Zombies may be damn near omnipresent these days, but they’re far from unkillable. They’re being used to sell everything from candy to cars, and AMC’s The Walking Dead is the biggest show on cable, but your TV is going to be down at least one zombie drama as the BBC has officially cancelled In the Flesh.

In the Flesh won multiple BAFTA awards during its two-season run at the BBC, but due to budget constraints, and the transition of BBC Three to an all online format, the network decided not to move forward with a third season. In a statement they said, “BBC Three is very proud of the two award-winning series of In the Flesh. However, given there is only budget for one original drama series a year on the channel it won’t be returning.”

We’ve got to be approaching total zombie saturation at this point. AMC’s The Walking Dead is a massive hit, the World War Z proved to be a surprise success, and it seems each passing week brings word of some new zombie series that’s in the works. Now we’re far enough into the fad that people are trying to find new ways to riff on the underlying concept, which has led us to the realm of the “sympathetic undead” story. Most of the time that seems to work about as well as Twilight did, but if you want a perfect example of doing the concept right, you need look no further than In the Flesh, which returns for a second season on BBC America this Saturday.

In the Flesh is set after the zombie apocalypse has come and gone. While most zombie outbreaks have no cure beyond a bullet to the dome, in the world of In the Flesh many sufferers of PDS — Partially Deceased Syndrome — can be rehabilitated and rejoin society. But just because they can be doesn’t mean it’s easy, and there are plenty of survivors who are none too keen to be sharing streets and shops and subways with people who once would have loved nothing better than to chow down on some sweet, sweet brains. And not everybody with PDS can be saved…or wants to be.

When you think of zombies, what probably springs immediately to your mind is a swarm of rotting, undead corpses shuffling about, arms outstretched, trying their level best to take a bite out of your fleshy bits. That’s how it is in AMC’s The Walking Dead and George Romero’s genre-defining Dead trilogy, though the BBC’s take on the subject matter, In the Flesh, takes a different approach. Season two of the show is set to debut soon, and this new trailer illustrates just how the show stands apart from its contemporaries.

In the Flesh picks up after humanity has survived a zombie war. Though many were hunted down and killed by militias, they’ve found a way to rehabilitate the zombies and reintegrated them into society. That’s where the drama picks up, with the sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS), including Kieren Walker (Luke Newberry), attempting to reclaim their lives.

The Walking Dead (AMC, Feb. 9)
When AMC’s hit zombie drama The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its fourth season, the series may be in as good a spot as it’s ever been. The first portion of the year wasn’t spectacular, but with the exception of those standalone Governor episodes, and the flu story that went on for far too long, it’s been solid, and more importantly consistent.

After the kerfuffle at the prison left the group beaten, bloody, splintered, and down a few key members, The Walking Dead is poised to get into some meaty storylines. From the addition of new cast members, as well as what producers have said, it looks like we’re going to be following the arc from Robert Kirkman’s comics as close as we ever have. Scattered to the wind as they are, each splinter of survivors will have their own weight to bear. Carl (Chandler Riggs) is going to have to take care of his father Rick (Andrew Lincoln), who is in even worse shape, mentally and physically, than usual. I really, really, really hope they stay away from the whole dead wife on the phone thing from the comics. They tried that, and it failed miserably. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney) gave to cope with not only the loss of their father, but watching him get beheaded. We’ll see if Glenn (Steven Yeun) can help, or if he’ll fall to pieces, too. Michonne (Danai Gurira), well, it looks like she’s going to be alone, again, hacking zombies apart with her katana, you know, the usual.

With the return of The Walking Dead, which debuted season four last Sunday to a ridiculous 16.1 million viewers, AMC’s hit zombie drama has, understandably, been dominating the undead headlines of late. It may be the biggest rotting corpse on the block, but it certainly isn’t the only one. Sneaking in, much further under the radar than its American counterpart, is the news that the BBC’s own zombie show, In the Flesh, will be coming back for a second season, and filming has begun in the UK.

In a lot of ways, In the Flesh is kind of the anti-Walking Dead. First off, there is the setting. Flesh is set after the end of the zombie apocalypse, not smack in the middle. In this particular world, victims of Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) are able to be rehabbed to the point where they can reenter society, their cannibalistic urges managed with meds and therapy—there’s a great group meeting scene early in season one. Reintegration, however, is not nearly as easy as simply saying and letting it be done. Recovering zombies, like Kieran Walker (Luke Newberry), face prejudice every day, sometimes even from within his own family. The war against the undead is still fresh in the minds of survivors, and many people didn’t take to kindly to Kieren and his kind trying to eat them and members of their families. Some wounds will take a while to fully heal, if they ever do.

The summer is probably the best time for genre fans, with genre-heavy offerings on TV and at the movies. This week we will see the American premiere of one of the most anticipated summer series, In the Flesh on BBC America.

If you simply can’t wait for The Walking Dead’s return or World War Z’s opening and you absolutely need your zombie fix now, then In the Flesh is the TV series for you. To build anticipation for the arrival of the British series, BBC America has released the first three minutes of the premiere episode online.