With the premiere of the movie “Seven Kings Must Die” on Netflix on April 14, the series is coming to an end, with the fifth and final season starting on Netflix in March 2022.
The film serves as a fitting send-off to the series, which is based on the novel series “The Saxon Stories” by Bernard Cornwell. Like the books, the show follows the fictional character Uhtred (played by Alexander Dreymon), a Saxon who is captured by the Danish army and raised in England in the ninth century AD. Uhtred is raised to live the life of a Viking. , but fate puts it. in the work of the House of Wessex and King Alfred, who wanted to make the different kingdoms into one country called England.
From the original live story to the high stakes, acting, and writing, this series has become one of the most popular titles in the media space even though there is no promotion or any interest. When Nielsen revealed its list of the most popular streaming titles of 2022, “The Last Kingdom” came in at No. 14, in front of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and the degree is not far below. hits like “The Crown”, “The Umbrella Academy” and “Other things”.
Still, “The Last Kingdom” could have shot its entire run with a tight budget and schedule, especially when compared to shows like “Rings of Power” or “Game of Thrones.” out “House of the Dragon.” He also changed platforms in the middle of his run. The show originated on BBC Two and BBC America before Netflix produced and distributed the series through its third season.
How did this show come out of nowhere and become the definition of a sleeper hit? Below, Variety chats with cast members and producers about the show’s curriculum and how it ended.
Nigel Marchant (showrunner and producer of the film Carnival): It was during the success of “Downton Abbey”. There is a huge change in television in terms of scale and what can be achieved with CGI and visual effects. The development team was asked, “What is a book you’ve read and loved that we couldn’t do five or 10 years ago that we can watch now?” Then the team brought us “The Last Kingdom” in Bernard’s world. What really caught our attention was the unity of the characters – Saxon and Dane – in the personal journey. Also this period of history has never been properly explored on the small screen.
One of the biggest challenges of the film will be finding an actor who can clearly portray the character of Uhtred. But the producers knew they had struck gold when they found Alexander Dreymon.
Marchant: Alex was born in Germany and later spent time in America. It also has a kind of international duality. And what he really has is the presence, the leading manly quality that we think the genre needs and deserves. Our casting director and Nick Murphy – the director of this first block – loved it immediately.
Alexander Dreymon (“Uhtred” and producer of the film series): It is only the beginning of sending personal tapes, so it will be April 2014 when I send the tapes. Then I was hired in September or October. It took time. It was produced by Carnival, part of NBCUniversal, for BBC Two and BBC America at the time. So all the leaders had to agree that this was the man who was going to do it… It was related to the books, so I went into the books and gave me a clear idea of what it was going to be.
The series managed to assemble an impressive cast for its first season, including David Dawson as King Alfred, Emily Cox as Brida, Harry McEntire as Aethelwold, Ian Hart as Father Beocca and Eliza Butterworth as Aelswith.
Dreymon: Well done casting department… Alex Irwin and Kelly Valentine Hendry, they deserve a shout out… The best part is what they did not only cast great actors for the role, but they also cast people who -make a good movie for the job. family, you know, for the atmosphere on the set. In my opinion, it is the character itself, that makes the series what it is. It would never be what it is if we didn’t have the relationship that we have together.
Marchant: I thought back to how sweet the cast was. Kelly Valentine Hendry performed the procedure with her colleagues. Dave Dawson is fantastic, as are Emily, Eliza and Ian, all of them. He just put this beautiful cast together. And another big decision we have is again, it is with the support of the BBC, but we think it is important that our Danes are Scandinavian filmmakers and that is beautiful. We found there all this rich and beautiful talent.
Work on the show began in late 2014 in Hungary, with the show using Budapest as its base during its run.
Dreymon: Starting the movie was really fun. Everything is new. I used to ride horses as a kid when I lived in South Dakota. Therefore, I am very happy to return to the horse and to have it as part of my work. What a luxury… There is a lot of preparation to do. That first time, that was all I did. I am still working. In the end, I remember between the times I would take off my fur and lay down where I stood, lie down and take a nap for the number of seconds I had before the next time. I was so tired, so tired.
Marchant: We’ve had other shows in the same genre, but you’re trying to compete with them without having the budget. So how can you be creative enough to get the best screen design value so you can compete in these shows? We really don’t want to be compared to “Game of Thrones”. We watch real history with a few fictional characters, but it’s history, not fantasy. Nick Murphy as the director, Chrissy Skinns our producer, and Gareth [Neame] and I, we brought this group in early in the morning to sit down and work out, what are we building? What is our background?
In the second season, Uhtred begins to form what fans call Team Uhtred. Both Mark Rowley and Arnas Fedaravičius joined the show in a role that will take them to season 5 and into “Seven Kings Must Die”.
Mark Rowley (“Finan”): I learned about the show when I signed up for the show. I did a little research and quickly became a fan. What surprised me when I first looked at it wasn’t the visuals, it was the sound. You know, it’s very iconic. I’m not going to try to replicate the way [Eivør] sings the opening theme [laughs].
Arnas Fedaravičius (“Sihtric”): Actually, I knew him a little more than a year before joining. I found it on my device. I was browsing some platforms looking for something to watch and found out about it but never got involved in it… When I got the job I remember watching the last people who happened when there was a big war and Alex is doing all these crazy stunts and jumping on the shield. It’s a very interesting journey. When it was all over, I was a little emotional realizing that it was important.
Stepping into any new system can be daunting, but one thing that everyone who spoke to the various speakers agreed on was that Dreymon set the tone for the system and what it means to be No. 1 on the call sheet.
Rowley: It was great working with Alex, of course. He is honestly one of the best leaders I have ever worked with. He is open, respectful. Especially in the foundation, it makes everyone heard. Or at all levels, even from drivers or kitchen workers. It’s really exciting. We talk about it on set, all the guys, and it’s such a learning curve learning from him how to be an actor in a TV show. Alex is a great example of how to do it right.
Fedaravičius: I was under a lot of pressure because I had never performed before. I haven’t been with anything resembling a family in running for a long time. So it was a new experience and I was very nervous. And then I met Alex and he was the best you ever met. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone better. And that kind of set the tone, “Maybe it’ll be good.”
“The Last Kingdom” has always been praised for many things, but its actions are always top-notch. The show features epic battles and action scenes every time that continues to push the limits.
Dreymon: I love all the stunts! Our stunt coordinator, Levente Lezsák, is the best. We became friends immediately. This show wouldn’t exist without him. It’s such a big part of it… Working with those guys is so cool because they’re all on top of their game. Like the two stuntmen I have – the first is Bence and the second is Tamás, who I’ve been with for a long time and he’s also our fight boss.
Both of them trained a man called Kassai Lajos, who is a Hungarian national treasure because he translated the ancient art of archery as practiced by the Huns… He lived on this big farm. The first time I met him he was standing in the horse breeding arena, which was huge. He then cut the thread from one end to the other. He was balancing one foot on the wire, and there were small targets on each side in the distance. He also has two hips. And while he was lending one leg, he raised an arrow, shot it at the target, then put his hand, took another arrow from the other quiver, ran to the other leg and threw the arrows the body. Every moment is a goal. That tells you quite a bit about the skill level of these guys.
The show received positive reviews from critics early on, but not by any means the original smash.
Marchant: He was always respected, but he didn’t know his audience at first. I think it’s a gradual process.
Things started to change as soon as Netflix became the sole distributor for Season 3, even to the point where the show could be out of content.
Fedaravičius: The change is sharp. We can feel the change at Netflix because, if you remember, we started season 3 with, like, the priests were called alive [laughs] and the level of violence that was before we moved to Netflix Not real… I think. Season 3 is definitely one of my favorite seasons and I remember it for my character.
Rowley: I feel like every season is different, even with the hairstyle [laughs]. It is very interesting. That’s what I tell people all the time, because people go “Oh, he’s got to be an idiot with swords and shields and spears”, and I’m like “Yeah, that’s -fun, but you have to remember, we’re grown men playing. plastic swords! [laughter] They add ting ting every now and then! So it’s fun and exciting keep up with your friends every day. It’s great. Yes, there are movies where you have to focus on them. There are certain shows that you want to bring to your heart and soul. But for Season 3, it was awesome, especially with the characters that came in. Season three was my favorite for me.
Dreymon: My favorite scenes to do are the ones between me and David at the end of season 3… We do two scenes at the same time and then we have to switch leads. And that’s the last block. So it’s near the end and I think it might even be David’s last scene in the show. I’m not 100% sure, but it’s pretty close. So it’s emotional times, but they’re awesome. And yes, David is a gem in it. Whatever you throw at it, you know it will catch and send right back. He prepared well and thoroughly.
One thing that hasn’t changed? The budget and shooting schedule are tight.
Dreymon: It’s getting worse [laughs]. We should leave the product that is considered bigger, as it has a higher production value. It was, but we didn’t get a high budget. On the contrary. So we all get better at what we do and work together.
Marchant: I don’t get it wrong, I would like this budget [“Ring of Power” or “House of Dragons”] [laughs]. And I like to think that’s where creativity comes from. If you have a budget and you will stick to it, you need this collaboration between all departments and writers and directors, fight choreography. How to get it? How do we work together? What is it worth doing with our money?
Rowley: I think it comes down to the script. If you have a good script and a strong character, then people will watch it. You know, it doesn’t matter how much money you have or want to spend on work. If it had no soul and if there were no actors and producers behind it that cared about it, it would be different, right? But I think that “The Last Kingdom,” all of us who have been on the show have put our heart and soul into it.
With the release of season 3 and 4 on Netflix, the popularity of this show began to rise and the show began to rank in the Top 10 list of Netflix every week.
Marchant: I think it was when season four fell that we saw this huge increase in popularity. We’ve seen it on the internet, we’ve had a few celebrities along the way, like Ricky Gervais.
Fedaravičius: Around season 3, just seeing every actor online growing up and getting these DMs from people all over the world, just the kindness of the word, we were like, ‘Oh wait, what is big thing? And then I remember when season 4 or 5 came out where we got to #1 or somewhere around on Netflix, and it was just amazing. I never thought about it that way. Once you actually work on something, you don’t see it as some kind of work that needs grading or anything like that. You forget these things. It was a big shock.
But all good things must come to an end. It was announced in 2021 that the series will end with its fifth season.
Marchant: This decision was made among all the partners. We think these five days are good for all of us. You can’t keep reproducing things, we want to come out and leave the audience wanting more. We want to finish a good story with a beginning, middle and end in less than five minutes.
Rowley: We all know as a cast that we’re not going to be there next year because people are getting killed and stuff. So we want to use it properly. So it’s really hard. But we are very connected. We are happy anyway. I think that’s the main thing I will miss in “The Last Kingdom”, going to work and working with my friends every day. We’re all doing shows and different things now. We still have different WhatsApp and chat, but it’s less. We get along well. We all know that and we know what is real.
Shortly after the announcement of the end of the fifth season, Netflix announced that the film “The Seven Kings Must Die” was in the works.
Dreymon: Bernard Cornwell sums it up very succinctly which I love. He compares it to “Don’t Use the Air”. In “Go to Air,” you have the big story, which is Civil War, and then the little story, which is Scarlett’s story. They also translate the stories. A small story becomes a big story and they tell the story of Scarlett against the background of the war. So “The Last Kingdom” is the same thing. The larger story is the creation of England and the smaller story is Uhtred and his quest for Bebbanburg. The fifth season concludes Uhtred’s story. This movie is really about closing the big story, which is the creation of England.
Rowley: I was told about the show, I think it was in the last week of the show [in season 5] when we were shooting the final battle. One of the executives called me. So I’m very happy, even though I’m getting my ass kicked. [Laughs]
A few actors eventually made the jump from film to film, which made the experience very different from working on the film. It was very difficult to make the film, because the whole film was not there. And I think, for me, that’s a big sign that we’re all dealing with the larger environment where it’s been up to that point. We still had a great time doing the movie, but it’s just a different kind of energy and vibe. We are forgiven. We missed Millie [Brady] and Eliza [Butterworth] and their laughter.
And just like the movie, the movie was shot in a short time and on a tight budget.
Fedaravičius: At first we thought that shooting the movie would be like shooting an episode or two, because it was like two months. It doesn’t seem like a big job to do. And then we finally did a six-day week and it was beautiful, beautiful. In the end, we managed to pull through and once again we had a great team. We have a great leader in Alex. His work ethic is one of the most unparalleled, next to Mark’s. So I think that energy kind of flows. Therefore, the more difficult the process, the more everyone wants to do the work because the leader is good.
Now, with the movie and the movie behind them, the actors are starting to think about the show’s legacy.
Fedaravičius: I always like this show that explores vulnerability. I think it’s one of the shows that show that men and women go through some really difficult times in life and don’t pretend they’ll come out of it with gritted teeth and white knuckles. I think it’s a beautiful message, that being weak is good and sometimes it’s more than a man, as Uhtred’s character shows.
For fans worried that the cast has gone their separate ways, fear not.
Rowley: We started something new where we meet every year. We see ourselves in casts or ensembles and we travel. So we did Scotland last year. I think that Arnas and Big Magnus [Samuelsson] are settled in the side that can go to Sweden, or we will go to Lithuania. So we will continue. We will not take the sword with us, obviously, for the sake of tradition. [Laughs]
