Ten years on from No Sanctuary, the first episode in the fifth season of The Walking Dead - and a fan favourite - the instalment's director has revealed he is still shocked to this day with the harrowing opening 10 minutes.
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The episode saw the central characters of the beloved zombie series fight their way out of the secured compound Terminus, after they were rounded up and nearly killed by cannibals.
Speaking to ComicBook, Greg Nicotero said that directing the episode was "one of the most gratifying experiences that I’ve ever had", and revealed they put a baseball bat in the trough sequence as a "tip to Negan’s impending arrival a couple seasons later".
Nicotero said that the episode's opening is "probably the most harrowing first 10 minutes of an episode, and we got away with it", adding that he's "shocked at what we got away with".
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira as Michonne in The Walking Dead. AMC
He continued: "We shot that episode in nine days, 10 days. I don’t even know how we did it, but we did it. And it really was just a great experience seeing all those stories applied in that particular episode.
"[No Sanctuary] and No Way Out, the Alexandria invasion, Night of the Living Dead episode, I think those are two of the strongest of the series."
Nicotero has also recently directed on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol, which is the second season of one of the original show's many spin-off/sequel shows, and sees the return of Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride to their roles as Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier.
That series will also return for a third season, while The Walking Dead: Dead City, which centres on the continuing adventures of Lauren Cohan's Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan, is set to return for a second season.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
