Not many saw this coming, but the much-hyped return of The Walking Dead earlier this week has brought with it a notable ratings fall.

Season eight of the show kicked off on AMC, and promptly fell to the show’s lowest opening ratings since its third season. Granted, there was no cliffhanger to resolve this time, but the drop from the 17 million who tuned in for the opener in the US last year to the 11.4 million this is pronounced.

That said, 11.4 million – and this is American numbers only – is still a sizeable crowd for a scripted drama. Furthermore, that number doesn’t factor in catch-up services as of yet. There has, though, been some fan backlash against the opening episode – Mercy – with a degree of frustration with regards the direction the show is (slowly) going. We’ll wait and see how the rest of the season pans out, though…