Netflix commissions LAST KINGDOM movie

Netflix have commissioned a two-hour Last Kingdom film to follow the fifth and final season of the TV series next year.

Seven Kings Must Die will act as a follow-up to the series, with Alexander Dreymon (Uhtred) and most of the cast expected to reprise their roles.

Netflix revealed last May that the show would end with the fifth season. The news caused consternation among fans, because under the show's scheme of adapting two novels of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Saga per season that would mean the show would only reach the tenth of thirteen books in the series. However, there was also speculation that Netflix were reluctant to commit to the massive time-skips that occur in the latter part of the series and leave Uhtred in his seventies by the time of the final novel (it should be noted that the series has already had thirty-something Dreymon playing Uhtred as a teenager in the first season and an early fifty-something in the fourth).

However the title Seven Kings Must Die may hint that the movie will indeed jump forwards to the closing storylines from the novels, which see the Seven Kingdoms of Britain (the Heptarchy) finally uniting under one single King of England, fulfilling the dream laid out by Alfred the Great in the opening episodes of the series.

Seven Kings Must Die starts shooting in early 2022 in Budapest, presumably for a 2023 release. Season 5 of The Last Kingdom is expected to drop on the streamer in the spring.

Final LAST KINGDOM novel to be released this October

HarperCollins have confirmed that the thirteenth and final Last Kingdom (aka The Saxon Stories) novel by Bernard Cornwell will be released this October.

The book will be entitled War Lord and will, assuming Cornwell's previous statements about how the series ends hold true, depict the Battle of Brunanburh, effectively the last major conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes on the island of Britain for a century. Uhtred will be an old man by this time (in his seventies at least), so the series will presumably deal with Uhtred's ultimate fate and those of his friends and family.

Season 4 of The Last Kingdom, the Netflix series adapting the books, will arrive in the late spring or summer of this year. It will adapt the seventh and eighth books in the series, The Pagan Lord and The Empty Throne.

The Last Kingdom: Season 3

AD 899. King Alfred's health is failing and his grand vision to unify the seven kingdoms of England under Christian rule has not yet been fulfilled. His son Edward stands to inherit the throne of Wessex but he is callow and untested, and the troublesome Prince Athelwold is again pressing his claim to the throne. To secure his dynasty, Alfred asks his greatest warrior, Uhtred, to pledge his sword to Edward for life. Uhtred refuses, yearning to set out on his long-planned quest to retake his ancestral home of Bebbanburg. Their quarrel turns violet and Uhtred finds himself banished from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...just as the Danes prepare their boldest plan of attack yet, and seek his support.

The Last Kingdom is one of the most enjoyable programmes on air, a (mostly) historical romp through the life and times of Alfred the Great and his heirs, who seek to unify England as one kingdom whilst facing constant pressure from the heathen Danes. Bernard Cornwell's novels are great fun and the TV adaptation is mostly faithful, although occasionally compressing events or characters for clarity.

The third season loosely adapts the fifth and sixth books in the series, The Burning Land and Death of Kings, and follows an over-arcing plot where the various tensions between Alfred and Uhtred that have built up over the series explode, bringing them to blows and seeing Uhtred banished from his new home. Uhtred is ensnared in the machinations of the alleged sorceress, Skade, and is convinced to join an alliance of Danes against Alfred, to the disquiet of some of his men who are still loyal to Wessex. The result is ten episodes of political intrigue, action and character development as the various agendas of the factions involved are put into conflict.

For a show in its third year, The Last Kingdom still feels fresh and ambitious. The show has moved from the BBC to Netflix with a notable budget increase, so battles and sets are suddenly a lot bigger and more impressive than before. This is also why we get ten episodes this season rather than eight. The extra episode-per-book is a good idea, as it allows the story a bit more room to breathe. That fast and furious pace for the earlier seasons was good, but did sometimes feel a bit rushed. This time around, there is more time to digest what is going on. This is especially useful as the story is now unfolding on many fronts simultaneously, with Alfred, Uhtred, Beocca and Brida each getting a fair slice of the action.

The regular cast are on top form, with the show getting its finest dramatic moment when Alfred and Uhtred finally abandon their formal stations and speak honestly to one another about their interlocking lives and destinies. Alexander Dreymon and David Dawson do superb work in this sequence.

There are some weaknesses. The Skade storyline is somewhat dull, not helped by Thea Naess not being the strongest actor in the show's line-up, and it's somewhat merciful when it is resolved mid-season, allowing for a lot more interesting drama revolving around Uhtred and his torn loyalties in the build-up to the excellent season finale.

The third season of The Last Kingdom (****½) represents a show still on top form, with excellent writing, performances and better pacing than previous seasons. It is available to watch on Netflix now.

A fourth season recently finished filming and should air on Netflix in 2020.

THE LAST KINGDOM renewed for fourth season

Netflix have renewed The Last Kingdom for a fourth season, as announced by the cast in an amusing video.

The BBC commissioned and began airing The Last Kingdom with a well-received first season back in 2015, co-produced with BBC America. For Season 2 BBC America dropped out as co-producer and was replaced by Netflix, who also started showing the series worldwide on the their platform, where it picked up a much wider audience. The BBC decided to pull out after the second season but Netflix picked up the show and it returned last month with a higher budget, more episodes and the strongest critical reception to date.

The TV series, set in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, follows the adventures and misadventures of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble boy who is captured by Danes and raised as one of them. After the death of his adopted Danish family, he finds himself torn between his Danish and Saxon heritages, but eventually swears his sword to King Alfred of Wessex, a pious and godly king who believes it is his destiny to unite the seven Saxon kingdoms together as one: England. Alfred and Uhtred have a complex relationship, with Uhtred saving Alfred's life on several occasions but Alfred struggling to create a Christian kingdom when his greatest warrior refuses to convert to the cross.

The TV series is based on The Saxon Stories, a series of novels by historical fictional writer Bernard Cornwell. The series is planned to expand across 14 novels (eleven of which have been published), which in total will follow Uhtred and the fate of Wessex from Alfred becoming King in 871 all the way to the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, when the fate of England is finally decided; Uhtred will presumably be in his eighties in the last novel of the series. The series is loosely based on real history, with the caveat that the historical Uhtred actually lived a century after the fictional one.

THE LAST KINGDOM cancelled by the BBC but saved by Netflix

The BBC has decided not to continue with its Saxon-era historical drama The Last Kingdom, based on author Bernard Cornwell's Saxon saga which currently runs to ten novels. However, Netflix have stepped in and will continue the series, with the third season due to air later this year.

The first season of The Last Kingdom was a co-production between the BBC and BBC America, but BBC America dropped out after the first season, citing disappointing ratings in the US, although UK ratings were strong. Netflix took over as international distributor and co-funder of the series. The BBC has decided not to continue the series, so Netflix have taken over production completely.

The news does make sense, as The Last Kingdom has received good critical notices since debuting. In addition The Last Kingdom gives Netflix a toehold in the historical drama field without the monstrous price tag of some of their other shows, like The Crown and the cancelled Marco Polo. By Netflix standards, The Last Kingdom's budget is very modest and even with a moderate budget increase (which would be helpful to sell some of the bigger action scenes) it would still be one of their cheapest programmes.

Season 3 of The Last Kingdom will air before the end of 2018, with Netflix to make a decision on continuing the programme based on how it fares as a Netflix original.

Slightly paradoxically, the BBC have cited competition from Netflix and Amazon TV as reason why they can't continue production of drama programmes like The Last Kingdom, and have even advised that in the future, predicted budget shortfalls for British broadcasters may threaten shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock.

THE LAST KINGDOM renewed for a second season

The BBC has ordered a second season of The Last Kingdom, their TV drama based on Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Saga of novels.

The Last Kingdom has proven to be a successful series, winning critical acclaim and reasonably strong ratings on both sides of the Atlantic. The first season was based on the first two novels in the series (of nine so far), The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horsemen. If the second season is based on the next two novels, The Lords of the North and Sword Song, it will focus on Uhtred's quest to reclaim his homeland as well as widening the scope to new locations, including London.

THE LAST KINGDOM gets UK airdate

The Last Kingdom, the BBC drama based on Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, will debut on BBC2 on Thursday 22 October at 9pm.

For unclear reasons, the drama is airing first in the United States starting this Saturday on BBC America. The drama has also received a massive amount of marketing support from BBC America, including an excellent website and plenty of trailers and featurettes. The BBC press for the show in the UK has been virtually non-existent in comparison. The airdate and time is also not particularly exciting: this should really be a prime-time Sunday night show airing on BBC1, given its clearly large budget and appeal.

Despite the BBC's baffling (but not unprecedented, as anyone who can recall the shabby handling of Rome can attest) treatment of the show, it's building up some good advance press in the States, with Variety giving the first episode a glowing review and proclaiming it the equal of Vikings and much better than the similarly-themed Bastard Executioner. Den of Geek also has a positive review.

Opening title sequence for THE LAST KINGDOM

BBC America has released the opening title sequence to The Last Kingdom, a new ongoing historical series based on Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series of novels. The first season of the show is expected to cover (more or less) the first two books in the series.

The series debuts on 10 October on BBC America. Bafflingly, no airdate has been given for the UK, where it is expected to air on BBC2.

Cast announced for THE LAST KINGDOM

The BBC has announced the cast for The Last Kingdom, an eight-episode adapatation of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories. The Last Kingdom is the name of the first novel in the series, but it is unclear if the TV series will just follow the first novel or will go beyond that timeframe.

Set in the 9th Century, the story focuses on Uhtred, a young Saxon who is captured by the Danes during a raid and is then raised amongst them. Returning to a England riven by war and invasion, the story focuses on Uhtred's conflicted loyalties as he seeks to reclaim his birthright, whilst also allying himself with Alfred, the only English king ever to be given the title "the Great". There are eight novels in the series altogether, with the latest, The Empty Throne, published last month.

The announced cast so far:

Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred
Matthew Macfadyen as Alfred the Great

Rutger Hauer
David Dawson
Emily Cox
Ian Hart
Tobias Santelmann
Thomas W. Gabrielsson
Peter Gantzler
Joseph Millson
Alexandre Willaume
Rune Temte
Henning Valin Jakobsen
Tomy Taylor
Jocelyn Macnab
Madeleine Power

The big hitters in the cast are Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Fatherland and way too many films to mention) and Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks, Pillars of the Earth). Hauer's role is unclear, but the most likely fit is Ragnar the Fearless, the Danish warlord who adopts the reluctant Uhtred and raises him as his son.

The series is now filming in the UK and Hungary and is expected to air on the BBC in 2015.

Bernard Cornwell's SAXON novels to be adapted for the screen

The BBC has announced it is filming a (relatively) big-budget, eight-episode TV series based on historical novelist Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series of novels.

Cornwell's series begins in 866 AD and chronicles the life story of Uhtred, a young Saxon who is kidnapped during a Danish raid and raised amongst them. He later returns to England and becomes acquainted with major historical figures of the period, most notably King Alfred the Great. There have been seven books in the series to date: The Last Kingdom (2004), The Pale Horsemen (2005), The Lords of the North (2006), Sword Song (2007), The Burning Land (2009), Death of Kings (2011) and The Pagan Lord (2013). An eighth novel, The Empty Throne, is published this October.

The BBC TV series will be called The Last Kingdom and will adapt the first few novels in the series, although how many is unclear. Cornwell's work has been adapted for television before, with no less than 16 TV movies being made of Sharpe, Cornwell's hero of the Napoleonic Wars (played by Sean Bean, who became a major star as a result).

Bernard Cornwell is a reliably entertaining author and, although this is his not his best work (his 'realistic' trilogy about Arthur, The Warlord Chronicles, takes that honour), it's still a hugely entertaining work of historical fiction. However, it is questionable if the BBC has the budget to do the series justice. It's previous 'big-budget' historical drama, The White Queen, was both tepid and fairly cheap-looking. Hopefully, with superior source material, they can do better this time around.