The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, or simply Daryl Dixon, is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series created by David Zabel for AMC, based on The Walking Dead character of the same name. It is the fifth spin-off and overall sixth television series in The Walking Dead franchise, sharing continuity with the other series and set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead television series.
Norman Reedus reprises his role as Daryl Dixon from the original The Walking Dead series. Reedus stars alongside Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Anne Charrier, Romain Levi, Adam Nagaitis, Joel de la Fuente, Eduardo Noriega, Óscar Jaenada, Alexandra Masangkay, Hugo Arbués, and Candela Saitta, all of whom portray new characters, in addition to Melissa McBride, who reprises her role as Carol Peletier from The Walking Dead.
Development of the series began in September 2020, and its title was announced in October 2022. Filming began that month, on location in the series' initial setting of Paris, France, with additional casting taking place starting in November. The series moved production to Spain beginning with its third season, and filming began in August 2024 in Madrid. The series was originally planned to co-star the character Carol Peletier under the possible title The Walking Dead: Daryl & Carol, but Carol was subsequently written out of the bulk of the first season due to logistical issues involving the casting of McBride, before she joined the series in a main capacity beginning with the second season.
The first season premiered on September 10, 2023, and consists of six episodes. In July 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 29, 2024. Titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, the second season features McBride as a series regular in a return to the show's original concept. In July 2024, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on September 7, 2025. In July 2025, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which is set to premiere in 2027.
Contents
Premise
Daryl Dixon washes ashore in France (the origin of the walker virus) and struggles to piece together how he got there and why. The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan.
Cast and characters
Main
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon: A skilled hunter and former recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone who was once a part of Rick Grimes' group on The Walking Dead. After departing the Commonwealth, he is captured and taken across the Atlantic Ocean before arriving on the coast of France.
Clémence Poésy as Isabelle Carriere (seasons 1–2): A headstrong nun and member of a progressive religious group who encounters Daryl.
Louis Puech Scigliuzzi as Laurent Carriere (seasons 1–2): A highly intelligent young boy who is viewed by a religious group as the future messiah destined to lead humanity to a renewal. It's later revealed that he is Lily and Quinn's son as well as Isabelle's nephew.
Laïka Blanc-Francard as Sylvie (seasons 1–2): A soft-spoken nun and friend of Isabelle. Flashbacks reveal that Sylvie was a student at an abbey when the apocalypse began, and she was raised by the nuns after her parents had died in the initial outbreak.
Anne Charrier as Marion Genet (seasons 1–2): The leader of Pouvoir des Vivants (Power of the Living), a paramilitary group of survivors in France.
Romain Levi as Stéphane Codron (seasons 1–2; guest season 3–present): A high-ranking guerrier (warrior) for Pouvoir who develops a personal grudge against Daryl.
Adam Nagaitis as Quinn (season 1): The British owner of an underground nightclub in Paris called the "Demimonde" who has become a powerful figure during the apocalypse. He is also Laurent's biological father.
Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier (season 2–present; guest season 1): A hardened survivor and former member of Rick Grimes' group on The Walking Dead who begins searching for Daryl after losing contact with him.
Joel de la Fuente as Losang (season 2; guest season 1): The American leader of Union de L'Espoir (Union of Hope), a resistance network working against Pouvoir from their main settlement at Mont-Saint-Michel.
Recurring
François Delaive as Dr. Lafleur (seasons 1–2): The head researcher for Pouvoir who experiments on walkers, leading to the creation of dangerous variants.
Eriq Ebouaney as Fallou Boukar (seasons 1–2): The leader of a small rooftop community in Paris that is part of the Union.
Lukerya Ilyashenko as Anna Valery (season 1; guest season 2): A Russian singer at the Demimonde and Quinn's girlfriend.
Tristan Zanchi as Emile Thibault (season 1; guest season 2): A young member of Fallou's community who befriends Sylvie.
Manish Dayal as Ash Patel (season 2): An airplane pilot in the U.S. who befriends Carol during her search for Daryl.
Nassima Benchicou as Jacinta (season 2): The fanatical second-in-command of the Union who is loyal to Losang.
Tatiana Gousseff as Sabine (season 2): The second-in-command of Pouvoir.
Greta Fernández as Elena (season 3–present): Paz's ex-girlfriend, who was taken from Barcelona by El Alcázar and married Guillermo.
Yassmine Othman as Marga (season 3–present): Federico's elderly mother and a healer.
Pedro Bachura as Gustavo (season 3–present): A resident of Solaz who stands guard at the main gates.
Armando Buika as Sergio (season 3–present): The deputy leader of Solaz.
Gonzalo Bouza as Guillermo Torres (season 3): The leader of El Alcázar who claims to be a descendant of the Spanish monarchy.
Guest
Catherine Arditi as Véronique (season 1): The Mother Superior at an abbey in southern France affiliated with the Union.
Faustine Koziel as Lily Carriere (season 1): Isabelle's pregnant sister who appears in flashbacks set during the early days of the apocalypse.
Kim Higelin as Lou (season 1): The de-facto leader of a group of children who live in an abandoned preschool.
Dominique Pinon as Antoine (season 1): A member of Fallou's community who cares for a flock of messenger pigeons.
Paloma as Coco (seasons 1–2): An entertainer at Demimonde.
Stephen Merchant as Julian Chamberlain (season 3): A survivor living in London who believes himself to be the last Englishman in England.
Vicente Romero as Chofo (season 3): The leader of the Buzzards, a group of nomadic bandits who travel by walker-powered train.
Nansi Nsue as Amaia (season 3): The leader of the Limbos, a community of leprosy-afflicted survivors who have been starved of water.
Paula Rios as Blanca (season 3): Chofo's lover and member of the Buzzards.
Luis Bondia as Mateo (season 3): A friendly survivor who introduces Daryl to the Limbos.
Amin Hamada as Khalid (season 3): Paz's friend and a member of Laia's community.
Raquel Ferri as Laia (season 3): The leader of a community of refugees in Barcelona that consists of young women who have fled or been rescued from El Alcázar's ofrenda.
Episodes
Season 2: The Book of Carol (2024)
A special behind-the-scenes episode titled "The Return" aired alongside the season premiere. Reedus and McBride return to Georgia for the first time since The Walking Dead ended and they look back on their time shooting the series, while visiting key locations from past episodes. The special received 321,000 viewers.
Season 4
The credited writers for the 8-episode fourth season are:
Jason Richman
Richman & David Zabel
Shannon Goss
Raul Martin Romero
Goss & Kiersten Stanley
Richman & Zabel
George Samir Nader & Richman
Richman & Zabel
Production
Development
The series was announced in September 2020 by Angela Kang and Scott M. Gimple. Reedus and McBride signed on to reprise their respective roles from the television series.
In April 2022, McBride exited the series due to logistical reasons as the show was set to film in mid-2022 in Europe and it wasn't possible for McBride to be with the show with this setup. The series was reworked as a sole Daryl project. Days later, Kang had left the role of showrunner and was replaced by David Zabel. The deal had reportedly been sealed in recent weeks before McBride's exit from the show. In October, the series was given the title Daryl Dixon. In January 2023, it was announced that the series would be titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and premiere later in 2023.
In July 2023, ahead of the first season's release, the series was renewed for a second season. The second season has the subtitle of The Book of Carol. A third season was in development by February 2024. In July 2024, the series was renewed for a third season. Unlike the first two seasons, it was produced and set in Spain. On July 25, 2025, the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which will consist of eight episodes.
Writing
In September 2020, Kang was hired as showrunner after she had helmed the final three seasons of The Walking Dead.
In April 2022, Kang stepped down due to other commitments and Zabel took the role. Scripts were already being written by this time but needed to be reworked following McBride's departure. In September, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reedus explained that the series would be going an opposite direction from the main series having it being a completely different story from what we have already seen with Daryl. The following month, Reedus said that there would be familiar faces from the main series in the spin-off.
Casting
In November 2022, Clémence Poésy and Adam Nagaitis were added to the main cast. In February 2023, Anne Charrier, Eriq Ebouaney, Laïka Blanc-Francard, Romain Levi and Louis Puech Scigliuzzi were announced as additional cast members. In June 2023, The Walking Dead alum Jeffrey Dean Morgan indicated in a tweet that Melissa McBride would reprise her role as Carol Peletier in some capacity. In October 2023, at New York Comic Con, McBride was confirmed to return for the second season, as well as guest starring in the first season finale.
In November 2023, Manish Dayal was announced to have joined the cast for the second season in a recurring role.
In September 2024, Eduardo Noriega, Óscar Jaenada, Alexandra Masangkay, Hugo Arbués, and Candela Saitta were announced to have joined the cast as series regulars for the third season. In October, Stephen Merchant was announced to have joined the cast. In June 2025, Greta Fernández, Gonzalo Bouza, Hada Nieto, Yassmine Othman, and Cuco Usín were announced to have joined the cast in supporting roles.
In September 2026, Jimmy Smits was announced to have joined the cast for the fourth season.
Filming
Principal photography began on October 24, 2022, in Paris, France. Filming for the second season continued in France during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike due to an agreement between AMC and SAG-AFTRA to resume production. Filming for the second season wrapped on December 21, 2023.
Filming for the third season began in August 2024 in Madrid, Spain, and had wrapped by February 13, 2025. Locations used for filming included El Espinar, Sepúlveda, Carnota, Madrid, Belchite, and Granada. Filming for the fourth and final season began in August 2025 and had wrapped by November 20, 2025. Locations used for filming included Madrid, Barcelona, El Espinar, Sepúlveda, Alcalá de Henares, Badalona, and Bilbao.
Release
The series premiered on September 10, 2023, on AMC and AMC+. The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 13, 2024. The second season, subtitled The Book of Carol, premiered on September 29, 2024. The third season premiered on September 7, 2025. The fourth and final season is set to premiere in 2027.
Reception
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon has received positive reviews from critics, with several calling it the best Walking Dead content in years, although some noted its similarities to The Last of Us television series. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 70% based on 42 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critics consensus is, "Centering Norman Reedus' fan favorite character in a fresh setting, Daryl Dixon can be a wobbly shot across the crossbow but still gives The Walking Dead faithful plenty more to chew on." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, scored the first season 67 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
David Opie of Digital Spy gave it a 4/5 rating and called it "The best Walking Dead has been in ages". Chase Hutchinson of Collider gave it a "B" rating and applauded Norman Reedus' "stoic performance" that has a "renewed energy to the character and making the spin-off worth watching" and that the series "focuses more on character and emotion rather than empty spectacle, giving the story a greater sense of depth." Aaron Pruner of TheWrap gave it a positive review and noted Clémence Poésy's "standout performance" and concluded that it "is a surprisingly gorgeous, soul-stirring, and riveting watch. Norman Reedus said they were making art with this show. And you know what? He wasn't lying."
For the second season, 71% of 14 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus is, "Bringing Carol back into the fold cuts into some of the elements that made this Walking Dead spinoff unique, but having Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride sharing the screen again will always be an undead treat." Metacritic scored the second season 62 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
For the third season, 83% of 6 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, with an average rating of 7/10. Metacritic scored the third season 65 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
The series was nominated for the 24th Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode for "Costa da Morte".
