The third season of The Walking Dead, an American horror–drama television series on AMC, premiered on October 14, 2012, and concluded on March 31, 2013, consisting of 16 episodes. Developed for television by Frank Darabont, the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. It was executive produced by Kirkman, Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, and Gale Anne Hurd, with Mazzara assuming the role of showrunner.

The season was well received by critics, and won for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series at the 39th Saturn Awards. The series and cast were also nominated in several categories at the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards and 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

As in the comics, the season is set in both an abandoned prison and an active rural town of survivors. It introduces several notable characters from the comics, including The Governor, Michonne, Axel, and Tyreese. It also marks the return of Merle Dixon, Daryl's volatile older brother who went missing in season 1. It also features the return of Morgan Jones, the first survivor Rick encountered who he lost contact with in season 1. The season follows Rick Grimes assuming a dictatorial-like leadership over his group of survivors as they survive in a world infested with zombies, called "walkers" in the series. The group inhabits a large, fortified prison, but this security is threatened by the nearby community of Woodbury, led by the nefarious Governor.

Walking Dead may refer to:

Art, entertainment, and media

The Walking Dead franchise

The Walking Dead franchise consists of:

The Walking Dead is an American horror drama television series developed by Frank Darabont, based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. Andrew Lincoln plays the show's lead character, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who awakens from a months-long coma to confront a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. Grimes reunites with his family and becomes the leader of a group he forms with other survivors. Together they struggle to survive in and adapt to a world filled with zombies and some humans who are even more dangerous than the zombies themselves.

The first season through to the first half of the fifth season are at first set within the Atlanta metro area and then the surrounding countryside. Beginning with the second half of the fifth season, the series mainly takes place in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Walking Dead premiered in the U.S. on October 31, 2010, on the cable television channel AMC and internationally in November 2010 on Fox International Channels. AMC has renewed the series each year because of its consistently increasing Nielsen ratings, which have been unprecedentedly high for a cable series, including averaging the most 18- to 49-year-old viewers of any cable or broadcast television series during its fourth and fifth seasons. The sixth season premiered on October 11, 2015. A 16-episode seventh season will debut in October 2016. An AMC companion series, Fear the Walking Dead, debuted on August 23, 2015.

The fourth season of The Walking Dead, an American horror–drama television series on AMC, premiered on October 13, 2013, and concluded on March 30, 2014, consisting of 16 episodes. Developed for television by Frank Darabont, the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. It was executive produced by Kirkman, David Alpert, Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse, and Gale Anne Hurd. Gimple assumed the role of showrunner after Glen Mazzara's departure from the series.

The season was well-received by critics, and won for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series at the 40th Saturn Awards. The series and cast were also nominated in several categories at the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards and 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Season four introduces the notable comic characters Abraham Ford, Eugene Porter, Rosita Espinosa, Bob Stookey, and Lilly, as well as the Chambler family, a modified version of the Chalmers family from The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor tie-in novel. The season continues the story of former sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, who relinquished his leadership in order to live a quiet life in contrast to his cold-hearted nature in the previous season. Rick and his fellow survivors struggle to maintain their idealistic lifestyle in the prison in the face of threats within and outside the premises, including the reappearance of The Governor.