If you remember anything about world history, you might remember England during the reign of King Alfred who was called Alfred the Great after he died.
You may also remember this was a time when Scandinavian invaders collectively known as the Danes during that time raided England every spring—if not sooner.
Seriously, I'm not kidding. You'll end up in a time dilation field with days and evenings passing outside the field while you're stuck binge watching every single episode of the 5 seasons.
Another Warning: Authors—women in particular—if you're looking for a role model for a Viking hero, look no farther than Uhtred perfectly portrayed by Alexander Dreymon.
The movie poster sold on Amazon is shown at left. That's Dreymon as Uhtred. ($24.99 for a 24" x 36" poster and only 20 psoters left, ladies!)
Genesis of The Last Kingdom
The Last Kingdom, free for Netflix subscribers, or pay per episode with YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and Amazon Prime, is based on Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell, a 13 book series. Rather than give the title of each of the 13 books, I've linked the series of books so you can check each of them out.
FYI, the first season of the series roughly covers the events of the first 2 books in the series: The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman.
Each season of this series is action-packed, full of emotion, bloodlust, valor, treachery, sadness, stupidity, back-stabbing, love, honor, loyalty, and—completely exhausting! Uhtred is naive when the series starts, but by the middle of the series, he's learned that the one thing you can depend on is that it's rare to find anyone who honors a pledge.
He's the misunderstood man who's guilty of trusting the wrong men and women and for that he's constantly maligned and targeted as a traitor by those seeking power. But he eventually learns how to turn events to his advantage, how to use words to see that right is done, and accepts that he will not be remembered by name but by the common people as a great warrior.
Cast of The Last Kingdom
I can't imagine anyone else filling the roles as the actors and actresses named below. For an excellent listing of the cast, visit the Wiki for The Last Kingdom. I'm not going to list them all because there are dozens upon dozens. These are the ones that stick in my mind.
Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred of BebbanburgDavid Dawson as King Alfred
Adrian Bower as Leofric
Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Guthrum
Simon Kunz as Odda the Elder
Harry McEntire as Aethelwold
Joseph Millson as Aelfric
Ian Hart as Beocca
Eliza Butterworth as Aelswith, Alfred's wife and Queen of Wessex
Eva Birthistle as Hild, a nun and a warrior, one of Uhtred's most trusted allies
Peri Baumeister as Gisela, Uthred's second wife and sister of Guthred
Arnas Fedaravičius as Sihtric, Kjartan's son who becomes one of Uthred's allies
Jeppe Beck Laursen as Haesten
Toby Regbo as Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians
James Northcote as Aldhelm
Ewan Mitchell as Osferth, Alfred's illegitimate son and one of Uthred's allies
Simon Stenspil as Dagfinn, a chief of the Danes
Timothy Innes as Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons
Thea Sofie Loch Næss as Skade, a Skald and Sorceress
Ola Rapace as Earl Sigurd "Bloodhair"
Magnus Bruun as Cnut, a powerful Danish Warlord and cousin of Ragnar
Adrian Schiller as Aethelhelm the Elder, a rich and powerful Ealdorman in Wessex
Amelia Clarkson as Ælflæd, wife of King Edward and Aethelhelm's daughter
Takeaway Truth
If you loved Game of Thrones, you will absolutely be spellbound by The Last Kingdom, a real-life game of thrones with England of the late 800's CD (or AD if you think along those lines) as the reward of the winner—in effect the battlefield over which all groups fought.
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