On paper, Dead Set doesn't sound very good.

It's a five-part horror series, in which most of Britain is taken over by zombies who are hell-bent on eating the flesh of anything that gets in their way.

As in most zombie films, a small band of survivors must come together to stave off the plague. Unlike every other zombie film, however, large parts of Dead Set's action take place in the Big Brother house.

It sounds a little contrived, doesn't it? Oh, and Davina McCall plays one of the undead.

But wait - before you stop reading and make plans to avoid the series, you may be surprised to hear it's actually really good.

Jaime Winstone, who stars in Dead Set as Kelly, thought exactly the same when she received the script, but the project's originality made her carry on reading.

"I had to do a double-take when I first read it," she says, smiling.

"The first couple of pages are like, 'Big Brother...' so as an actress, you want to run away.

"Then I carried on reading it and then I couldn't stop," she continues.

"It's just really clever, and something really cool to be a part of."

We're soon introduced to Kelly, who works as a production runner on Big Brother. With the lowest job in TV, she's responsible for menial tasks such as getting the rest of the crew's coffee and making sure studio guests are where they're supposed to be.

"In every business, there's a ladder," explains 23-year-old Jaime.

"My character has just started a new job, and her boyfriend says it's like she's joined a cult. She's in a bubble.

"This is for all those runners out there! They're the tough ones. They get stuff done when you're making a show or film, and without them, you just can't do anything. They're vital."

Pretty soon, however, she goes from being the most unappreciated person on the set to the most valued, as the zombie plague takes hold.

Before long, almost all of Kelly's colleagues have been transformed into brain-hungry monsters and the runner must get ruthless to stay alive, killing those who, before being infected, were once her friends.

In a sensible move, Kelly makes her way to the confines of the Big Brother compound, where a handful of contestants are totally unaware what's been going on in the outside world.

Comedy stalwart Kevin Eldon, former The Bill actress Beth Cordingly and ex-Hollyoaks villain Andy Holt are among the actors playing the housemates, each as pompous, vacuous or grotesque as real-life contestants that have featured over the years.

When Kelly finds her way into the compound, the housemates, oblivious to the mayhem taking place outside, think she's part of a task sent in by Big Brother.

The scene is among Jaime's favourites.

"I love the point where the characters in the house actually stop acting," says the daughter of tough-guy actor Ray Winstone.

"Big Brother has got to the point now where the contestants are very aware that they're on TV, so here we have a moment when they realise they're not being watched anymore and everyone outside is dying. It's really interesting."

Unlike anything that's been on TV in recent years, Dead Set's success is largely thanks to Charlie Brooker's original writing.

As a Guardian columnist, he's been one of TV's harshest critics for years, also presenting his own show on the subject, Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, for the BBC.

Brooker's also a zombie fanatic, evident in Dead Set's many nods to the classics of the genre, including Night Of The Living Dead and Dawn Of The Dead by horror master George A Romero.

"Charlie and I had such great banter, he's a great character," Jaime says.

"He gets ultimate respect for who he is and what he's done," she adds.

"When you're writing a script it's very different from a piece of TV journalism. It's a hard and a very brave thing to do.

"If we had any questions with the script, you know things like 'Would we say this? Would we do this?', he was there on hand. He and the director had the same vision."

Like Brooker, Jaime is also a fan of horror films. Her love of macabre cinema readied her for some of Dead Set's more gruesome moments.

"There's stuff in there that's pretty disgusting," she says, laughing.

"The prosthetics smell pretty bad. There's the bit where I smash a zombie's head in and, argh, the smell.

"Dead Set is extremely gory, but I grew up on horror films. I love it! Fright Night, Hellraiser, The Shining, you name them.

"These films are so wrong, but oh so right! It's great to see horror coming back. I mean, it's amazing!"

Any programme about Big Brother wouldn't be complete without Davina McCall.

The action kicks off on eviction night, so we get to see a caricatured version of the long-serving presenter in make-up, mingling with staff.

It's only when she's bitten by a zombie and transformed into one herself that she really comes to life.

"She was so up for it! So game," says Jaime.

"Davina was a great zombie... it could be a back-up career for her.

"I think viewers will love seeing her like this. If you like BB, or dislike it, you're going to be intrigued. It's great to see her in this light.

"I think the whole show is amazing. These are lucky opportunities when you get to do things like this; to smash a prosthetic head in is sickly fun, or to run away from a load of zombies and use your imagination!

"You don't get to do that everyday."

JAIME'S FACT BOX

Jaime has an older sister, Lois, and a younger sister, Ellie.

Jaime grew up in Enfield, north London, and later moved to Roydon in Essex near the Epping Forest.

One of Jaime's next projects is action-packed BBC series Phoo Action, co-created by artist Jamie Hewlett, one of the men behind Gorillaz. Jamie will play Whitey Action, one half of a crime-fighting duo.

Jaime made her screen debut in Bullet Boy, alongside former So Solid Crew member Ashley Walters and ex-EastEnder Sylvester Williams.

In 2006 Jaime appeared in an episode of ITV1 detective drama Vincent, which starred her dad Ray.

Dead Set begins on Monday October 27 on E4 and continues every night that week, with its finale on Halloween night (Friday October 31).