‘The Walking Dead’ Moves To STAR On Disney+ In The UK with ‘War of the Worlds’ & ‘The Orville’
This morning, Disney has confirmed AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead‘ will be moving to STAR on Disney+ following the imminent closure of the FOX UK channel, along with other FOX shows such as with ‘War of the Worlds‘, and ‘The Orville‘. We’re still waiting for information as to the fate of the CBS series such as ‘NCIS’ and ‘Bull’, which ran on the UK broadcaster.
For ‘The Walking Dead’ fans, not only with the highly anticipated 11th and final season of the series premiere this August on STAR, but all 10 seasons of iconic post-apocalyptic thriller will also be added to the streaming service from Friday 2nd July 2021 in the UK.
A cultural phenomenon, ‘The Walking Dead’ is an action-packed drama, based on the comic books written by Robert Kirkman. It follows a group of survivors, led by former police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), struggling to survive after a zombie apocalypse. As the world overrun by the dead takes its toll, their interpersonal conflicts present a greater danger to their survival than the walkers that roam the country. This global smash-hit has built up a legion of fans across the world. Season 11 will premiere on Monday 23rd August 2021 on Star on Disney+.
Also coming to the platform is hit sci-fi drama ‘War of the Worlds’. Inspired by the classic novel by H.G Wells, season 1 will be available to stream on 28th May 2021, ahead of the season 2 premiere landing this July.
Set in present-day Europe,?‘War of the Worlds’ is a multi-faceted?series, written and created by?BAFTA award winner Howard Overman?(Misfits, Crazyhead, Merlin) of Urban Myth Films. As an alien attack all but wipes out mankind, pockets of humanity are left in a deserted world. This fresh interpretation has an ensemble cast, including award-winning actors Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People).
Also confirmed today is Seth MacFarlane’s live-action sci-fi dramedy ‘The Orville’ will be joining the platform in September 2021.
The one-hour space adventure is somewhat MacFarlane’s love letter to ‘Star Trek’, and is set 400 years in the future on The Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship. Its crew, both human and alien, face the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the familiar, often humorous, problems of everyday life. The ensemble series stars MacFarlane as the ship’s Commanding Officer and Adrianne Palicki (‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, ‘Friday Night Lights’) as his ex-wife, who’s assigned as his First Officer.
As I mentioned at the top of the article, what we still don’t know about is the fate of the various CBS shows which ran on FOX UK such as NCIS’, ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ and ‘Bull’. It’s possible there are still deals being worked out for those series, and they may shift to STAR. Or it could be that they are sold on to other UK broadcasters, such as Sky, or one of the Channel 5 channels, which are owned by Viacom who also own CBS. At the moment, we just don’t know, but we will post an update when we have more information.
For those of you who somehow miss the launch, STAR is the new general entertainment brand added to Disney+ that launched across Europe in February this year. The service adds hundreds of TV series and movies, such as ‘Atlanta’, ‘Bones’, and ‘Grown-ish’ alongside a slate of Star Originals including ‘Dollface’, ‘Solar Opposites’, ‘Marvel’s MODOK’ and ‘Big Sky’, and films such as the multi-Academy Award-winning ‘Nomadland’.
Robust parental controls ensure that Disney+ remains a suitable viewing experience for everyone in the family. Subscribers can set access limits on mature content and create PIN-protected profiles, alongside the already existing Kid Profiles, to give parents and guardians peace of mind.
Disney+ costs £7.99, or £79.90 annually, and also includes STAR, the additional service that brings a variety of “mature” content from across Disney-owned brands. The service is available via Sky Q and on various smart TVs and online.
