George A Romero has dismissed The Walking Dead as a "soap opera" that is missing the satirical element of his own works.

The Night of the Living Dead director confirmed to The Big Issue that he turned down the chance to work on a couple of episodes of the AMC drama.

"They asked me to do a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead but I didn't want to be a part of it," Romero said.

"Basically it's just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally. I always used the zombie as a character for satire or a political criticism and I find that missing in what's happening now."

When he first revealed in 2011 he had turned down the chance to direct episodes of the show, he claimed not to have watched it yet.

"I love the [comic] books, [but] I never watched any of the episodes because… my zombies are sort of my own," he said.

"I've been waiting to see the whole first season, which I missed because I've been travelling. I've been waiting to look at it, but I haven't seen any of it."

Former showrunner Frank Darabont has admitted that The Walking Dead was influenced by Romero's movies, while explaining why his series would avoid political and social commentary.

"To me, those zombie metaphors have been covered by other filmmakers," he said.

"They've laid those metaphors out through the decades, particularly George Romero. I don't know if I can bring anything new to the zombie metaphor, so my focus is the human part of the story."

The Walking Dead was this week renewed for a fifth season, with Scott Gimple continuing as current showrunner

Romero's zombie movies include Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2010).

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