“It’s about the origins of England, how these different kingdoms come together, and it is told through the eyes of this fictitious character, bringing in ideas of revenge, identity and quest, mixing that with real history,” Cornwell said.
Photograph: Kata Vermes/BBC/Carnival Films He grows up to become the leading warrior of Wessex, the lone Anglo-Saxon kingdom standing up against the invading Viking settlers.Īlexander Dreymon stars as Uhtred in The Last Kingdom. Uhtred is a Northumbrian Saxon nobleman’s son from Bebbanburg – Bamburgh Castle – who is orphaned as a child and raised by the Danish warlord who defeated his father. The Last Kingdom is the first of eight novels in Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, which centre on the life of the fictional narrator Uhtred, played in the TV show by Alexander Dreymon. “The Saxons were very successful colonisers, and neighbours, then the Danes, the Normans, the Huguenots, you name it … right through to this century, we are all immigrants.” The first shield wall battle which Uhtred takes part in is against the Welsh.
The Saxons are immigrants – according to the British, the Celts, they have stolen the land they have. “I do see something modern in it – that we are all immigrants. This ties up Uhtred’s arc while also providing the historical context of the true unification of England.Cornwell said the BBC was interested in the story because it had echoes of today. Seven Kings Must Dietakes events to the height of this conflict by showing the “true” ending of the series with Uhtred’s death (or at least the implication of it being impending). But the books went further than this by establishing Aethelstan’s rule, meaning that the series had more stories to tell. Primarily, The Last Kingdom franchise continued after season 5 because the series ended with King Edward’s ascendancy to the throne. But even beyond giving his character a fitting conclusion, Uhtred's death in Seven Kings Must Diefurther explains why the franchise ended with the movie instead of season 5. The film can end with Uhtred’s death because the franchise is not narrated by him as the books are, allowing the production to give him a warrior’s ending, befitting all that he has accomplished throughout the franchise. However, it makes more sense for the series and film to end with Uhtred’s death, as it makes for a more satisfying narrative ending.
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