James R | On 17, Oct 2016

The Walking Dead has officially been renewed for Season 8.

Days before the premiere of Season 7, which already has us scratching our heads about who will kick off the show with a bang, AMC is already looking ahead to next year, commissioning the eighth season of the smash hit show.

Season 8 of The Walking Dead will be broadcast in late 2017 and will kick off with the 100th episode of the series.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, more,” says Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. “What a joy to partner with Robert Kirkman, Scott M. Gimple and some of the hardest-working people in television to bring The Walking Dead to the fans. And, most important, thanks to those fans for breathing life into this remarkable series right along with us.”

With the renewal also comes 16 episodes of Talking Dead, the after-show hosted by Chris Hardwick, which has become the highest-rated talk show on television. In the UK, FOX has snapped up Talking Dead alongside The Walking Dead, with both airing on British screens within 24 hours of their US broadcast. The Walking Dead Season 7, you don’t need us to remind you, returns on Monday 24th October at 9pm on FOX, followed by an expanded 90-minute special of Talking Dead, filmed at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and featuring Hardwick, the cast members in Negan’s line-up, and Lucille. What you may need us to remind you, though, is that you can watch it online legally in the UK without Sky. For more on that, and how to catch up with the first six seasons, click here.

Still counting down until Season 7? Here’s the latest sneak peek trailer:

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