Are you watching the Last Kingdom? Because if you're not, you bloody well should. Well, you should if you like Vikings and other historical fiction shows of that bent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6j5bDoga9Y

Taken from the Saxon Stories written by Bernard Cornwall detailing the rise of a united English kingdom from the perspective of a Northumbrian lordling called Uhtred of Bebbanburg (also known as Uthred Ragnarson, Uhtred Uhtredson and Uhtred the Wicked) as he struggles to regain an inheritance lost with the coming of the Danes.

It's only four episodes so far and as far as I can tell it's looking to be a book a season, which makes perfect sense considering how many are already out and how quickly Cornwall can write this series. Something that concerns me is the time jumps aspect of the books, which cover years and decades of Uthred's life. I don't know how easily translatable that will be in years coming for a tv audience, but I suppose that depends on the show surviving that long in the first place.

From what I've seen so far (first four episodes) it's very faithful to the books, and the actors play their roles very well. I'm slightly struggling sometimes because of the accents some of the actors have (largely those playing Danes and Norse) can be somewhat thick, but I'm quite the happy camper at the moment (especially since I recently picked up the latest book of the series in Warriors of the Storm).

A must see, I think.

 

I watched the first couple. It's very Vikings, not quite as entertaining, and with slightly more historical accuracy in terms of settings and conflicts.

I hope they didnt get rid of Brida for good. She was really the only interesting char.

 

Feels like a shittier version of Vikings. Can't urge myself to get past the second episode, and now you're telling me Brida is gone too? Meh.

 

Loved it. Seems more historically accurate than Vikings but it doesn't have a Floki so its not quite as good.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. She's a major presence in the books.

And I don't know how you can say that when we have Alfred.

Alfred.

 

Just wanted to put this out there since I only just read this, but the first season is apparently going to be the first two books. Which is a hell of a lot of material to get through, IMO.

 

Welp, just got through episode 5 and the hatred is real. So real.

Well done on getting me to feel that angry.

 

The latest episode was probably the weakest of the six so far, but it came around nicely in the end. Not sure about their choice for Iseult, but I'm happy to wait and see on her.

Starting to really feel bad for Mildreth, though. More than I did when I was reading the books.

 

Penultimate episode came out yesterday. It was awesome, go watch.

 

Yeah, it really is a cool series and a great as well as faithful adaptation of the books. Though I think that the later part can sometimes be something of a weakness since unlike the books this series doesn`t spend enough time developing its characters and their motivations with even Uhtred lacking charisma.

If you compare it to for example Vikings its cast is pale and somewhat lifeless which is a bit of a shame since the story it tells is quite interesting.

And even now one of my biggest critics of the books (that Uthred often seems to make one step forward and two steps back) is beginning to show which detracts somewhat from my enjoyment.

 

Fun fact as I've been reading up on IRL England during this time:

Cheeky shit Ethelwold was at one point a serious contender for the throne of Wessex, with supporters across all of England and the Danelaw, and was a concern for his cousin Edward (Alfred's son) while in exile. Some historians supposed that if he hadn't died in battle against his cousin during the second of two separate conflicts, he might have unified England far quicker than it was historically under Edward's line.

 

Last episode was out for the first series.

I'm watching it now.

I'm so goddamn hyped.

Goddamn.

Fair thee well, sweet Iseult. We knew ye well.

Also, Father Beocca stole the fuck out of this episode. His actor is fucking killing it.

 

The first episode was pretty awesome and convincing enough to make me get the rest of the series. I liked the blind, old man...

 

Liking season 2 quite a bit. I think I'm enjoying it more than the first season so far.

Only three episodes in though.

 

I don't think it's been released in the States yet.

 

It's a Netflix Original, so it should be available anywhere that has Netflix. That being said, it's currently airing now. Only five episodes have been released so far.

I am enjoying the show, it feels a lot more grounded and understated than Vikings, which is both good and bad. Good in the sense that it's more realistic, bad in that it's less of a spectacle. The cinematography is pretty good in Vikings. But I don't think it's budget is anywhere close to that of Vikings, so it isn't quite fair to compare.

One thing I will say is I'm getting kind of tired of hearing, "I am Utred, son of Utred..."

 

Yea, Netflix has the airing agreement for the US market, but they release the seasons in batches, so they're waiting until the whole season is out before we get it here.

 

Well my Australian Netflix account has the episodes releasing weekly each Saturday...

I guess there's a small silver lining to having a severely limited selection when compared to the US Netflix. If you are 100% certain that's the case then change you're IP address to an Australian one when you log into Netflix to get them as they come out. Or just wait... I guess