Television The Last Kingdom on BBC

djembatheking

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Starting this month on the BBC , The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell .
Thoroughly enjoyed the books and pretty much love all of Bernard Cornwells work , hope to hell they don`t cock this up as if done correctly has the potential to be a classic . Book 9 also released this month . Any more Bernard Cornwell fans on here and have I definitely got it right and it is on BBC UK and not just BBC America ?
 
djembatheking said:
Starting this month on the BBC , The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell .
Thoroughly enjoyed the books and pretty much love all of Bernard Cornwells work , hope to hell they don`t cock this up as if done correctly has the potential to be a classic . Book 9 also released this month . Any more Bernard Cornwell fans on here and have I definitely got it right and it is on BBC UK and not just BBC America ?
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I'm aware of Bernard Cornwell but what time period will this focus on?
 
Reading the books currently on book 4. Really good read and looking forward to the tv show.
 
So has anyone been watching this? I think its been great. . Episode 1 was epic and Episode 5 which just went was quality too.
 
Watched the first episode and liked it but haven't had time to keep it up. Worth carrying on with then you reckon?
 
jeff_goldblum said:
Watched the first episode and liked it but haven't had time to keep it up. Worth carrying on with then you reckon?
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Definitely if you liked the first. Episode 5 comes closest to matching quality of the first.
 
I really like it. Episode 5 probably the best so far and certainly got me out of my seat the most. I hate both Saxons and Danes, mind.
 
Bah. They are going to kill off the only decent guy in this show.
 
There are only three episodes left in season 2. Great show, much better than the overhyped Vikings.
 
The first season was pretty good. Up to the last bit of the last episode where it went OTT with the battle scene and then just wrapped it all up very quickly.

It was a shame because I thought the battle was great until he went all Legolas
 
Missed season 2 so far. Will have to catch up soon. Also, Orphan Black. Not watched BBC America often recently with the lack of Doctor Who so missed the other two shows.
 
It's a bloody brilliant series quite frankly. If you enjoyed Vikings, TLK will please you most certainly.
 
Think I prefer Vikings but this is still very good. Kudos to the make up team too. No idea how they made Brendan Fraser look so young.
 
I really wanted to like Vikings, in fact I've even started a thread when it first came on.
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/vikings.367221/

I just gave up on it halfway through Season 3, just felt it was poorly written and the guy who played main character confused the "I'm suffering from constipation" grimaces with the actual acting.
 
antihenry said:
I really wanted to like Vikings, in fact I've even started a thread when it first came on.
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/vikings.367221/

I just gave up on it halfway through Season 3, just felt it was poorly written and the guy who played main character confused the "I'm suffering from constipation" grimaces with the actual acting.
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Yeah the acting is a bit hammy, Ragnor and Floki especially.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
I thought King Ecbert was the best character, played by Ken from Coronation Streets son!
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Yeah, he was great. There was a real mixed bag of supporting characters. Ecbert was great but I thought Aelle was awful.

The worst thing for me about Vikings were the battle scenes. I understand they don't have the budget of Game of Thrones but I'd rather they didn't show anything instead of show 20 v 20 people "battles" where the opponents are so deliberately hitting each others swords.
 
duffer said:
Yeah, he was great. There was a real mixed bag of supporting characters. Ecbert was great but I thought Aelle was awful.

The worst thing for me about Vikings were the battle scenes. I understand they don't have the budget of Game of Thrones but I'd rather they didn't show anything instead of show 20 v 20 people "battles" where the opponents are so deliberately hitting each others swords.
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I think The Last Kingdom suffers from the same thing but shows like Rome and GoT skew expectations.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
I think The Last Kingdom suffers from the same thing but shows like Rome and GoT skew expectations.
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Did Rome have great battle scenes with lots of people involved? I don't think it did, certainly nowhere near the Braveheart variety. Fantastic show though, still my all time favorite.
 
antihenry said:
Did Rome have great battle scenes with lots of people involved? I don't think it did, certainly nowhere near the Braveheart variety. Fantastic show though, still my all time favorite.
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Some of the City parade scenes were incredible though. When I see Vikings or TLK I can't help but think they look cheap production wise and they are compared to some big HBO productions.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Some of the City parade scenes were incredible though. When I see Vikings or TLK I can't help but think they look cheap production wise and they are compared to some big HBO productions.
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Well, of course, they only have a tiny fraction of the buget Rome had. I believe the cost was the reason it got canceled only after two seasons despite having very high ratings.
 
I think The Last Kingdom is an easily better show than Vikings, especially at this point. Tighter & more focused narrative, better characters, and better writing. Vikings has a higher budget and is one of the best looking shows on TV but it has declined quite a bit over its past couple seasons.
 
DarkXaero said:
I think The Last Kingdom is an easily better show than Vikings, especially at this point. Tighter & more focused narrative, better characters, and better writing. Vikings has a higher budget and is one of the best looking shows on TV but it has declined quite a bit over its past couple seasons.
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Is Vikings based on books? I dont think so.
Last Kingdom is based on books by a bestselling author so the story is better.
Overall I like both. I love that kind of stuff.
 
Cnaiür urs Skiötha said:
Is Vikings based on books? I dont think so.
Last Kingdom is based on books by a bestselling author so the story is better.
Overall I like both. I love that kind of stuff.
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Yea I know, I'm just comparing the two shows. I'm not familiar with the source material at all.
 
DarkXaero said:
Yea I know, I'm just comparing the two shows. I'm not familiar with the source material at all.
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I think it shows. It's the same with GoT. There is no real filler needed. Often it seems that TV shows are only planned one season after the other without having the bigger overarching story in mind.

That reminds me I need to check out The Expanse written by another favorite author of mine (Daniel Abraham).
 
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