The idea of playing a zombie in a TV series has always thrilled me so much you
no idea: the freedom to go lunatic, (quickly) limping after prey with those "
huh-huh" sounds, arms flapping, grabbing your victim, ripping them apart - then pausing for a tasty on-set lunch. All this while getting paid.
This is the joyful, undead life of extra's in the new zombie slasher The Walking Dead, which premieres in an apocalyptic TV combo-event at the end of October/start of November.
Based on the comic books of the same name, the series is created by the AMC network (who make
Breaking Bad and
Mad Men) and premieres on AMC in the US on 31 October, Halloween.
It then premieres on Fox channels round the world in the first week of November, including Fox FX (Channel 110) on TopTV a.k.a. we get be to part of the hugeness of it.
In the week of it's debut the series will premiere in a total of 120 countries - in 33 languages, which won't need too much dubbing with all the fab grunting we can expect.
Besides the magnitude of the premiere, the show is also revolutionary in that it's the first zombie TV series to reach production and premiere. Various series have had pilot episodes or been in production but nothing has been made into a full series until now.
Zombies have been confined to the movies, guest appearances on various shows and to
Dead Set, the BBC produced show about zombies who attack a house of Big Brother housemates - if you haven't seen it, do, it's mad fun. It's a mini-series though, which has remained a four-parter.
So what can expect from The Walking Dead? First impressions suggest it's going to be the bomb. It's created and executively produced by Frank Darabont - director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile - and it's directed by Gale Anne Hurd, director of the Terminator and Aliens movies.
The fact that it's made by AMC adds to the snazz of it - even though I don't enjoy Mad Men, they always know what they're doing and have a reputation for quality.
Also, the scenario's so cool you can't go wrong with it: the action takes place after a zombie apocalypse i.e. the undead have risen and go berserk with their overwhelming
need to destroy humankind, as they always do.
The story centres round a group of survivors who go on a mission to find a new place to live away from zombie'mania. They're led by a sheriff Rick Grimes, who takes it upon himself to be their leader, as these types do too. He's That Guy.
British actor Andrew Grimes plays Rick and
Sarah Wayne Callies (Michael's head-in-a-box Sara in Prison Break) plays Rick's wife Lori. Also, well-known to us in the cast is
Lennie James, last seen as Robert Hawkins on
Jericho; and soon-to-be seen as a pimp on the second season of
Hung.
Here's a link to a trailer on YouTube,
huh-huh:
The Walking Dead trailer.