The Walking Dead, Fox - TV Review: For how long can you be chased by zombies before it gets a bit boring??

There was definitely something missing here - and I'm not just talking limbs

Out of firepower : Tovah Feldshuh and Andrew Lincoln as heroic Rick in 'The Walking Dead' (AMC)

“I know this sounds insane but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us,” yelled a desperate-looking Andrew Lincoln. And thus began series six of everyone's favourite zombie apocalypse series, The Walking Dead.

Amid a flurry of rotting flesh, missing body parts and a whole lot of anger, Rick (Lincoln) and co were straight back in the heart (and brain) of the action in Alexandria.

Previously having not understood how that community had survived with such little contact from “the Walkers”, a trip to the outskirts of town to bury Pete (killed by Rick in the season five finale) revealed an abandoned camp where the undead were gathering.

Originally drawn by another set of survivors (delightfully described as “the camp that ate itself”), new walkers were being drawn by the sound of those already in residence. But the huge trucks being used as makeshift safety walls were crumbling and, as Rick pointed out to his terrified team, it was only a matter of time before the flesh-eating mob broke free – hence his plan to “come for them first”.

Told in both real time and flashbacks, tensions were clearly running high as the lines between good and evil consistently blurred during the fight for survival.

But the repercussions of Rick's previous actions were still being felt and a splinter group, lead by Alexandria Safe Zone survivor Carter (Ethan Embry), hatched a plot to kill him. But Rick quickly foiled it and during the ensuing scuffle, resisted the temptation to shoot Carter dead.

As it turned out, however, he should have put the man out of his misery when he had the chance – 20 minutes later he was having his face chewed off by the aforementioned Walkers.

Andrew Lincoln was, as always, excellent. He's one of those actors who, like Alan Cumming and Damian Lewis, plays an American so convincingly that when I hear interviews with him in real life, I question why he's putting on a fake British accent.

But there was definitely something missing here – and I'm not just talking limbs.

I've had reservations about The Walking Dead from day one. Not because it isn't brilliant – it often is – but there's always been a part of me asking “just how long can you be chased by zombies for before it all starts to get a bit boring?” And if last night's season six premiere was anything to go by, I now have my answer – about five series.