6. In The Flesh (2013 – 2014)
Another British mini series, this time an actual BAFTA winner, this BBC supernatural drama focuses on the lives of a group of villagers from Lancashire. After a huge battle against rabid zombies – exactly, people who died in 2009 – the armed forced stepped from killing zombies to actually help them. With the aid of a new found medication, they manage to give them back their consciousness and a part of their humanity.
Now returned into the arms of the society, the zombies must reintegrate themselves. Starting with trivial things such as using cosmetics and contact lenses, but also injecting themselves with the magical medication, they are trying their best to be once more accepted by the reluctant full humans as a minority, going under the name of Partially Deceased Syndrome sufferers.
The Secret Life of a Partially Deceased Teen
“ Being even partially human is not easy ”
In The Flesh’s main character is the young male zombie Kieren Walker (Luke Newberry), also called Ren or Kier. His story started, or more exactly ended, when his best friend and also crush, Rick Macy, died. Blaming himself for Rick’s death, Kieren becomes overwhelmed with guilt and in 2009 commits suicide. Brought back to life a month later during The Rising, Kieren does what every reanimated corpse does – hunts and kills.
Eventually, he is cured and returns to his family, but being even partially human is not easy. Kieran is once more overwhelmed with the consequences of his actions – his suicide and his murders as zombie. Along Kier, we have Amy Dyer (Emily Bevan), a girl who died of leukemia and who is rather happy with her condition as a zombie and regrets nothing.
Brilliant Drama
We were not the ones to say it, the viewers did. People who were courageous enough to watch ie were immediately hooked, despite their initial unfaith. The take on the zombie apocalypse was also generally viewed positively and even the fact that it is more than a zombie carnage was appreciated. Who would have guessed? If there is one reason to complain about In The Flesh, that is the small number of episodes. But as we already know, British series are usually short… well… unless you count Doctor Who.
5. The Last Ship (2014 – present)
We are going back to the post apocalyptic theme with The Last Ship, the adaptation of William Brinkley’s eponymous novel. The story debuts with the ship Nathan James, a naval destroyer, being sent with a team, presumably on a research mission. After a couple of months, members are attacked by some strange men, who are infected by a deadly disease.
Conflicted but what they encountered, the teams also find out that a virus has spread killing the majority of the Earth’s population and somehow, they hold the key to salvation. The main cast includes Eric Dane as Commander Tom Chandler, Rhona Mitra as Dr. Rachel Scott, Adam Baldwin as Commander Mike Slattery, Charles Parnell as Command Master Chief Russel Jeter, Sam Spruell as Quincy Tophet, Travis Van Winkle as Lieutenant Daniel Green and many others. Believe or not, it is pretty huge.
Trivia
“ Honored by many positive reviews. ”
Dedication. Work. Sacrifice. Mistakes. Every piece of art, including contemporary art, is marked by these 4 features. When it comes to The Last Ship, there is no exception. To show how dedicated they are to this project, the producers set some of the scenes to be filmed abroad actual naval destroyers, even though this implied them filming even in a museum.
To add, the main actor, Eric Dane, decided to give up his role in the very famous Grey’s Anatomy to join The Last Ship. Somehow, the show was not saved from noticeable mistakes such as some scenes being said to be filmed in impossible locations.
Love it or hate it
To have such a high place in our list, you can assume that The Last Ship was honored by many positive reviews. It is still underrated, enjoying a strong plot and good acting, but its time to shine will come. Though, despite the general good reviews, people still found things to complain about. And this time we have people discussing the military regulations inaccuracies. But hence not all of us are experts, nor care about such things in general, most got over such things and watched it for what really mattered – zombies. And the story line, of course.
4. Fear the Walking Dead (2015 – present)
The baby of our list. The prequel of the famous The Walking Dead series, Robert Kirkman’s and Dave Erickson’s horror drama might have only 6 episodes so far, but it is surely making its way to the top, being already renewed for a second season. Set at the same time as the beginning of The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead is centered on the residents of a zombie infected city in California, especially on a fractured family.
Secrets, betrayals, fight for survival, two families blending through the relationship between the counselor Madison Clark (Kim Dickens) and the teacher Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis). Frank Dillane stars as Nick Clark, Madison’s troubled son and Alycia Debnam Carey as Alicia Clark, Madison’s perfect daughter.
Talking Dead and Spin-offs
Despite the popular opinion that Fear the Walking Dead is an actual spin-off of the original series, this version has no characters in common with the main show – it just depicts the same zombie crisis, but in another corner of the country, following the destiny of other people, with no other connection between the two versions.
A show or more exactly, an after show that is indeed related to the main one is Talking Dead, hosted by Chris Hardwick. Running already from 2011 till present day, Talking Dead is the place where various special guests discuss the latest episodes. A more accurate description was given by Media Post: “[Talking Dead] may be the first ever talk show on which guests don’t have to worry about promoting something or deflecting private questions”.
Not hurt by negativism
As always, something related to a more successful and famous thing ends up being heavily criticized and some take their time to poison the well for everybody. In other words, do not believe everything you read online, especially about Fear the Walking Dead, which is suffering from “anxious fans syndrome”. It is a good thing that some admitted that they indeed enjoyed the show, the differences between the two versions, the talented cast, the slow building of the story line and the balance in favour of drama rather than horror.