One television production to hit big with both critics and audiences in the last couple of years is The Walking Dead, the small-screen zombie saga based on the comic books of the same name by Robert Kirkman. But in spite of its success, the show was besieged by production difficulties in the run-up to its second season – difficulties which actor Sam Witwer has just shed some light upon.

Before The Walking Dead established itself as the ratings jewel in the crown of US cable broadcaster AMC, ahead of fellow critical darlings Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the show found itself sailing on choppy waters, with reports indicating that season two budgets were being slashed prior even to season one airing.    

Next, the show’s writing staff departed en-masse, before showrunner Frank Darabont followed them out the door in summer of last year, just a few days after appearing at Comic-Con promoting the programme. This latter act of defenestration was, by all accounts, a seismic shock for those working on the television production, a point underlined by actor Sam Witwer in a recent interview with Paranormal Pop Culture.  

Witwer appeared briefly as the ‘Tank Zombie’ in the pilot episode of The Walking Dead, and he and Darabont had plans to fill out this character’s backstory with a spin-off web series – something the actor says will now no longer happen, thanks to AMC’s overriding desire to “save a few bucks”. 

This thrifty mind-set on the part of the broadcaster is what led to Darabont’s departure, reckons Witwer, who says he is personally “furious” about the writer’s exit. Morale amongst cast and crew has also been badly affected by the firing, claims the actor, he noting that several of the performers took hefty pay-cuts just for the chance to work with Darabont.

However even if Witwer’s report of rancour within the Walking Dead camp is entirely accurate, don’t expect a raft of corroborating accounts to spew forth in its wake. The cast are apparently fearful about making any discontent public because, as one production insider has previously put it, “They’re on a zombie show. They are really easy to kill off.”

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