The Walking Dead

 

This was always a show which I was really interested in watching, having had a love of Zombie films including Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland et al. I can remember seeing it advertised but it just seemed to be one show which I never seemed to get around to watching. My other half managed to obtain the first season and then urged me to watch it and it is one of my current favourites and I haven’t even started season three yet!
 

The show is based on a series of graphic novels and follows Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who wakes up alone in hospital after being shot whilst on duty. He makes his way out into the world only to find it isn’t the same place that he left and that the world has been taken over my zombies. As he realises that he is entirely alone he decides to travel to Atlanta to search for his family, meeting fellow survivor Glenn, who takes Rick to a camp outside of town. We are introduced to a group of people who seem to be the last survivors, it is there that Rick finds his wife Lori, son Carl and friend Shane, who all work together to fight off the zombies and try to survive.

This show has finished airing its third season on Fox and season four is due to start in October. I thought season one was quite hard to get into at first and eventually it did pick up; however season two is far superior in my opinion. I think this is where the writers knew what worked for them and you can certainly see that they had a much bigger budget to play with. The Walking Dead is a firm favourite among its fans, with many saying that it succeeds the graphic novels.

I was having a discussion with my fiancé the other night and I was talking about the characters and how I actually don’t have a firm favourite with The Walking Dead, which is unusual. Every other show that I watch I always manage to identify with a particular character though I do have a few favourites within the group. I was also advised not to get too attached to any characters, as the writers don’t plan to keep the same cast for too long. I like this theory that ‘anything can happen’.One character who I particularly dislike is Andrea. The whole time I have been watching season two she has turned into someone who I don’t recognise, it seems that after her sister was killed she has turned into ‘one of the boys’ and a gun wielding maniac! However, I did like the chemistry between her and Shane during this time. It seemed as if the two outsiders came together and defied the others by being the bad guys. I think they also enjoyed playing everyone off against each other.  

The Walking Dead is an addictive programme and one which is well constructed. I think that the cast are fantastic and each plays their roles so well. It is one show which I could quite happily watch an entire series in a day, something I would love to do. If you haven’t caught this great series already then please start watching it, you won’t regret it.