The Making of England from the BBC

BBC's new series The Last Kingdom premieres tonight on BBC America. And unlike The Bastard Executioner, but similar to Vikings, this tale should touch upon some real history and use battles and blood appropriately. Think of it as the real games of thrones in English history between the Danes and Saxons.

Based on Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales," an excellent series of stories I still need to finish, the story centers on the Saxon Uhtred captured by the Danes and eventually realigned with the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex.  BBC America notes: 

Set in the 9th century AD, many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, only the great Kingdom of Wessex stands defiant under its visionary King Alfred the Great (Dawson). It is the last kingdom.

Against this turbulent backdrop lives Uhtred (Dreymon). Born the son of a Saxon nobleman, he is orphaned by the Vikings and then kidnapped and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he — Saxon or Viking? On a quest to claim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides if he is to play his part in the birth of a new nation and, ultimately, recapture his ancestral lands.

It's nice to see this story coming to television, and from all appearances it will be another well-produced BBC series.

Update:  The pilot episode was excellent. I felt I was watching Vikings from another perspective.  And the fate of young Uhtred reminded me of the young Conan in Conan the Barbarian (but this time in more plausible circumstances). So while our friends in Vikings plunder Paris, I'm glad to have an eye back on the British battlefield.