To herald the triumphant return of The Walking Dead for its fifth season, we’re taking a look ahead to another corner of that universe.

The Walking Dead Spin Off

The world has been overrun by the walking dead. Sean Cabrera and his teenage son Toby are thrown together with thirtysomething Nancy Thompkins, her teenage kids Nick and Ashley, and fortysomething flower child Andrea to try and survive in this deadly new reality.

Why we’re looking forward to this: Hang on, we hear you cry, haven’t we seen this all before? Well yes, and no. Due to the phenomenal success of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which just roared back onto our screens with two killer episodes to kick start season five, creator Robert Kirkman has gone back to the beginning to tackle the same world but from a different angle.

Why bother, you say? Well in a recent interview with Kirkman he revealed that he wanted to see how he would approach the Walking Dead universe today, as a thirtysomething father rather than as the spunky 24 year old that he was when he started writing the comic books over a decade ago. Who better to provide a fresh perspective on the post-apocalyptic zombie universe that we’ve come to know and love in print since 2003 and on screen for the last four years than the man who created it and has lived with it for all that time?

So what is it, you ask, a reboot? No, definitely not a reboot, nor a replacement for the current ongoing show which Kirkman has suggested could possibly run to ten seasons or more, though given the life expectancy of the cast it’s anybody’s guess whether any of the original survivors would still be around by then. No, this spin off is just that, another set of tales from another part of the universe.

Will this new show cross over with the current one, you wonder? No, don’t expect to see any of the cast from the current Walking Dead show as the two paths of this undead universe are not destined to meet (well, not at this point, anyway), and don’t expect to see any of the events of the comic book show up either as Kirkman has stated that he has started from scratch, the intention being to, in his own words, “construct a new world and a new pocket of this universe that is just as entertaining but completely different.”

When can we expect to see this new show, you ask? Casting is in progress and the initial scripts are written but there’s no definite kick off date as yet. However, the smart money is on it premiering early next year, possibly after the current season of The Walking Dead no doubt leaves us on another agonising cliffhanger, and we can’t wait to see what Kirkman has cooked up.

The as yet untitled Walking Dead spin off series is due next year – updates as we get them!

RICHARD COSGROVE