The Walking Dead: Producers have toned down future violence due to season 7 criticism
Executive producer Gale Ann Hurd doesn't want fans to think the show is 'torture porn'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.You may recall the opening episode of The Walking Dead - the traumatic one which saw Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) beat fan favourites Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) to death with a baseball bat.
The graphic nature of the episode saw the series deemed 'too violent' for TV - and producers have confirmed this backlash forced them to tone down the violence in future episodes.
Executive producer Gale Ann Hurd revealed on a panel moderated by Indiewire and Variety's Michael Schneider that adjustments were made to episodes still in production at the time season seven premiered (23 October).
“We were able to look at the feedback on the level of violence. We did tone it down for episodes we were still filming for later on in the season."
Hurd continued: “This is not a show that is torture porn" adding that they gave careful consideration in future episodes not to "cross that line.”
Not that they minded; AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan levelled that the response was proof of just how much fans care about the series and its characters.
He said: “When something matters a lot and it has a universality, then you’re bothered by it and you care about it.
The past few seasons has seen the series' world expand with the introduction of new factions the Hilltop Colony and the Kingdom; it seems these strands are going to be tied together in the concluding season seven episodes which begin airing next month.
The closing moments of the latest episode saw Rick reassemble the fractured group in a bid to overthrow the Saviours.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
The Walking Dead returns in the US on February 12 and will air the following evening in the UK, 9 pm on FOX. You can find our definitive ranking of all eight episodes thus far here, as well as a preview of all the shows to look out for in 2017 here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments