Did You Know?

Many of the Zombie extras are fans of the TV series Spaced, which also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and was also directed by Edgar Wright. They were recruited through the Spaced Out fan web site to be in the film.

Frequent references are made to Big Al's claim that dogs can't look up. This is a reference to the commentary to the second series of Spaced in which Simon Pegg (Shaun) and Edgar Wright talk about Nick Frost (Ed)'s claim that the difficulty in shooting a scene with a dog was due to the fact that dogs can't look up.

The zombie that Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost) find in their garden is Mary, the checkout girl from the film's credit montage. A short story detailing her transformation into one of the undead was featured in issue 1384 of the classic British sci-fi comic 2000AD. The issue went on sale 7 April 2004. The strip was called "There's Something About Mary" and was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (the film's co-writers) with art by Frazer Irving.

Shaun (Simon Pegg) complains that Ed (Nick Frost) isn't his boyfriend, then says, "Thanks, babe." In season one of Spaced, a conversation begins in a similar manner between the two actors ("All right, babe?"). This was, however, a total mistake. The writers used the same joke again, forgetting they had used it in Spaced.

In the beginning of the film, when Shaun is riding the bus, the young man in front of him is listening to music. The song that can be heard is the dance club classic "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation, which itself is a track from the 1984 Commodore 64 game "Lazy Jones".

John and Bernie run the Winchester. These are the real names of the landlord and landlady who used to run Simon Pegg's local pub, the Shepherds in Highgate. John used to make toasted sandwiches for regulars, hence the reference to "the Breville out back." Pegg and Nick Frost were regular attendees of the Shepherd's Thursday night quiz, hence the line "we do the quiz" when Shaun is knocking on the Winchester's door. Chris Martin of Coldplay, who plays a zombie in the film, also used to attend quiz night.

When Shaun's girlfriend objects to going out to the Winchester he suggest a few other pubs, one of which is the Shepherds, which actually used to be Simon Pegg's local pub in Highgate until it was closed and reopened as a themed bar.

At one point, a zombie can be glimpsed wearing a yellow cycling helmet and lycra shorts. He's played by comedian Michael Smiley, who made appearances in Spaced as a bicycle courier named Tyres.

On the DVD (at least the region-two and region-one versions), there is a feature that plays an edited version of the scene where Pete yells at Shaun and Ed for playing the music too loud ("I've got to go to fucking work in four fucking hours!") that has been dubbed over for television airings, thus replacing all obscenities. "Fuck" is replaced with "funk," "prick" becomes "prink." The feature has the fitting title "Funky Pete" and is found in the alternate bits section.

All of the newsreaders and television presenters are real people portraying themselves.

Nick Frost (Ed) allegedly kept his genitals shaved throughout the production to create a genuine need to scratch that the character demanded.

The non-featured zombie extras were paid the princely sum of £1 a day for their troubles.

When Noel (Rafe Spall) rings Ed (Nick Frost), Ed calls him Noodle, which is the name of one of the teenagers in an episode of Spaced. Noel also says, "E-Ball says you're holding," which is a reference to director Edgar Wright, whose nickname is E-Ball.

The Battle Royale (Battle Royale) poster in Shaun's living room is designed by Fred Deakin of Airside, as is the green poster with the flowers and girl in Liz's flat. Deakin is also a member of the band Lemon Jellÿ, which provides music for the soundtrack.

Mary, the zombie in Shaun's backyard, works at Landis Supermarket. This is a nod to John Landis, who directed An American Werewolf in London, and to the British chain of convenience stores named Londis.

David Walliams auditioned for the role of David.

When Shaun and his friends are trying to get inside the pub, horror writer and Frightfest organizer Alan Jones can be seen as a zombie walking past the phone box. He's the bald one in a checkered shirt.

Almost all bit-part characters can be seen later in the film as zombies

One of the zombies seen in the film previously featured in a TV ad for the Mini as a zombie.

Northern Irish rock band Ash donated 3 songs used in the film: "Meltdown", "Orpheus" and "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" featuring Chris Martin. These songs were donated for free as Edgar Wright's girlfriend, Charlotte Hatherley, played guitar and sang backing vocals for Ash at the time.

The garden scenes were originally a lot longer, featuring a hanged man zombie and a woman being eaten by her own dog (The dog was intended to be played by Spaced's Colin).

The rifle they use in the Winchester is, naturally, a Winchester model 73, the gun that won the west.

Shaun tells Liz that he's going to take her to "the place that does all the fish". When he opens the phone book you can see that the restaurant is literally called 'The Place That Does All the Fish'.

When Joe Cornish is on screen, we see Lucy Akhurst (Sophie in season two of (Spaced) as a zombie getting shot in the back. She's the blond girl in the center of the screen, with Cornish to her right.

Paying extras who played zombies one pound was likely an homage to George A. Romero paying his extra zombies one dollar for Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

WILHELM SCREAM: The famous sound effect can be heard faintly in the background when the soldiers initially come to the rescue.

One of the posters in Shaun's flat reads "SI BEGG" which is NOT a reference to Simon Pegg, but to Simon Begg, an electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer from Leicester, England.

When Shaun is heading to the shop for the first time, a worker on the street is listening to the radio. The newscast mentions a space probe that unexpectedly re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and broke up over England. This is likely a reference to Night of the Living Dead in which radiation from a satellite returning from Venus was given a possible cause for the dead returning to life.

Although sporadically hinted at, the cause of the zombie invasion is never properly explained. When people are about to, they get interrupted by something.

Quentin Tarantino dubbed Shaun of the Dead one of the top 20 films made since 1992.

All the staff at the electronics store are chewing gum.

Edgar Wright:  during the Remembering Z-Day montage, there is a long shot of the zombies walking through a park; Edgar is the one in black who falls over himself.

Chris Martin of Coldplay, who appears as himself on a news report near the end of the film promoting ZombAid, also plays a zombie. After Shaun and Liz escape from the basement of the Winchester, he can be seen playing the zombie walking past the phone booth from right to left.

In the scene were Shaun and Ed are listening to Electro, Pete tells Ed if he "wants to live like an animal, he can live in a shed". Coincidentally, Shaun keeps Ed in the shed at the end of the film after he becomes a zombie.