisant, not walking around with staring eyes and just eating people."
What appealed to you about these roles?
ANITA: “I’ve never done anything like this before and I just thought, ‘I should give everything a go now.’ I loved playing Janine, I just let myself rip, and really enjoyed it!”
SUE: “I’m the same as Anita, I’ve never done anything like this before and it was great fun!”
ROBERT: “It really was! I didn’t know Ben Wheatley’s work, but my kids did and they all said I had to work with him. He’s incredible and his satire of life under the threat of a virus has extremely ghoulishly funny moments.”
Where do we find your characters as the series opens?
ANITA: “Janine’s a widow with a nice little nest egg, but rather than give it to her son Jay [played by Murder, They Hope’s Johnny Vegas] she’s decided to have some fun and, when you first meet her, she’s just come home from holiday. I think she feels her life never really took off because she got married, had children and lived in this little backwater.”
SUE: “Cecily has a bit of a political past. She was an activist in her youth, which is when she met Morgan. Something happened between them, she drifted on, but continued to be an activist. Now she’s ended up in a residential home, has met Frank [The World’s End’s Paul Bentall], and found out that she’s suffering from terminal cancer.”
ROBERT: “Morgan is the grower and supplier of recreational drugs for the Generation Z kids! This meant I spent a lot of time filming in a cellar, or rather, an ancient abattoir in Newport, with our younger cast!”
What happens in the aftermath of the chemical spill?
ANITA: “After Janine gets through the horror of being infected she suddenly feels the fearless desires she felt when she was younger and doesn’t want to change back. Later, Sue’s character suggests that they turn themselves in and get the vaccine, but she’s like, ‘No way - I like the new me!’ Janine feels society owes her something and she’s just going to eat the whole lot of them!”
SUE: “When the virus strikes, Cecily becomes an activist again. All that she was seems to come back and she relishes it… at first! There’s a scene where she’s doing cartwheels that I really like - our stunt people and supporting artists are amazing.”
ROBERT: “It’s difficult to talk about my character, because he goes through a big transformation and he knows a lot more about the infection than anyone else. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but Morgan begins to realise what’s happening when he sees the love of his life, Cecily, become infected.”
Did you have to spend a lengthy time in the make-up chair to achieve your incredible transformations?
SUE: “We'd be in there for hours! I thought it was going to be terribly boring, but it was fascinating to watch the skills of the team - once I got used to how awful I looked! It started off with blood around the mouth, but [as the infection travels] by the end I had a false forehead, cheeks, neck and nose. I thought, ‘I can’t look any worse, so just go for it!’”
ANITA: “I loved every second too! I was quite lucky, in a way, because Paul and Sue’s characters are completely overtaken [by the virus], whereas Janine gets infected on the hand and it travels up her arm to the shoulder, and then gradually into her neck and face, so bits kept getting added to me. It was grotesque, but quite beautiful in its way.”
ROBERT: “They made a body part of my torso - I’ve got it in a box! I remember one day when I went down for a costume fitting, I met Sue coming out of the make-up room trying to make a phone call using face recognition and it wouldn't work!”
SUE: [Laughing] “You recognised me, but the phone didn’t!”
Have you worked together before?
ANITA: “Sue and I crossed paths in our soap years, but we’ve never actually worked together properly. I have enjoyed working with you on this, Sue, we have some lovely scenes.
And Robert and I worked together before on Play Away [Anita was a co-presenter on the BBC children’s show from 1978 until 1981]. That was my very first TV show!”
ROBERT: “ Mine too! Darling, you realise this could be our last!?”
SUE: “Working on this with you both has been a joy. I think I’ll always look back on it with total pleasure. The whole thing seemed to be blessed in sunlight, although it probably wasn’t, especially when I joined Robert in his underground lab, that wasn’t very nice!”
Finally, will you be watching this with your loved ones?
SUE: “When I showed my family photographs of me in make-up it caused more stir amongst my family and friends than anything else has. My grandkids can’t wait to see it, but it’s too dark and they’re too young. I’ll have to show them an edited version!”
ANITA: “My husband [Queen guitarist Sir Brian May] couldn’t speak when I showed him a photograph of Janine bloodied up! We have watched [a preview] of the first two episodes together and he laughed a lot.”
ROBERT: “I’m not very good at being frightened, although this is more ghoulish than frightening. I will watch it with my kids, and I’m really excited to see what the reaction is!”
Six-parter Generation Z airs on Channel 4 on Sunday 27 October and Monday 28 October 2024 at 9pm, showing on subsequent Monday and Sundays at the same time. It will also be available as a boxset on channel4.com.
