The UK comedy legend joins Norman Reedus’ Walking Dead spin-off

(Image credit: HBO)

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has cast UK comedy legend Stephen Merchant in the upcoming third season of the AMC spin-off.

“As a fan of ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’, I was excited when they asked me to join the [The Walking Dead] universe for season 3. But don’t ask me for spoilers – my lips are sealed,” Merchant wrote on Instagram.

As you can imagine from the spoiler lockdown initiated in the announcement, we don’t yet know who Merchant is playing in the third season, which is currently filming in Spain.

Merchant is best known among UK comedy fans as the co-writer and co-director of The Office and Extras alongside Ricky Gervais. He also had memorable turns in Logan, Jojo Rabbit, and as the AI companion Wheatley in the video game Portal 2.

The second season of The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon spin-off is currently airing and follows on from Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) journey through France and attempts to get back home. Along the way, he encounters nun Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) and child Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) amid a winding tale of religious fanaticism and, yes, plenty of walkers.

Melissa McBride’s Carol has returned to The Walking Dead universe for the second season as she goes off in search of Daryl. Carol is also part of the third season, which swaps France for Spain and – given Merchant’s casting – may yet have some scenes set in the UK.

Speaking to SFX magazine, showrunner David Zabel explains why Carol and Daryl will never become a couple, despite their obvious connection.

“The obvious thing to do, and the easier thing to do would be, ‘Okay, now they’re falling in love and they’re a couple.’ But I always felt like that would be a mistake, because it would feel like you were going into the TV book of tricks,” Zabel says. “To me, there was never a question that [their connection] was something other than what it is, and what it seems to want to be, and why it works so well.”