The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series developed by Frank Darabont, based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. Together, the show and the comic book series form the core of The Walking Dead franchise. The series features a large ensemble cast as survivors of a zombie apocalypse trying to stay alive under near-constant threat of attacks from zombies known as “walkers”. With the collapse of modern civilization, these survivors must confront other human survivors who have formed groups and communities with their own sets of laws and morals, sometimes leading to open conflict between them. The series is the first television series within The Walking Dead franchise.

The Walking Dead takes place after the onset of a worldwide zombie apocalypse. The zombies, referred to as “walkers”, shamble towards living humans and other creatures to eat them. They are attracted to noise and to scents, including the scent of humans. Humans who are bitten or scratched by walkers die and become walkers themselves. Early in the series, it is suggested that, because any human who dies will reanimate as a walker regardless of cause of death, all living humans carry a pathogen responsible for the mutation that turns humans into walkers. No pathogen is ever confirmed, however. The mutation is activated after the death of the host. The only way to permanently kill a walker is to damage its brain or to destroy the body entirely (e.g. via cremation).

Initially, the series centers on sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, who wakes up from a coma in the first episode of the series. While Rick was comatose, the world was taken over by walkers. Rick becomes the leader of a group of survivors from the Atlanta, Georgia region who attempt to sustain and protect themselves against attacks by walkers and against other groups of survivors willing to use any means necessary to stay alive.