The Walking Dead is an American horror television series developed for television by Frank Darabont and based upon the comic book series of the same name created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, which tells the story of the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse and follows a small group of survivors traveling across the United States in search of a new home.
The group is led by Rick Grimes, who was a police officer in the old world. As their situation grows more and more grim, the group's desperation to survive pushes them to do almost anything to stay alive.
Waking up in an empty hospital after weeks in a coma, County Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) finds himself utterly alone. The world as he knows it is gone, ravaged by a zombie epidemic.
The Walking Dead tells the story of the weeks and months that follow after the apocalypse. It is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of moment-to-moment survival.
A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous that the mindless walkers roaming the earth. They themselves have become the walking dead.
Shot on location in Atlanta, The Walking Dead is led by a cast that includes Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Jon Bernthal as Shane Walsh, Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori Grimes, Laurie Holden as Andrea, Jeffrey DeMunn as Dale, Steven Yeun as Glen, Emma Bell as Amy and Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes.
Joining Darabont and Hurd as executive producers are Kirkman; David Alpert from Circle of Confusion; and Charles "Chic" Eglee (Dexter, The Shield).
Jack LoGiudice (Sons of Anarchy, Resurrection Blvd) serves as co-executive producer with Denise Huth (Stephen King's The Mist) as producer.
The Walking Dead was written by Darabont, Eglee, LoGiudice, Kirkman, Glen Mazzara and Adam E. Fierro. In addition to Darabont, directors for the series include Michelle MacLaren, Gwyneth Horder Payton, Johan Renck, Ernest Dickerson and Guy Ferland.
The creative team also includes Directors of Photography David Tattersall and David Boyd, Production Designers Greg Melton and Alex Hadju, Costume Designer Peggy Stamper, and Editors Hunter M. Via, Julius Ramsay and Sidney Wolinsky.
The effects team includes veteran special effects makeup designer Greg Nicotero, special effects coordinator Darrell Pritchett, and visual effects supervisors Sam Nicholson and Jason Sperling.
The series is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Tom Luse and Greg Nicotero.
Broadcast Notes
The series premiered in the USA on AMC on 31 October, 2010. It aired in 120 countries within a week of the American premiere.
The Walking Dead premiered in South Africa on StarSat's FX channel on Tuesday 2 November 2010, at 21h20. It was moved to new channel FOX (broadcast on StarSat and DStv) when the channel became available in April 2013 and began its run from Season 1 again, before securing first-run rights from Season 4.