The Zone Fleshes Out February Slate

Sky’s sci-fi/fantasy channel The Zone will premiere in HD the long-awaited, BAFTA-winning In the Flesh on February 17.

About an 18-year-old who struggles to be accepted by his family and friends after he turns into a zombie, it’s spawned two seasons and was widely acclaimed.

The Guardian called it a “superb … timely allegory of racism, intolerance — and zombies” and the Wall Street Journal “an atmospheric thriller wrapped around a nugget of social commentary”.

“Suspenseful, tragic yet also uplifting in its audacious collision of fantasy and emotional realism, this haunting gem reminds us that we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead,” said TV Guide.

The Zone also will launch season two of Defiance (8.30 Mondays, from February 9) and debut The Librarians (7.30 Tuesdays, from February 17), a series spun off the movies that will appeal to fans of Warehouse 13 and Relic Hunter.

There’s also great news for fans of Beauty & the Beast: after the first season languished in SD on Prime, the second will premiere in HD on The Zone, where it will air 7.30 Fridays from February 6.

It follows another Prime property, season one of Under the Dome, getting a belated HD debut on The Zone in January, and coincides with the channel picking up season one of SoHo’s American Horror Story for a weekend box set on January 7-8.

Other box set highlights include S1 of Dead Like Me (specs to be confirmed), Harper’s Island (HD 16:9) and S1 of The Incredible Hulk (HD 4:3) while scheduled for the channel’s Cinema Z slot are HG Wells’ War of the Worlds, Megapiranha, Snakes on a Train and Transmorphers.