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HIGHLIGHTS
THE NIGHT OF Sky Atlantic / Sky Boxsets, Thu 1 Sep See review, page 92. POLDARK BBC One, Sun 4 Sep, 9pm Aidan Turner returns for more shirtless period drama antics.
WE THE JURY BBC Two, Mon 5 Sep, 10pm James Acaster writes this one- off comedy about jury duty. Starring Ed Easton, Sophie Thompson and Diane Morgan.
THE STRAIN, SEASON 3 W, Fri 9 Sep, 9pm Gooey vampire horror based on a series of books by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY, SEASON 6 FOX, Fri 16 Sep, 10pm The theme and setting for season six are being kept under wraps. What we do know is Lady Gaga, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson and Kathy Bates will be back for more ghoulish fun. RED DWARF, SEASON 12 Dave, Fri 22 Sep, 9pm It’s still cold outside with no kind of atmosphere as Craig Charles and co return for more silly sci-fi shenanigans.
LUKE CAGE Netflix, Fri 30 Sep Netflix’s third collaboration with Marvel. This time Mike Coulter steps up to the plate as Luke Cage (last seen in Jessica Jones), a tough street-level superhero with super strength and unbreakable skin.
BLACK MIRROR, SEASON 3 Netflix, Fri 21 Oct Charlie Brooker’s darkly comic futuristic satire moves to Netflix. PENNY DREADFUL, SEASON 3 DVD / Blu-ray, Mon 24 Oct The final season of the literary Victorian horror lands on DVD just in time for Hallowe’en.
THE WALKING DEAD, SEASON 7 FOX, Mon 24 Oct, 10pm Season 7 of the zombie drama should finally put fans out of their misery as we find out who bit the dust at the end of Negan’s baseball bat. THE LAST GUARDIAN PS4, Mon 31 Oct You control a young boy who befriends a giant creature in the latest videogame from legendary designer Fumito Ueda, who gave the world oddball classics ICO and Shadow of the Colossus.
OUTLANDER, SEASON 2 DVD / Blu- ray, Mon 31 Oct The action moves to France in the second season of the time- travelling historical romance.
1 Sep–3 Nov 2016 THE LIST 93
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DEAD MAN WALKING
The Walking Dead returns with zombies, blood and moral corruption. Henry Northmore tries to get some insider
knowledge from the show’s star, Andrew Lincoln
T he Walking Dead has become a phenomenon. A gritty drama that happens to be set after the zombie apocalypse, it’s not just the gory horror that people have latched onto; it’s the human moments that give the show depth. The undead threat heightens the tension and exaggerates the characters’ relationships. Just don't get too fond of any actors as they are only one bite, bullet or blade away from death. ‘Frank Darabont [director and original show runner of season one] was instrumental in identifying that there was a niche market that hadn’t been explored on television,’ explains star Andrew Lincoln, ‘and he decided to write something that I had never read before, where the i rst episode was like a silent movie. I had never read a pilot quite like it.’
Lincoln plays ex-cop Rick Grimes, the de facto leader of our ragtag band of survivors. He is also quick to praise Robert Kirman’s comics that formed the basis for the show. ‘He has written source material that has lasted for over 12 years now and which continues to have a voracious market,’ he says. ‘So that obviously [shows] good storytelling – to be able to hold a very savvy readership.’
A mainstay on British TV until his leap into US television, Lincoln has grown into Rick Grimes. Any memories of him playing Egg in This Life or Simon in Teachers have been washed away in viewers’ minds by the blood and violence of The Walking Dead. ‘The people I trained with at RADA think it is hilarious; I am classically trained and yet I wear cowboy boots and a Stetson and I shoot zombies for a living.’ The character has been on a huge journey, i ghting tooth and claw to protect his life and family. ‘He has changed enormously since the i rst guy that I woke up with in the hospital [in the very i rst episode of season 1],’ he says. ‘And that is one of the enduring appeals of playing the part; their environment forms these people. Is it nature or is it nurture? That is the eternal question that is thrown into this crucible.’
Season six was perhaps the most gruelling yet. It started with a ray of hope, with Rick and co i nding apparent safety in the small town of Alexandria. For the i rst time in a long while, they dared to dream about the future. The walkers continue to circle but it was the introduction of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his band of ‘Saviors’ that were the biggest danger. The second half, in particular, explored themes of moral corruption and the i ne line between good and evil, highlighted by Morgan’s (Lennie James) pacii stic stance against the ongoing bloodshed. It all led up to perhaps the biggest cliffhanger of any modern TV show. Obviously no one is willing to spill the beans, yet we do know one of our heroes is about to die. But who? Comic fans might think they already know, but while the TV adaptation roughly follows the same structure, in many aspects it differs wildly from the source material (various characters who are dead in the comics are still alive on the show, and vice versa). ‘We leave the show in a certain place and we do something that we have never done before,’ says Lincoln. ‘When I read it, it shocked me to the core.’
The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Mon 26 Sep (Entertainment One).