(I've watched it seven times and this is mostly from memory)
In The Flesh is a minseries (9 1hr episodes over 2 seasons) set in a small english town after a zombie apocalypse - where the undead have been treated and are being integrated back into society. The whole concept is a pretty obvious metaphor for oppression in a variety of ways - the PDS (partially deceased syndrome sufferers) are seen as inhuman and not tolerated at all initially, and then later are still expected to go in segregated areas, not allowed to be seen without coverup makeup and contacts to make them look 'normal', treated as animals if they're not on medication, made to do 'volunteer' work in order to gain recitizenship, etc...a whole lot of things that parallel with racism (though considering pretty much all the characters are white that's a little weird), ableism, homophobia and mental illness stigma (especially the last two since the protagonist - Kieren- is gay and has depression/anxiety).
Religion/religious symbolism is also a big part of the story: the Rising is believed to be linked to Christian theology, the church is very against the PDS, preaching against them, and the antagonists use religion as an excuse for their hatred (the way many Christians use their religion to hate and oppress minorities...though there is an extremist undead liberation group who also uses religion. it's basically about how organised religion who focus on hate are bad.) Crosses, bible quotes and other religious icons are all throughout the story, for example:
usually symbolising an antagonist OR just general oppressiveness (eg the first picture, kieren waking up in the government facility)
Many of the characters have a certain object which is used as a symbol of something they believe in which is driving their character:
Kieren and his makeup: kieren wears his coverup and contacts all the time, and can't look at himself in the mirror without it; he doesn't accept himself as undead. amy and simon don't wear coverup, and convince others to as a sign of standing up against the opressive living, etc. (Simon does wear it once, to meet kieren's family. because he would probably do anything for kieren.) Some PDS are in denial and wear makeup all the time, some don't, the contacts are used as a metaphor. It takes Kieren until the very last episode to realise that he's okay with who he is. (the middle picture: after a scene where he realises that keeping the makeup on/pretending to be living isn't going to stop the oppression, he gets angry and takes his makeup off. he looks to the right where simon is, away from the cross etc)
Also at a couple of points throughout the series, HVF are going to kill a rabid but kieren partially takes off his makeup to show the rabid he's like them and calm them down - these are generally pivotal points in the episode and are important characterisation for him.
Simon and the knife: simon is a disciple of the undead prophet, who gave him meaning in his second life, and then the prophet gives him a knife and tells him to kieren (who he's just started to fall in love with) which causes him to have to choose between them. you don't know until the very last moment when he drops the knife and helps kieren instead (jumps in front of a bullet) showing his shift of faith.
Jem and the colt/hvf armband: the human volunteer force, who protected people during the Rising and still hate PDS, have a blue armband. Jem, Kieren's sister was a member of the HVF and wears her armband all the time, at the end of the third episode, she takes it off and puts it away (and her gun and photos), which shows she accepts that kieren is the same person he was before and forgives him. In season two when she starts to not trust him (hanging out with pds extremists, kinda, and various other things) she starts keeping her colt and armband on her again, until the very end again.
Maxine and the toy train: Maxime is an antagonist who is extremely anti PDS - the only times we see her real motive is when she's holding a toy train, which is eventually revealed to belong to her younger brother who died and she wants to bring back. In her final scene (her 'downfall') she drops the train = lets go of her brother.
Amy and flowers: amy is kieren's best friend, and she's always happy and optimistic and sees the best in everything - and shows she's 'alive' even though she's undead. In every scene she's wearing a flower (usually red/pink), either in her hair or on the pattern of her clothes somewhere. In one scene, Kieren takes a white flower to Rick's grave, then Amy comes (she left the town for a while) and then walk off together, towards red flowers in the background. aka he has accepted rick's death and is continuing with his life and new friend (amy!). A weird guy philip has a crush on her and pays a girl to pretend to be amy, and she dresses up as her by wearing a headband of fake daisies. In the last few episodes when she think's she's becoming immune to the medication, she's not wearing flowers as often. until she realises she's coming back to life, she wears the original one on her chest. (and gets stabbed and killed anyway and then season three got cancelled so everything is terrible)
Colour: the whole thing is very washed out and neutral colours, reflecting the undead zombie theme, and also quiet/countryside/little english village aspect. the first season is especially dull, and colourless particularly in parts that focus on the zombies. whenever the antagonists are around it's generally very dark. when kieren's happy, around his family or friends it's brighter. a couple of examples:
(in a "PDS designated area"; the doorway leading to the "living area" is lit slightly warmer, with a living guy standing in it)
Plus, it's littered with a bunch of little super obvious metaphorical things like: Kieren playing 'the game of life' and is losing terribly, when apparently he used to be good at it. Bill Macy kills his PDS son Rick, because he doesn't believe it's really him, and ends up with blood on his hands, literally, looks down at that and realises what he's done, etc etc
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