Stephen Merchant clarifies huge misconception about The Walking Dead London spin-off
The comedian is joining Norman Reedus in the zombie drama.
Stephen Merchant has clarified a huge misconception about the new series of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
The zombie programme is about to release its third season, following Norman Reedus’ character Daryl and Melissa McBride as Carol after they left Rick Grimes’ (played by Andrew Lincoln) commune.
It began with Daryl finding himself in France as he struggles to discover how he got there and why, whilst fighting the terrifying Walker strains.
The upcoming third season will see Daryl and Carol reach London, abandoned entirely by civilisation and overflowing with zombies.
There, they meet Stephen’s character, Julian Chamberlain, who believes himself to be the last survivor in all of England.
Teasing the new series, Stephen shared on The One Show tonight (Friday, 17 October): “It’s the first time The Walking Dead world has landed in London, and there’s only one man left, amazingly, in all of England.
“And who do you think is the one man who survived a zombie apocalypse?”
He went on: “There’s a little bit of humour in there but what attracted me to it is that it is a dramatic role.
“And you get to see the loneliness to him and the pathos of the character because he is the last man standing, he’s lost a lot of family and friends over the years, so there’s a sadness to him.”
He then added: “But it was exciting because they said it was going to be set in London, so I thought, ‘Great I live in London’, and it was shot in Madrid… The whole thing was done in Madrid, even London was done in Madrid.
“They had to ship in black cabs and London buses and things, and turn Madrid into London.
“It’s extraordinary what they’ve done when you see it, they travel through Tower Bridge and everything and none of it is real, it’s all CGI, it’s brilliant.”
This comes after showrunner David Zabel hinted at what fans could expect in the upcoming season.
“It really does build to an incredible conclusion for these characters,” he teased of the final episode.
“It really goes somewhere taking the journey that was before those 12 years of the Walking Dead, and it builds upon them.”
He added: “These people are changed by what they experienced, and yet they're able to rectify some stuff from the past. It's really incredible stuff.”
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon will be available to watch on Sky and NOW from Friday, October 24.
The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer