Back in the 90s we’d learn all about the cool, wacky lives of 20-something’s through the adventures of a mysteriously close group of Friends; following the will they-won’t they off Ross and Rachael, Joey’s zany antics…. it was an ideal life filled with drama, joy, laughs and coffee!
But thats not what being in your 20’s is like, is it? It’s miserable and confusing and you have no money and it’s stressful and love isn’t a funny drama it’s something that rps your heart out your chest and destroys the very essence of your being and…. yeah, being that age sucks. Friends was a popular show, but it was built on a throne of lies.
Here in the UK we were a bit more honest. The idea of 20-something Brits was captured with a new TV show featuring a heartbroken aspiring comic book writer moving in with a ditzy aspiring writer and neither of them did anything of note after moving in together pretending to be a couple.
In contrast to the bright and colourful American sitcoms, Spaced was a good old fashioned British dose of reality filled with weird neighbours, sitting on your bum doing next to nothing and dreams so high that they only bring disappointment.
Spaced only ran for two seasons, and didn’t make big waves. But it did bring together a trinity of creative talents that would continue to grow beyond their Friday Night slot on Channel 4; beyond that, it would propel the little known Simon Pegg from just another funny guy into stardom.
Reuniting Pegg with Spaced co-star Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright all of whom were ridiculously close friends off camera – Shawn of the Dead was the story of two more layabouts living the bare minimum of existence. Just like in Spaced, Frost was the somewhat hopeless best friend, Pegg was the average guy living an average life with love life issues aplenty. Then one morning he wakes up, goes to the shop to buy a cornetto and notices something weird has happened; a zombie outbreak.
Panicked by the outbreak, Shawn needs a plan. He needs to make sure his girlfriend (or, ex girlfriend) is safe, that his mum won’t get eaten by his step dad Phil who seems to have been bitten and get to safety. In essense, it’s a film about going to the pub, having a nice cold pint and (everybody!) wait for it all to blow over!
Zombies are stupid. Sorry guys. But they are possibly the worst horror villain of all time. Traditionally they move slower than a pensioner on ket and if you’re stupid enough to let them get close enough to bite when they’re moving that slow, have massively huge weaknesses and are generally hopeless you deserve to pop your cloggs. Granted, films like 28 Days Later made the idea of an outbreak a bit more terrifying by turning zombies into a viscous, mindless killer that could catch you and rip you apart in seconds. But Shawn goes old school and makes an incredibly funny zombie spoof with an unashamed Britishness.
The first proper zombie confrontation lets you exactly what kind of film you’re watching. There’s no heroics and really, not much of a threat. Just two ordinary guys who spend most of their time together being utterly bored of themselves trying to kill a zombie with whatever they find around them and absolutely no clue what they’re doing.
As Shaun, Peggs leading man, shouts “For gods sake he’s got an arm off! “ the duo throw the remote, cushions and beer cans at the walking dead before an ash tray helps smash it’s brains to pieces. Then they go after two more in the garden with a washing basket filled with spoons, mugs and a toaster before throwing the record collection. Well, some of the record collection Can’t throw Purple Rain….
Edgar Wright is on point with ever aspect of the film; it has just the right level of silliness as it presents the amateur attempt at being a zombie hunter. For everyone that has a plan for such an apocalypse, Wrights view of what happens after the outbreak has a comical and refreshing realness as Shaun and his pals argue, complain and generally become action heroes without a clue.
Pegg and Frost are always a fun pair, and the supporting cast play their parts perfectly in adding to the chaos and frustration.
It’s one of those films thats just monumentally stupid and doesn’t shy away from the fact. Even the action scenes, which are often filled with fear and panic in the genre, are sprinkled with outlandish silliness that makes each moment fun; one of the high points being a zombified barman being beaten to death with pool cue’s to the rhythm of Queens Dont Stop Me Now.
Twenty years after it’s release Shaun of the Dead holds up really well and is filled with incredibly memorable quotes that, rather bizarrely, live on all these years later. Having launched Pegg to stardom, it remains not only a great example of British comedy, but no matter how many times you’ve seen it, doesn’t fail to give you a laugh!
About the author
Star Trek Day 2026: Celebrating 60 Years of the Final Frontier!
Sixty years ago the world was introduced to a sci fi series that planted a seed of adventure, imagination and inspiration that would blossom into a juggernaut of media. After launching with the Man Trap on September 8th in the United States, the series would later grow into a pop culture icon spawning 9 Live Action Series, 3 Animated Series, 13 Feature Films & more including Streaming Events, Shorts and a huge amount of offshoot media across games, comics and books. With generations of fans discovering new era's and new adventures for decades, today we celebrate not only that first flight of the USS Enterprise and it's original crew, but an entire franchise that continued to grow, evolve, building a world of adventure, inspiration and hope for a better future! As we celebrate Star Trek at 60, we'd love to hear how […]
Away Team, Assemble! The USS Tesla Set To Beam Down to Epic Comic Con!
Returning to Glasgow this September, the Tesla Crew are once again in action at Fan Frontiers Epic Comic Con in the SEC Hosted by Fan Frontiers, Epic Comic Con has been one of the core places to meet the crew of the Tesla since it’s origins as Acme Comic Con and has become a firm part of the diverse and welcoming fan centric communities hosting everything from Rebel Legions to Ghostbusters! Taking their regular spot once again the Tesla crew will have Star Trek props and collectables on display as the team get ready to share the wonders of the final frontier! With possibly the biggest and most intriguing line ups to date, Epic will be hosting some surprises including Lord of the Rings' hobbit Duo Billy Boyd & Dominic Monaghan, What We Do in the Shadows Star Kayvan Novak, […]
60 Year Mission Celebrations!
This month Star Trek celebrates 60 years since the continuing mission launched and this year we've decided.... one Star Trek Day isn't enough. We're having a whole month of celebration! With plans including virtual meets, Europa chats, competitions and more, we're inviting the whole fleet to jump on board, get involved and join the fun of celebrating sixty years othe final frontier! Virtual Meet Sunday September 6th 8pm Starbase Europa 60 YEAR MISSION Meet the Fleet in Celebration with an evening of catching up, sharing stories, maybe a few bad jokes and general shenanigans! As we open a month of celebrating one of sci fi's most enduring franchises, grab a drink, pull up a chair and have a few laughs to begin the month! Discussion Sunday September 6th All Day Starbase Europa STAR TREK DAY 2026 From dusk 'till dawn, […]
A Fistful of Undercover Operations
Occasionally when exploring the wonders of deep space, our heroes of Trek have been summoned to - or by sheer accident - become another person to fulfil their mission. Whether it's O'Brien mixing with gangsters or Picard becoming a mercenary, Star Trek's filled with episodes where our favourite explorers have to become someone else to save the day.... FACE OF THE ENEMY The Next Generation Season 6 Waking up on the Warbird Khazara, Deanna Troi finds herself in a bit of a pickle. Kidnapped and surgically altered to take the place of a Tal Shiar Commander she finds herself led by her handler, N'Vek, to lead a secret mission after the Commander had been killed. Out of her comfort zone, Troi has to convince the crew she's the real deal despite the ships skipper knowing something's not quite right.... In […]
Warped: ‘Off Hour’, Strange New Worlds S4E06
Towards the end of a long and tiring shift, the command team are more than ready to hand over to the night shift. But no one makes it far from their station as at the moment of handover, the Enterprise gets pulled into a warp slipstream that knocks out the ship and traps them in an escalating and catastrophic acceleration taking the ship well beyond its limts. Writers: Bill Wikoff Director: Dan Liu Strange New Worlds is an interesting creative, narratively speaking. When they swing for the fences in their creative mission, it's very hit or miss. But when they keep things simple and focused on character work, they really shine. And this weeks was one that kept it simple with a tried and tested format that always works nicely; have the ship suffer a critical accident, cut everything […]
It’s Not Easy Being Green Blooded: ‘Level Five Transporter Accident’, Strange New Worlds S4E05
Spock's going through a bit of a personal crisis and Scotty's become madly competitive with an old Academy rival. These two separate threads collide in the weirdest way when Spock finds himself as the only person who can control the ship as Scotty's transporter antics turn everyone into puppets... Writers: Henry Alonso Myers & Dana HorganDirector: Jordan Canning Spock's not quite feeling himself and he hasn't quite been himself since the Griffin Incident. And things are getting worse. Leaning heavily towards logic over his exploration of his human side, and in the wake of La'an deciding their relationship had reached it's 'natural conclusion', he's spiraling. Well, as much as a Vulcan would allow themselves to. Desperately trying to balance himself, he's leaning into logic and reaching out to his scorned ex-fiancee for help in re-establishing his Vulcan side.While thats happening, Scotty's on a […]
Related
Relay Recap: July 2024
All Features Universe Categories Fleet Alert Comms GORN GIRL recap; july 2025 Picking up on the Season 2 cliff-hanger, Strange New Worlds returned to our screens this month to find Captain Pike and his crew on the edge of war with the Gorn as Season 3 was finally released!Exploring new worlds and new problems, the Enterprise crew are back in action on Paramount Plus and we're keeping ourselves up to date with weekly episode discussion threads on our FB Continuing Mission Group & Weekly episode reviews from Admin ! Explore... Episode Reviews Spoilers Group ACROSS THE UNIVERSE As we look back on Pike's adventures on the Enterprise in the prequel series, Paramount also gave us a look at whats to come next as Entertainment Weekly and SDCC's Star Trek Universe panel gave us a sneak peek at the reopening of […]
Sci Fi Spotlight: Foundation Returns For It’s Third Crisis
For over twelve thousand years the known galaxy has been ruled by the Galactic Empire, ruled for the past four hundred years by a constantly rotating series of clones of the last Emperor never to father an heir. With the Cleons at the centre of millions of worlds, one mathematician has developed anew science that predicts the Empires fall. Using socio-political history merged with a series of sophisticated equations, Hari Seldon has found a way to predict societies most likely future. Through developing a Quantum Computer, Seldon see's the fall of the Empire coming and where he see's science, other's see prophecy. Empire – a single ruling force consisting of three Cleon's at different ages – a young Brother Dawn as Emperor in Training, Brother Dusk as the retired guardian and Brother Day as the strong ruler – considers his […]
[Sci Fi Sunday] Quantum Leap Season 2 on Paramount+
Returning to an old classic can be a mixed bag. Especially when the ideas a revival of a cult classic without any of the original stars returning. Quantum Leap was one of several of those shows to dip back into an old idea and give it a new life to modern audiences and in it's first season it was a surprise hit thanks in part to being a next chapter for the government funded time travel project that mixed the old theme with new ideas.
[Retro Review] Everybody’s Dead, Dave. Red Dwarf (1988)
Some people have lofty ambitions. Become rich, famous, the best in your field. Others just want something simple. Like buying a small farm, getting a sheep and a cow and breeding horses. Red Dwarf was the story of the man with the simple dream. There's just one problem. Everybody's dead.
Sci Fi Sunday: The Matrix 20 Years Later…
Most people have had moments where they doubt their surroundings. Where they look all around them and wonder what they feel, what they experience is actually real. Or if it's all an illusion. What would we do if we learned that everything we know was a lie. The world we knew may not be perfect, but it's stable, reliable. Imagine being told that underneath that it was an illusion masking a future where the world was in ruins, where no hope was left? Sci Fi Sunday: The Matrix 20 Years Later... That was the basis of the Matrix. A films where the protagonist, Neo, was given a choice. Take a blue pill and return to his average, normal and safe life within a digital reality, or take the red pill and awaken from a slumber he never knew […]
Sci Fi Sunday: Get Ready For The OA Season 2 (Comms Highlights)
Appearing from nowhere without any promotional efforts, the OA was a weird experiment from Netflix to just drop a show into it's line up and see what happened. As people tuned in to scroll through their library, they'd stumble upon the supernatural sci fi mystery and as a young girl who'd been missing for years sat a group of strangers down to tell them her story, viewers were captivated by the weird tale of finding the space between life and death. After being missing for years, Prairie returned home a completely different person. She was seasoned, tough, and despite being blind when she vanished, she could now see perfectly. It's hard to get into specifics without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen the mystery, but as she returns to her home town under the careful supervision of her parents, […]
