The Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln has promised that the show's third season will be "insane".

The actor, who plays protagonist Rick Grimes in the AMC series, predicted that even fans of the comic book will be shocked by twists coming up in future episodes.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Lincoln explained: "They've roughly plotted the first eight episodes and it's insane, [it's] just insane this show.

"It's not adhering to the comic books - they threw in a death this season [just finished] when the character doesn't die for years. So that flipped the [comic] fanbase as well. They're afforded the opportunity to play with that and kind of tease them."

Lincoln also dismissed suggestions that the show could suffer from the departures of lead characters like Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn).

"We did lose a lot of people sadly, and it seems to be an occupational hazard in a zombie apocalypse," he joked. "But ultimately it will be one of the enduring strengths of the show that we can move on in a very clean way and not feel that we have to keep churning out the same storylines for different characters.

"The great thing about it is the world keeps opening out and it's less about 'Let's run away from the zombies and find a safe place to live', it's more about how does society begin again and how do we define humanity in this new extraordinary apocalyptic world?"

The Walking Dead season three will air in the UK on FX.

Lincoln is currently supporting Barnardo's Big Toddle, an annual fundraiser that gives children under 5 the chance to take part in a mini sponsored walk.

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