Like a gradually decaying living corpse, the return of The Walking Dead is lumbering our way. Season 5 of AMC’s hit zombie series returns on February 8, but until then we’ve got plenty to keep us busy. We now know the title of midseason premiere, have a new plot synopsis of the episode, and reports of dire, dire times ahead for Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his rag tag group of survivors.

We may stray into spoiler country beyond this point, be warned.

The second half of season 5 of The Walking Dead is quickly shuffling our way (it’ll be here before you know it), but in the meantime we’ve been hearing a number of intriguing new details about the upcoming companion series, Cobalt. The other day we saw some excerpts from the script of the first episode, which shed some light on the setting and plot, and now there’s even more to learn.

Just a heads up, there may be some potential spoilers for Cobalt beyond this point.

World War Z was a movie that had a lot of problems during production, including scrapping the entire final act and reshooting it much later (by the end the budget ballooned to $200 million). The troubles were so pronounced that I was surprised by how well it turned out and how much I enjoyed it. (It still has some issues, but overall it isn’t a bad time.) A huge box office smash, a sequel was the obvious next step, and according to the writer, it sounds like they’re trying to get all the kinks worked out before hand.

Steven Knight had a solid year last year, writing and making his feature directing debut with the Tom-Hardy-in-a-car drama Locke, as well as continuing his old timey crime saga Peaky Blinders. Though he’s never really worked in horror before, the idea of him turning his eyes toward World War Z 2 is intriguing and exciting. Talking to Indiewire, the Eastern Promises scribe discussed writing the treatment and indicated that the follow up is something of a do-over.

As fans while away the hours until The Walking Dead returns to TV screens next month, they’ve had to satisfy themselves on bits and pieces of news from the popular zombie series. We’ve seen a couple promos and heard an interesting casting choice, but that’s about it. On the other hand, as the spinoff series, titled Cobalt, starts to take shape, we’re learning more and more about the project, including potential plot details and the possible return of a familiar face.

There may be spoilers for Cobalt beyond this point. You’ve been warned.

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.”

AMC’s The Walking Dead is on a break right now, but that’s never stopped the network from hyping their massively popular zombie drama. But right now there’s even more to talk about beyond new casting and possible future storylines, because things are about to get rolling on the long gestating spinoff series, currently known as Cobalt. Set in the same world as the flagship series, the new adventures go down in a different place, follow new characters, and reportedly even show an earlier era of the undead apocalypse. Cobalt co-creator, and Walking Dead executive producer (he also created the comics the series is based on), Robert Kirkman recently sat down and discussed some of the differences between the two shows.

We know that the action in Cobalt takes place in Los Angeles, the opposite side of the country from the Georgia-based The Walking Dead. It follows Sean Cabrera (Cliff Curtis), Nancy Tompkins (Kim Dickens), her kids Nick (Frank Dillane) and Ashley (Alycia Debnam Carey), and others. While chatting with Entertainment Weekly, Kirkman kept specifics to himself, while driving home how distinct the two shows will be. He said: