Humans, the UK-US adaptation of a Swedish series about the complexities that arise when a super-realistic, super-responsive form of android becomes of use in the home, is premiering on Australian TV – insofar as that last clause describes a meaningful event any more. It produces, in this viewer, the same combination of interest and extreme irritation as does much sci-fi to those not addicted to the genre.

Typical of zombie narratives are their apocalyptic end-of-the-world milieus and attitudes. However, the environment of The Walking Dead is not so much apocalyptic as it is drenched in eternal terror and warfare.