The Last Kingdom

[James]

I'm betting Vikings fans will be keen on this one!

From BBC America:

The Last Kingdom is an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Warlord Chronicles. The books follow Uhtred of Bebbanburg from a boy taken from his birthright and raised by Vikings, later fighting for King Alfred the Great and his son Edward. Shield walls, blood, revenge and the forging of many Kingdoms into one nation, a dream of Alfred's called England.

The Last Kingdom airs Saturday October 10 and the trailer looks pretty darn good!

Has anyone read the book(s)?

 

[chamber-music]

The first two episodes were great. This feels like a companion sow to Vikings in a way except this show doesn't have Vikings mysticism and has a bit of humour.

Brida's witty lines are great.

 

[Thorne]

I've always found Vikings to have a fair bit of humor.

I'm curious about this show since I love Bernard Cornwell's books in general (still have not read the Saxon stories).

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I saw the first ep.
It looks a bit better than The Bastard Exec but not particularly great either but it was only the first ep.
I've never read nor heard of the books.

Edit : the leads looks like Jonathan Rhys Meyer.
Edit : saw ep 2. It's good enough, the sets and costumes are ok, music and dialogues fine too. Much more well crafted than The Bastard Executioner which I'm dropping in favor of this show.

 

[James]

I couldn't watch The Last Kingdom without comparing it to The Bastard Executioner either, and without exaggeration I found the former far superior to the latter in every way. I'm not joking when I say that even the children are better actors in TLK than the leading man from TBE. The violence is there without being overly graphic or overdone, the cinematography is straightforward and even clever in places. The story is unique and there seems to be actual, tangible chemistry between characters -characters who are engaging and likable.

I'm really impressed by the first couple of episodes, some memorable scenes and cool stuff going on. Looking forward to next week!

 

[chamber-music]

The villainous crucifix wearing solider from The Bastard Executioner plays the King of Wessex on this show.

 

[Thorne]

Saw the first episode and was quite impressed. It doesn't have Vikings' great cinematography or music, but I'm really impressed by what both shows do on their very limited budgets.
Earl Ragnar is the definition of a boss, and they manage the unlikely feat of making the chemistry quickly formed bond him and Uhtred believable even though the first time they met was Ragnar plopping the kid's older brother's head down as a challenge.
The first hour easily did what The Bastard Executioner failed to do in 2 hours, pique my interest in the story.

 

[Golgo-13]

I need to add this to my list.

 

[BestGirl]

BBC America put the first, but not the second, episode online and I had a rather different experience watching it than the rest of you did. I didn't love it. I had the same problem with it that I had with TBE in that I never really connected to any of the characters, though Brida, and maybe Ubba and Sven, appear to have potential. Everything involving the kids was fairly boring to me though the show did uptick when Uhtred reached adulthood. I wish BBCA had included the second episode since it sounds like I need to see both to fairly judge the show. People online keep raving how good the books are so I might continue. Some questions:

Uhtred was renamed for his dead brother. Was that real Northumbrian practice? I've never heard of it before.

Why was his adoptive father pushing him into Brida's arms? He was Ragnar's adopted son and she is just a slave, right? Shouldn't she be beneath him socially?

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

He was Ragnar adopted son but he was not his heir, many didn't see him truly as "one of the them".
Ragnar was pushing him because he saw that the girl liked him but Uhtred needed a little push.

 

[Thorne]

Ragnar was pushing them because of the times and culture, people didn't spent much of their adulthood dating and building careers but got married very young. In many places an unwed woman was even in danger of kidnapping to be made someone's bride. This is why even today the Roma marry their kids to each others kids even before they hit puberty. The social class of children in Norse culture was dictated by the class of the father, thus it is not such a problem for Uhtred to be with a woman of a lower social order. I think Ragnar liked her too but did not have a good reason to raise her station. I've heard in the books most people assume Uhtred is Ragnar's natural son, and thus is place is pretty secure even though he is not the first son.

I am not too familiar with the renaming tradition, but it's Bernard Cornwell so it is probably based on something from the records. In early Germanic cultures the dynasty was very often passed through the first name and last names were not a permanent feature, so a Harald Haraldsson or a Sigurd Sigurdsson line might go on for many generations. That can make identities in the records a bit confusing sometimes. With high mortality rates to keep a tradition like that up it would have been needed to have the a new heir adopt the father's name.

Even though I am liking the show the lead guy has not really engaged me as of yet, and I've heard he was not that good of a pick for the character from the books.

 

[chamber-music]

BBC America put the first, but not the second, episode online and I had a rather different experience watching it than the rest of you did. I didn't love it. I had the same problem with it that I had with TBE in that I never really connected to any of the characters, though Brida, and maybe Ubba and Sven, appear to have potential. Everything involving the kids was fairly boring to me though the show did uptick when Uhtred reached adulthood. I wish BBCA had included the second episode since it sounds like I need to see both to fairly judge the show. People online keep raving how good the books are so I might continue. Some questions:

I watched both episodes 1&2 back to back.

The show didn't really click for me until Uhtred was an adult as well. By the second episode I was really enjoying it. You should definitely watch the second episode before deciding if you want to stick with it or not.

 

[BestGirl]

I just watched the second episode. It was definitely better than the first. The constant God talk made me realize that I would've hated living in the Middle Ages, though.

Brida and Ubba are fun. I don't know how to feel about Uhtred. Alfred's clearly intelligent but also rather tedious. Alfred's wife makes Selyse Baratheon look jolly.

I think I'll stick with this show.

 

[marcvader]

Just watched eps 2 and 3 back to back, like it. Love Bernard Cornwell and read the first book years ago but never got around to continuing. It's a pretty damn entertaining story so I'm looking forward to continuing this. What I would give to see the Warlord Chronicles being made into a Netflix show.

 

[BestGirl]

I got about 15 minutes into episode 3 and then gave up. I just don't really care about the characters or the war they're in. It took me a while to get into Vikings too so I might wait until this comes put on DVD and then binge watch it. Virtually anything is improved by binge watching.

 

[James]

I liked the latest episode, especially the negotiation scene. Alfred didn't even flinch!

 

[chamber-music]

Alfred's nephew seems like he will cause some big trouble down the line.

 

[marcvader]

Alfred is one shrewd MFer, love the way he's being portrayed.

 

[chamber-music]

Uhtred has nine lives.

 

[James]

I really like Alfred, and I enjoyed this episode but damn if they aren't playing it fast and loose with the time-jumps! Suddenly we've got a pregnant character, then the baby pops out! So nine months (at least) passed just in the scope of a single episode. I thought Vikings toyed around with leaps in time but at least in that show it usually takes place between seasons or episodes.

It was funny this episode because I thought the lead actor could make a good Robin Hood, and in the action sequence near the end he did seem quite Robin-esque, at least until the landing!

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Uthred son of Uthred was conned by Alfred son of I don't know whom
At least he got a pretty wife who also seems to be gifted with a sound mind.

 

[marcvader]

Just as an FYI for those who may not know, many of the characters on this show are based on or are actual historical characters and many things that happen on the show like the meetings and alliances and/or battles happened.

 

[James]

Uthred son of Uthred was conned by Alfred son of I don't know whom
At least he got a pretty wife who also seems to be gifted with a sound mind.

Alfred son of Æthelwulf t:

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I did a quick read about Alfred on wikipedia but I will probably forget the info.

 

[chamber-music]

Good episode last night. This show gets better and better.

Uhtred vs Ubba was awesome

Odda the younger remains a deceitful scumbag