There’s a new show on BBC3 that you should be getting excited about – and we know because we’ve seen the preview.

No it’s not a spin-off of Pramface called Rompersuitface – although we’re sure that’s in the pipeline. It goes by the (very literal) name of “I Survived A Zombie Apocalypse” and is hosted by unconventional Radio One dreamboat Greg James.

If you watch BBC3 you’ve probably seen the creepy teaser trailer already and wondered what it’s all about. It’s a high-budget, reality-puzzle-horror-comedy show. And it’s got more reanimated cadavers than you can shake your best friend’s dismembered arm at.

We sat through the first episode and experienced genuine terror and laughed genuine laughs (often in very close succession). If you don’t believe us, check it out for yourself.

When and where can I watch this?

Zombie woman
(screenshot/BBC)

The show will run from Sunday February 15 on BBC3.

Who’s involved?

Ten totally normal contestants plucked from the willing public. Seventy-odd zombie extras. And Radio 1 DJ Greg James, who’s famous for (among other things) this:

Where is it set?

Monroe Shopping Village
(screenshot/BBC)

During the show we kept getting whooshy satellite images zooming in on Monroe Shopping Village, somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Its backstory in the show is that it was converted into an army base and then overrun by zombies.  It’s now where our survivors are holed up awaiting rescue.

And actually that’s not too far from the truth. The show is filmed in a genuine abandoned shopping village in central Scotland. However, the eeriness wasn’t caused by a zombie outbreak – they built it in a stupidly remote place and all the businesses just up and left.

Does it rip off other shows?

Richard O'Brien Crystal Maze
(Adam Butler/PA)

“Rip off” is an unfair description for ISAZA, because it blends at least five different genres into one beautiful, witty, terrifying mess.

It’s like The Walking Dead meets Shaun of the Dead meets Crystal Maze meets Big Brother meets a public safety announcement from the 1950s.

What are the tasks like?

Zombies
(screenshot/BBC)

Genuinely stressful – even for the viewers. Each task involves the survivors venturing into the “deserted” shopping centre for supplies and whatnot – invariably at night because, y’know, zombies.

This is the Crystal Maze part. It’s all “find the key to unlock the door” and “get across the room without tripping the alarm”. Only the key is inside the rotting corpse of a shop assistant, and if you trip the alarm the dead will burst out of body bags.

There is also running – lots of running.

What are the cast like?

Thom running
Lady Gaga fan Thom is already our favourite (screenshot/BBC)

They are actually very grounded, normal people who clearly didn’t have much idea about the show when they were applying. In that way it’s all very reminiscent of the very first series of Big Brother.

None of this lot would look too out of place on BBC3′s other great reality show Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents. Most of the survivors are young and wide-eyed, with a token 56-year-old gran thrown in for good measure.

As for the zombies? They’re zombies.

What do the contestants have to do?

Zombie base
(screenshot/BBC)

Apart from the tasks? Sit around mostly. They’re besieged by zombies for seven days, and it all turns into a kind of mini Big Brother. There’s even a room where they radio the “Army” who are due to save them – just like the BB diary room.

According to the guys behind the show, there wasn’t much acting involved at all. The contestants were so swept up in it all that they instinctively started asking each other questions like: “What did you do before the apocalypse?”

And if any survive (we’re told some do) then they get taken to a “tropical quarantine” – meaning they get a free tropical holiday at the end.

Can we expect a celebrity version?

Perez Hilton
Which celeb do you want to see torn apart by zombies? (Ian West/PA)

It’s certainly not off the cards. Obviously this first season has to prove successful first, but if they can make Tumble and they can make Celebrity Dinner Date, they can certainly make “I’m A Celebrity And I Survived A Zombie Apocalypse” (working title).

For his money, Greg James says he’d love to see Perez Hilton walk onto the set and get ripped apart by the undead. He’s not alone…