The Walking Dead spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead, renewed for season 3

The profitable TV bandwagon is showing no sign of stalling

(AMC)

When The Walking Dead first crawled onto screens with a six-episode season in 2010, nobody could have anticipated the phenomenon it was to become.

Six years on, not only is it one of the most consistently viewed shows on television - sparking frenzy with every new episode leading to intense discussions by a feverish fanbase - but it has its very own spin-off.

Fear the Walking Dead debuted last year to record-breaking ratings. Airing an initial six episodes, the series was renewed for a second before the first had even begun - a huge vote of confidence from the show's network AMC, something that's clearly in no danger of faltering; one week after its season two premiere, Fear the Walking Dead has been renewed for a third.

Produced by the same crew - Robert Kirkman, Gale Ann Hurd, Greg Nicotero, David Alpert - the series, set in Los Angeles, takes it back to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse giving viewers the chance to witness the breakdown of society as the undead rise; something not shown in The Walking Dead.

“What [showrunner] Dave Erickson and Robert Kirkman have invented... is to be applauded," said AMC president Charlie Collier. "Watching Los Angeles crumble through the eyes of our characters and seeing each make decisions and try to figure out the rules of their new world – it’s fresh, eerie and compelling and we’re all in for the ride".

The spin-off's sophomore season takes the dysfunctional family at the centre of the show - headed by Kim Dickens and Cliff Curtis - to the seas. Premiering in the States last Sunday (10 April), the episode was the second highest viewed on cable, second only to The Walking Dead which had concluded its sixth season in extremely controversial fashion the week previous.

The finale heralded the introduction of Jeffery Dean Morgan's Negan - a hugely popular villain from the graphic novels the show's based on - whose arrival ended in death for a character whose identity remains a mystery.

Fear the Walking Dead season one is available to stream on Amazon Prime. Season two continues weekly on AMC on BT TV every Monday.