For anybody that read The Walking Dead when it hit the shelves back in 2003, it was clear that Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore's dour, black and white-inked vision of the zombie apocalypse was destined for a shuffle over onto the small screen. Following a pilot that can easily be deemed one of the greatest TV launches in recent memory, the show tracks the Grimes family as they team up with a bunch of ragtag survivors all with the shared goal of getting the hell outta dodge, and away from the manky grasps of ravenous walkers. The story may be well worn, but The Walking Dead is far better than its Romero-esque premise might suggest, with the horror itself lurking in the background, looming over the survivors in the guise of a subtle antagonist that only rears its head in splatter-fast scenes and moments of rapid action. The key focus here is the human drama.
Major Players:
As Rick Grimes, Andrew Lincoln - yes, him with the bleeding signs on Love Actually - heads up a motley cast that includes Jon Bernthal as fellow cop come love rival, Shane Walsh, along with Norman Reedus as crossbow-toting redneck Daryl Dixon and, in later seasons, David Morrissey steps into the brig and steals the show as famous villain The Governor. Showrunners have came and gone on this one (kudos to Hollywood director Frank Darbont for originally bringing it to life, so to speak), but what remains is a gripping program that gets better with every season.
What Next?
The show's fourth season saw Rick once again taking up the mantle as leader and The Governors whereabouts a mystery. Said season ends with Rick and co locked in a boxcar. So where can they go from the confines of this makeshift prison? The rumoured beginning to season five sees Grimes and co trekking over to Washington so it seems that Gareth and co were 'screwin' with the wrong people' after all. The Walking Dead returns in autumn.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
