The Last Kingdom is truly a hidden gem. I stumbled upon this one while searching for something to binge watch. Something of a historical epic genre, and not too long. Starting this one, my expectations were fairly low and planned to watch it while doing chores and just put it up on the background. But after the first episode, it got me curious and wanted to see more. Based on the historical novel series The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell which consists of 13 books. This epic is well worth the watch and will instantly be put on my top 5 historical epics that I’ve watched. Dare I say, even above Vikings.

The series had a total of 5 seasons (46 episodes). It started airing on BBC Two on October 10, 2015 and ended on March 9, 2022. Though some would speculate that 5 seasons wouldn’t be enough to cover an epic. They did it well and nothing felt rushed. Pacing and storytelling were great, there some “after x years” parts, but it didn’t leave any gaps in the story line.

Every season had one major conflict/enemy, and it ties well with the rest of the series. Some of the things they’ve encountered in the past seasons even leaves some trails that would soon become a problem later in the coming season. The reason that the show ended with only 5 seasons was not because of low viewership or budget problems. It was because the show was originally conceptualized to cover 2 books per season of the book series. Which at the time the novel series only had 10 books, hence the 5 seasons. Later on, Bernard Cornwell released the last 3 books to end the Saxon Stories.

Our main protagonist, Uhtred Ragnarson is a fictional character but was loosely based on Uhtred the Bold. He was an ealdorman of Northumbria. Died ca. 1016. Alfred the Great, his wife, Lady Ealhswith, and their children, Edward the Elder, succeeded Alfred as king. Edward was considered a successful ruler who retook some lands from the Danes. Lady Æthelflæd, Alfred’s firstborn child and Lady of the Mercians. She married Ethelred, Lord of the Mercians, and had a daughter named Ælfwynn. They were all based on historical characters, there were others as well. There was also a real Father Beocca who was also a spiritual mentor to Alfred the Great. Some of the battles that took place in the series were also recorded in the history books.

When talking about a TV series regarding Danes/Vikings and Saxons, two notable titles always come to mind. The longer, bigger budget production of Vikings and this, The Last Kingdom. I have also watched the Vikings and finished it as well, but after seeing TLK, I was blown away with how short it was but the content was very compact and straight to the point that it held more meaning. Vikings did do a good job in telling a story, but they had too many filler episodes, and sometimes felt dragging. TLK on the other hand was fluid and consistent on its delivery that it kept me on my toes and itching to know what would happen next. I would say that The Last Kingdom was more historically accurate compared to the “Vikings”.

Alexander Dreymon’s performance and portrayal of Uhtred of Bebbanburg was iconic. He worked with a dialect coach to create his unique accent. It was a mix of British with a Scandinavian twist. No one in the whole series had an accent like his, it was to say that he doesn’t belong to either factions, Saxons or Danes. His bursts of rage were displayed with much anger and hate towards his enemy, and you could see it all in his eyes and facial expressions. His shouts during battles were fierce and really fits his character. Even in dramatic moments, he’s able to project his sadness and desperation in moments when it counts. He also trained Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, extensive horseback riding and sword fight training for the series.
David Dawson’s Alfred the Great, and the series’ portrayal of him was almost on-point with what we know of him historically.

I have a love-hate relationship with Eliza Butterworth’s character, the Lady Aelswith. Most of the time I hate her guts, but other times, when it counts, she does good things. And she plays her character very well that when someone mentions “Aelswith” my blood boils with her image on my head.
Ian Hart’s Father Beocca, this is the most memorable performance Hart has in my memory.
Everyone had their moments and rose up to the occassion, no one slacked off, everyone gave it their full potential to make this historic epic a grand success.

Plot twists were annoyingly clever. Some of it felt like a character’s dumb decision, but it was made for something. I hated almost each of them at some point in the series, even Uhtred sometimes makes a decision that I couldn’t understand, but it all worked out for the best in the end. At the same time, if hadn’t felt those towards them, then the show wouldn’t have any personality. It would be like androids acting, no personality and character whatsoever since they never make mistakes. Even Father Beocca had to make some tough decisions with the result not being in his hands but his reasons were pure.

Epics like these will always be compared to Game of Thrones at some point. The Last Kingdom did something that I liked over GOT. It’s the smaller number of characters that were involved. It’s not as confusing as GOT’s massive lineup of casts, though I’m not taking anything away from them, but from a viewer’s standpoint, it’s easier to follow TLK’s storyline as it is more compact. They have something in common as well—surprising character deaths.

There were some characters in TLK that died that I wanted to stop watching then. They’ll get you so emotionally invested in a character only to pull out the rug from under them. And TLK isn’t as long as GOT, and that’s a good thing. Sometimes a series is so long to the point that you’d have to go back to a previous season just to refresh your memory of who that was or what was that character’s relevance to the current situation. The Last Kingdom have little to no filler episodes or flashbacks. The story goes forward and there’s no stopping them. Makes it more engaging in my opinion.

It’s like A Knight’s Tale, but on a darker, more serious note.

If someone were to ask me which historic epic I’d watch again, I’d go with Kingdom over Vikings or Game of Thrones. That’s just me though, to each his own. The Last Kingdom had a more direct approach and I love how historically accurate some aspects of the series were.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (film) is up on Netflix and it serves as a conclusion to the series.