Friday, December 11, 2015

TV Series: The Last Kingdom (Season 1) - 2015

                         

                          WARNING: Spoilers ahead!
 This is a new BBC Tv Series I discovered recently, and I watched the whole 1st season into 3 days time. That’s not so difficult though, because the whole 1st season consists of only 8 - 45 minutes long – episodes. 
  The story is based on the books ‘The Saxon Stories’, written by Bernard Cornwell, (which I haven’t read), and tells the story of Uhtred, who was born as a Saxon, but he was raised as a Dane.
  The story starts when the Danes attack the young boy’s Kingdom of Bebbenburg, and his father Lord Uhtred, gathers an army in order to face them. Earl Ragnar of the Danes is attacked by Lord Uhtred and his army, who has no chance of victory, but his bravery earns the respect of the Viking leader. The battle is lost, and Lord Uhtred dies. The Danes take his son as a slave, together with another orphan girl, named Brida. Slowly slowly Ragnar accepts the young boy, and finally he is raising him as if he was his own son. So, after losing his father, Uhtred now found a new father, but that’s not so simple. Because, although he was born Saxon, now he is being raised as a Dane.
 All the things you just read, are just the beginning of a wonderful story, which is deployed in the 8 episodes of the 1st season of ‘The Lost Kingdom’.
 The Last Kingdom is blessed with a talented group of actors, including some veterans as well, like Ratger Hauer for example, who plays the Viking Ravn. Also, it was a great surprise to me to see Matthew Macfadyen as the Lord Uhtred. Sadly these 2 characters won’t last for more than 1 episode, but they helped ground the series with their presence in this 1st episode. After that, young Uhtred and Brida take over, as we watch them mature into adulthood.
 The Last Kingdom is the first book in the Saxon Stories, so hopefully with the show’s success we will get to see more…
I really enjoyed watching this 1st season, and I’m waiting impatiently for the 2nd one to come out.
Highly recommended, especially to all those who like Medieval books or films, filled with battles, swords, bravery and of course love stories. Because let’s face it, like it or not, every series lately MUST include a few love stories as well.                         

   My Rating: 8.0 / 10.0  - IMDB’s Rating: 8.6 / 10.0
By clicking on the following link you can watch a trailer for The Last Kingdom.

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