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Batman…or zombies?

That was the impossible choice we were left with last night as Gotham, the new series about a pre-Batman Gotham City, and the Season 5 premiere of The Walking Dead were broadcast at the same time!

Unfortunately, it looks like neither show is going to move from the coveted 9pm Monday night slot (Made in Chelsea is on at the same time, if that's your kind of thing). So, which deserves your attention? Here's the all-important musicMagpie verdict"¦

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Gotham

After weeks of anticipation (and a couple of blog posts), we were quite excited to finally sit down and watch Gotham.

The show focuses on the adventures of a young James Gordon, a detective in the Gotham police force (and later chief ally of Batman), as he investigates the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Along the way, he meets various characters from the Batman universe, including a young Catwoman (…Kittygirl?), The Riddler and The Penguin (played to terrifying effect by Robin Taylor Lord). Oh, and he talks to some little kid called Bruce Wayne too, but he's probably not that important"¦

The biggest threat, however, comes from the hilariously-named Fish Mooney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith) and the corrupt Gotham police department.

If you're expecting a standard Batman tale from Gotham, you're going to be disappointed. It's a realistic crime drama with a strong focus on investigations, police/mob relations and dialogue (although Jim does display a remarkable talent for beating people up), despite the colourful cast of characters.

Based on the first episode, it's hard to tell where the show is going. We all know how the investigation into Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder concludes (hint: it involves a bloke dressed up a bat beating up lots of criminals), so we're guessing the focus will be on the rise of the various villains in Gotham.

Either way, it was a fairly decent start that most Batman fans will enjoy.

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The Walking Dead

The last time we saw The Walking Dead gang, they were locked up in a storage container after stumbling upon a community of (presumably) cannibals.

To be honest, we were half expecting them to stay there throughout season 5, given how slow The Walking Dead can be at times. Remember Season 2 and the farm? Exactly.

However, we were wrong. Very, very wrong. Episode 1 zips by like a zombie on a jetpack and takes Rick & Co. in an unexpected direction.

Of course, there's quite a lot of peril before we reach that point. Poor old Rick – who has already lost his wife and been beaten half to death by a psychopath in an eyepatch – is tortured, while the rest of the group have to deal with the slightly-crazed residents of Terminus.

The first episode is basically everything we love about The Walking Dead in an hour: Daryl kicking butt, various characters in danger and, of course, loads and loads of zombies.

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The verdict

If we could only pick one show to watch, we'd probably say The Walking Dead. Thanks to the glory of catch up TV, though, you can watch both – hooray!

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