In the Flesh is a BAFTA award-winning BBC Three supernatural drama series starring Luke Newberry as the protagonist. The show, created and written by Dominic Mitchell,[1] began airing on BBC Three on 17 March 2013 with the first series comprising three hour-long episodes. It is set after "The Rising" which is the show's take on a zombie apocalypse and its story and drama focuses throughout on the protagonist, reanimated teenager Kieren Walker, and his return to his local community.
An extended second series of the show comprising six hour-long episodes began airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 4 May 2014[2] and in the United States on 10 May 2014 on BBC America.[3][4][5]
Premise
The show, set in the fictional village of Roarton, Lancashire, though filmed in Marsden, West Yorkshire,[6] depicts life after "The Rising". During The Rising, deceased teenager Kieren Walker and thousands of other people who died in 2009 were re-animated as rabid zombies. The re-animated people were hunted down during "The Pale Wars" by armed militias. A medication was found to bring consciousness back to the undead, returning their minds to who they were before dying. The undead that were not killed by the militias were then rounded up and were given medication and rehabilitation by the government in a plan to reintroduce them to society. They are given contact lenses, cosmetics, and daily injections of medication to help them conceal their partially deceased status. They are officially referred to as survivors of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS), and pejoratively known as "rotters". Many are haunted by returning memories of the atrocities they committed while rabid. In the extremist village of Roarton, PDS sufferers face prejudice from the villagers upon their return.
Cast
- Luke Newberry as Kieren "Kier" or "Ren" Walker,[7] the protagonist of the series who is a Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) sufferer who has returned to his parent's home in the village of Roarton. A bout of depression over the loss of his best friend and romantic interest,[1] Rick Macy, caused the 18-year-old Kieren to commit suicide. Upon his return, he is faced with the guilt of his suicide and the murders he committed whilst in his rabid state and a sister who belongs to the militia dedicated to hunting down his kind, PDS sufferers that is, which are referred to as "rotters" by those that severely dislike and distrust them. Kieren tends to stay at home and avoid others to avoid being recognised as a "rotter".
- Harriet Cains as Jemima "Jem" Walker, Kieren Walker's sister and a member of the local militia, the Human Volunteer Force (HVF). She has trouble accepting Kieren's return but still seems to care for her brother. She was especially troubled by Kieren's death as they were extremely close.
- Marie Critchley and Steve Cooper as Sue and Steve Walker, parents of Kieren and Jemima Walker.
- Emmett J Scanlan as the charismatic Simon Monroe who has links with the Undead Liberation Army (ULA) as well as being one of the twelve disciples of the Undead Prophet.[8]
- Emily Bevan as Amy Dyer, a PDS sufferer who died of leukaemia at age 21. She meets and befriends Kieren and tries to convince him that their condition is a blessing. She is unaffected by her actions when she was rabid and believes that most people spend their lives waiting to die.
- Stephen Thompson as councillor Phil Wilson who later gets in to trouble when he announces his romantic affection for certain PDS sufferers and by consequence all but diminishes his chance of climbing the greasy pole. He later reveals his feelings for Amy Dyer at the village bus stop and they subsequently begin a relationship.
- Wunmi Mosaku as Maxine Martin, the Victus MP for Roarton.
- Kevin Sutton as Gary Kendall, second-in-command and later Commanding Officer of the HVF Roarton village unit following the death of Bill Macy. Later, he heads up the Roarton Protection Service (RPS).
- Gerard Thompson as Dean or "Daz", an active member of and soldier in the Human Volunteer Force (HVF). In addition to his position in the HVF, he later becomes the second-in-command and in some ways Co-Captain of the Roarton Protection Service (RPS) after its establishment.
- Ricky Tomlinson as Ken Burton, a local man who initially appears to dislike those with Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) but this turns out to be only a façade part of his vain attempt to hide the fact that his wife is a PDS sufferer. His failure to keep this concealed eventually leads to her death at the hands of Bill Macy.
- Kenneth Cranham as the widowed Vicar Oddie who runs the parish church and known well across the parish itself.
- Steve Evets as Bill Macy, the head of the Roarton unit of the militia group the Human Volunteer Force (HVF). He is Rick's father and husband of Janet. Bill learned of his son's homosexual relationship with Ren and forced his son to enlist in the army to separate them. During the 'Pale Wars' he destroyed many "rotters" but when his son returns with PDS he cannot accept it and treats him as if he were still fully alive. Bill is forced to confront his feelings over having sent his son to his death, his son's homosexuality and his son's return with PDS.
- Karen Henthorn as Janet Macy, Bill's wife and Rick's mother. She is very accepting of Rick's return and tries to convince her husband that Rick really has PDS and that his return albeit far from ideal is a blessing.
- David Walmsley as Rick Macy.[1] Rick was killed by an IED during combat in Afghanistan. Rick's father Bill is the leader of the local militia dedicated to killing the undead and he treats Rick as if he is still alive despite everyone knowing he was killed and is now a PDS sufferer. Rick has to face his feelings over his relationship with "Ren"(Kieren) as Rick calls him and over Kieren having killed himself because of his own departure from the village of Roarton to join the Army and his own father, Bill, constantly persecuting "rotters".
