‘I think there was a lot of gratitude for even being able to go and create’
There are now six bonus episodes of the Walking Dead to enjoy, writes Georgia Humphreys
Norman Reedus had no idea what he was getting himself into when he first read the script for The Walking Dead.
The first series (which premiered on Halloween in 2010) followed a police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, trying to find his family, after a zombie apocalypse spread across the US.
Over 10 years and 10 seasons later, it has become one of the world’s most successful TV shows. And while many major stars have left, including Lincoln, Florida-born Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon, still remains a lynchpin of the cast.
"it’s had so many peaks and valleys and twists and turns. It’s been quite the ride,” he says.
Season 11 is delayed until next year, but in the meantime, we are getting six new episodes to round out the tenth season, which aired in 2020.
Discussing where we find Carol Peletier in these episodes, 55-year-old star Melissa Mcbride – who has portrayed her since series one – says: “What she’s done, the repercussions of the choices that she made, are not lost on her at all. There are loose ends there that she needs to tie up, and she wants to fix this relationship with Daryl.”
Reedus adds that the six episodes “are really intimate”, and that we will learn more of Daryl’s backstory.
Kentucky-born Mcbride admits it’s “a little ironic” to be shooting a show about a global pandemic in a global pandemic.
But the former casting director, whose breakout role was The Walking Dead, highlights just how grateful the cast and crew were to be able to go back and shoot
the show safely – especially when so many people can’t be at work right now.
“I just think there was a lot of gratitude for even being able to go and create.”
As well as the upcoming spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond, a series of Rick Grimes movies are in the pipeline and, recently, there’s also been news of a potential Daryl and Carol spinoff. ““I don’t know, I’m waiting to find out myself. I know a little bit, but not enough to like really talk about it,” says Reedus.
“I think we owe it to ourselves and owe it to the fans of The Walking Dead to really kill it this last season, to really make it as exciting as the biggest finale of the biggest season ever,” he says.
● The Walking Dead 10c airs on Fox today at 9pm