The story
As Danish armies tear through ninth-century England, Uhtred, born the son of a Saxon lord but raised among the Vikings, belongs fully to neither side. Driven by his dream of reclaiming his family's fortress of Bebbanburg, he finds himself fighting for the shrewd, devout King Alfred of Wessex, the last Saxon kingdom still standing, in a muddy, blood-soaked saga adapted from Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories novels.
Why it matters
The Last Kingdom charts the co-production route to a streaming takeover: Netflix first helped fund a BBC drama, then took it over outright. Under Netflix, series grew from eight episodes to ten, and the saga got a feature-length film, Seven Kings Must Die, to bring Uhtred's story to a close.
How it was rescued
Made by Carnival Films for BBC Two and BBC America, the first series premiered on BBC America on 10 October 2015, with BBC Two following on 22 October. Netflix joined as co-production partner for series two and then acquired the show in 2018; from series three, released on 19 November 2018, it was made for Netflix alone.
Filed under: Moved from TV to a streamer
Notable facts
- The series was filmed mainly in Hungary, with most scenes shot on an eight-acre site near Budapest owned by Korda Studios. (source)
- Scenes of Vikings at sea used the Viking ship replica Havhingsten fra Glendalough. (source)
- Seven Kings Must Die adapts War Lord, the thirteenth and final Saxon Stories novel. (source)