Some Walking Dead fans may have been disappointed by the disjointed and slow first half to season seven, but Andrew Lincoln has again defended the show.

The Rick Grimes star told Entertainment Weekly that 7A has been "brave" and "bold", and that any TV that is a bit different will naturally cause a reaction.

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"Obviously, you don't want [the fan reaction] to be negative, but if you're endeavouring to make something different and unique and challenging - and hopefully dangerous and new - sometimes it might provoke different reactions from people," he said.

"And I stand by everybody telling this story, particularly the writers and everybody directing it.

"I think it's a very brave, bold, and also challenging story that we're attempting."

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Related: 7 things we confidently predict will happen in part two of The Walking Dead's season seven

Lincoln continued that he admires "anybody taking risks", and says the payoff by the end of the season will be worth it.

"I know people want to watch more than one episode a week at a time just because it's kind of compulsive, the storytelling, and they want to know what happens next," he said.

"I would say that this season made a lot more sense once we got the last roll of film in the can for episode 716. The brilliant writers that we have take some risks, and I admire them for it."

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Timothy Olyphant - known for starring roles in Justified and Deadwood - recently told Digital Spy that, despite claims to the contrary, he never auditioned to play the fearsome villain Negan.

The Walking Dead returns to FOX on Monday, February 13 at 9pm.

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