Television The Last Kingdom on BBC

Cnaiür urs Skiötha said:
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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The Expanse is great. Normally I'm not into 'space shows' but I got hooked on that one right from the pilot episode. The only other series I can compare it to was Firefly, although it had more humor, while The Expanse has more drama.

Sorry for derailing the thread.
 
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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There are plenty of great series that aren't based on books: Breaking Bad, The Wire, Sopranos, Rome, Deadwood, Mad Men, etc. It's just Vikings are a badly written show, that's all.
 
Season 2 wrapped up yesterday and its now released on Netflix, so hopefully it catches on. Been a consistently great show for two seasons now, it better not get canceled.
 
Great series. But what confuses me or at least discombobulate me is the premise/assumptions that are different between The Last Kingdon and Vikings.
There are common characters but the project of their respective characters are different.
 
sglowrider said:
Great series. But what confuses me or at least discombobulate me is the premise/assumptions that are different between The Last Kingdon and Vikings.
There are common characters but the project of their respective characters are different.
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Which common characters are there? And The Last Kingdom is historical fiction, Uthred wasn't a real person, although the character is inspired by one.
 
DarkXaero said:
I thought they were supposed to be different Ragnar and Erik's.
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Both were earls and both adopted some saxon being.

In Viking's case, Erik was like either the brother (or son) of Bjorn (son of Ragnar). They both deal with Elfred/Alfred of Wessex.
 
Fun show. Long time since I read the books but I'm sure some things were changed! Castings are pretty good on the whole I think, maybe uthred could have been a bit more fierce / less of a pretty boy. Beocca is great and the girls are super nice :drool:
 
After I had finished watching the first season, I read all the books in the series. They were brilliant. The TV adaptation has stayed fairly close to the books so far, and the result, as far as the second season goes, has been excellent. Looking forward to the next season.
 
Caught up to the last episode of the series. This has just smashed series one - what a brilliant show.. wish more people watched it as it has been such a high standard yet again.
 
Watched the first season on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will the second season be released soon or will i have to acquire that somewhere else?
 
SilentWitness said:
Watched the first season on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will the second season be released soon or will i have to acquire that somewhere else?
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Second series finished on BBC2 couple months ago, it's not available on their iplayer anymore though but I imagine it will be elsewhere online.
 
Just started the second season of this and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Far, far better than Vikings which became a slog to watch. I really like the tone of the show and the lead character is perfect for the role. The actor manages to make Uhtred likeable, despite being a dick and a bone-headed arseling. Definitely recommend it.
 
Bloody great news! I wonder how many seasons they are in? I think I watched until the second because that one wasn't even available on netflix
 
Can't believe the BBC dropped this and keep loads of other tosh on. My Dad liked this show, but he doesn't have a clue what Netflix is and doesn't pay for it. I guess they don't think about the older viewers.
 
Released only in Britain today, unfortunately. :( Been looking forward to the third season for some time, googled it the other day to be sure it was the 19th and was disappointed to find «to be released globally at a later date»...

Love the show, much, much better than Vikings.
 
Cheech Wizard said:
Can't believe the BBC dropped this and keep loads of other tosh on. My Dad liked this show, but he doesn't have a clue what Netflix is and doesn't pay for it. I guess they don't think about the older viewers.
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Get him Ororo.tv. They have everything Netflix has and more. And it's much cheaper.
 
Finished S3 and certainly enjoyed it, just a shame that it seems to not get the viewers:(
Will definetly be picking up the books and rewatching the first 2 seasons.

Certainly had the GOT vibe more so this season than previous ones though.
 
Great series, finally got around to watching Season 3 and it was thoroughly enjoyable. It's a mystery to me that the show isn't more known, it's one of the best ones around.
 
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antihenry said:
Great series, finally got around to watching Season 3 and it was thoroughly enjoyable. It's a mystery to me that the show isn't more known, it's one of the best ones around.
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Yeah one of my favourite shows , I've rewatched the first season now midway through the second. So much I completely forgot, think I enjoyed it more on second viewing too. So many excellent characters throughout the show. Does such a good job of making you love/hate the characters.

Really amazes me how it's not getting the same attention of say Vikings or Walking dead. Surpasses both of them by a distance IMO.
 
Yeah it’s great. Actually thought the last season had too many slow points which didn’t necessarily drive the plot forwards. I guess the two extra episodes contributed to that. Still, Vikings is a nothing show compared to this.
 
Finished season 3 last night. Might just be the best one yet. David Dawson's portrayal of the dying Alfred was the highlight for me.
 
It's interesting watching this and Vikings and comparing the two portrayals of Vikings & Saxons. Vikings glorifies the invasion of Britain whereas The Last Kingdom shows them to be brutal invaders.
 
Klopper76 said:
It's interesting watching this and Vikings and comparing the two portrayals of Vikings & Saxons. Vikings glorifies the invasion of Britain whereas The Last Kingdom shows them to be brutal invaders.
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As always the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There have been uncovered evidence of a widespread genocide on the Norsemen by the saxons shortly after the historic period dealt with in the show. So they certainly weren’t the always forgiving christians made out to be in the show.

It’s become an unpopular word on the caf, but the Vikings were pragmatic. If there wasn’t a potent defence in place, they’d attack, if not they’d normally opt to trade. Also, when they adapted Christendom, it was to reap the benefits of larger, united, kingdoms, which the church played a major part in strengthening from the bottom down. They didn’t convert because they were true believers, at least that was the norm.
 
I've watched 2 episodes. So far i prefer vikings, the characters in Vikings seems a lot more likeable? IDK. I'm defintely going to watch more.
 
Klopper76 said:
It's interesting watching this and Vikings and comparing the two portrayals of Vikings & Saxons. Vikings glorifies the invasion of Britain whereas The Last Kingdom shows them to be brutal invaders.
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Yes the dichotomy is amazing. I love both shows, can't see how one would say one is vastly superior to the other. If I had to pick one though i'd go with Vikings as I feel the characters are stronger.
 
Loublaze said:
Yes the dichotomy is amazing. I love both shows, can't see how one would say one is vastly superior to the other. If I had to pick one though i'd go with Vikings as I feel the characters are stronger.
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I think they're on par for the most part but Vikings for me has gone downhill. part 1 of s5 imo was pretty meh overall. Flokis ark was horrific. Not started part 2 yet.
Miss Ragnar & Ecbert tbh.
 
Stactix said:
I think they're on par for the most part but Vikings for me has gone downhill. part 1 of s5 imo was pretty meh overall. Flokis ark was horrific. Not started part 2 yet.
Miss Ragnar & Ecbert tbh.
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I loved the first part of season 5, including Floki's discovery of Iceland and the dynamics among the people he took with him. I was initially worried about how things would be without Ragnar but Ivar has really grown on me. I don't even particularly like the character but the actor is more than holding his own with his portrayal and keeping the show interesting IMO.
 
Watching this on Netflix, it's very good.

Although every fecking episode starts with the recap and "I AM UTHRED, SON OF UTH-" *skip*.
 
So finally binged this, and in good time just before season 4 this month

This is an excellent story. The betrayals and such are great to follow

I think overall the story here is better than Vikings. But for Vikings I think they had better characters to get behind (but not always)

Eg Vikings I liked Rollo but didn't want France to win. Or one side would have characters I liked whilst the other side would also have it. But for TLK it seemed I only ever liked wherever Uthred was. TLK had more villains it seemed and ones you couldn't sympathise with.

It's only three seasons compared to more from Vikings so far. Hopefully the story in s4 maintains
The number of episodes is a great number to deliver arcs


Father beocca probably involved in my favourite scene so far...
 
Season 3 hasn’t even made it to Netflix in Norway, our equivalent to BBC in Norway bought the rights before Netflix took over. It’s so annoying. Had to watch season 3 on a streaming site with shit quality. They’re really begging me to pirate it. Love this show!
 
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