Last Kingdom, The (BBC-Netflix 2015, Adrian Bower, Alexander Dreymon)

Set in the year 872, when many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, the great kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred the Great.

Against this turbulent backdrop lives our hero, Uhtred. Born the son of a Saxon nobleman, he is orphaned by the Vikings and then kidnapped and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he – Saxon or Viking? On a quest to claim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides if he is to play his part in the birth of a new nation and, ultimately, seek to recapture his ancestral lands.

The Last Kingdom, made by Carnival Films (for both the BBC and Netflix), is a show full of heroic deeds and epic battles but with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

production details
UK | BBC – Netflix | 26×60 minutes | Broadcast from 10 October 2015

Creators: Bernard Cornwell, Stephen Butchard, based on the novels by Cornwell
Executive Producers: David O’Donoghue, Gareth Neame, Nick Murphy, Nigel Marchant

cast
Adrian Bower as Leofric
Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred
Alexandre Willaume as Rita
David Dawson as King Alfred
Emily Cox as Brida
Henning Valin Jakobsen as Storri
Ian Hart as Beocca
Joseph Millson as Aelfric
Matthew Macfadyen as Lord Uhtred
Peter Gantzler as Earl Ragnar
Rune Temte as Ubba
Rutger Hauer as Ravn
Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Guthrum
Tobias Santelmann as Ragnar the Younger