The Last Kingdom (TV series)

Overview

Set in the late ninth century AD, when England was divided into seven separate kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon lands are attacked and, in many instances, ruled by Danes. The Kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone.

The protagonist Uhtred, the orphaned son of a Saxon nobleman, is captured by Viking Danes and reared as one of them. Forced to choose between a kingdom that shares his ancestry and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are constantly tested.

The first series' story-line roughly covers the plots of the original two novels, The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, although condensed for the purposes of television. The second series' story-line will roughly cover the plots of the third and fourth of Cornwell's novels, The Lords of the North and Sword Song.

Main cast

Supporting cast

Series Two

Production

The series started shooting in November 2014. It is produced by Carnival Films for BBC Two and BBC America with filming in Hungary and the United Kingdom. Nick Murphy (Prey, Occupation) is co-executive producing and directing multiple episodes

Filming for the second series began in Budapest in June 2016. Richard Rankin, Gerard Kearns, Thure Lindhardt, Millie Brady, Erik Madsen, and Peter McDonald will join the cast.

According to Aftonbladet, Swedish actors Björn Bengtsson, and Magnus Samuelsson will join the Main cast. Stephen Butchard will return as the sole script writer. Netflix has signed on as a co-production partner for the second series.

Release

The Last Kingdom premiered on 10 October 2015 in the United States on BBC America, and was broadcast shortly after in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 22 October 2015. It became available online in the United States via Netflix on July 6, 2016. It was added to Netflix on 28 Dec 2015 in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. The second season will be released on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Japan, Australia, Portugal and Italy.

Critical reception

The series has met a positive critical response. It has a 92% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 78/100 based on 15 reviews.

Reviewing the first episode in UK daily newspaper The Guardian, Sam Wollaston decided that, "It's wise not to get too attached to anyone in The Last Kingdom. He noted that, "The shadow of Game of Thrones hangs over The Last Kingdom. Comparison is inevitable, because of the hairy dudes with swords, daggers, cloaks, leather, mud, blood, the imaginative violence. The odd lady too – beautiful ones, wise ones, brave ones, bad ones and dead ones, obviously. […] But it's not just an attempt at a Game of British Thrones, on a smaller scale, with a little less sex. Crucially, it isn’t pure fantasy, this is historical drama (based on the books by Bernard Cornwell). Dungeons there may be, but no dragons. I wouldn't bother taking notes, it's not going to help you on University Challenge, but this is about a real time and a real place, some of these hairy dudes were actual dudes". Wollaston finished by concluding that, "Most importantly of all, it's a ton of fun".

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Charlotte Runcie gave the opening episode 4 stars out of 5. Like Wollaston, she remarked on the similarities with Game of Thrones, saying: "At first, the echoes of Game of Thrones were plentiful: battles, gore, abuse of women, people claiming to be kings, and famous actors meeting grisly ends. Matthew Macfadyen had barely got his chainmail on before a sword was thrust into his windpipe and his body nailed to a post". However, she noted, "The similarities mostly end there […] The Last Kingdom was less flashy than Game of Thrones, more serious and more grey in visual tone, with a fraction of the swearing or nudity". Although she found that, "There were a few fantasy clichés in the script that should have been cut", she ended by writing that, "overall this was a fresh and enticing introduction to an atmospheric world. There were satisfyingly high production values, a bloodthirsty appetite for violence and a proper cliffhanger. Sign me up".

Sean O’Grady in The Independent found some of the language gave the series, "a satisfyingly earthy quality" but thought that the plot was, "although less silly than Game of Thrones, […] a little convoluted". He observed that, "Bernard Cornwell's historical novels, and their TV adaptations such as this, have been highly successful – the Peninsular War saga Sharpe being a fine example – but the writing can be constrained by the stilted clichés of the genre, give or take the odd 'turd'. Thus: 'Every man must be prepared to die'; 'He fights like a Dane'; 'You're a son to me now' […]" and concluded his review of the first episode by saying, "Uhtred, with his mixed-up heritage, has the potential to become a more emotionally complex Prince of Denmark; but so far The Last Kingdom is, well, a bit of a flying turd".

The television reviewer for Private Eye was more critical, arguing that The Last Kingdom demonstrated how Game of Thrones 'haunts the BBC', and that the series was directly derivative of both fantasy series and European dramas such as The Killing and Wallander, yet lacking the features that have made such series successful.