The Walking Dead season 7 episode 9: Who is James Heltibridle - the person the midseason premiere was dedicated to

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The Walking Dead season seven has returned from its midseason break, and the thrilling ninth episode - titled ‘Rock in the Road’ - saw Rick come face to face with King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), his pet tiger Shiva and a completely new threat altogether in the closing moments (you can find the episode's five major talking points here).

Viewers will also have noticed that the episode was 'in loving memory of' somebody called James Heltibridle - but who is he?

Heltibridle was a filmmaker, beloved by the cast and crew of The Walking Dead, who passed away in November 2016; he worked in the props department of the AMC series since season six and was tragically killed in a car accident on his way home from set.

Heltibridle's Twitter account was awash with photos of The Walking Dead cast including Daryl actor Norman Reedus.

The filmmaker, who also served as a production designer on short films Memoris and Death and the Robot in 2012 and 2013 - was branded one of the series' "unsung heroes."

Rest in peace, James.

The Walking Dead airs tonight (13 February) at 9pm on FOX.