New BBC drama - The Last Kingdom

[MrSki]

wasn't even aware of the books. Remember thinking after watching the first one, proper edutainment, Lord Reith would be proud...and then reading the reviews, much like on here calling it a poor man's Game of Thrones, one I read (Mail - it was the pub's copy) said it needed more dragons, it deserves boosting.

The books are good. Certainly better than the Game of Thrones series. They are fiction set in historically accurate surroundings/events.

 

[gosub]

The books are good. Certainly better than the Game of Thrones series. They are fiction set in historically accurate surroundings/events.

Sort of thing I like, dragons not so much (unless they are Welsh)

 

[Spod]

I have really enjoyed the whole series but yes the music does not go with it. When I heard that I think of hot middle eastern areas not piss-wet cold Britain.

AND more importantly Leofric has been killed off!

even when blood was spurting from a neck wound I never though he would die. Even when lying on the ground at the end I expected him to cough and say 'Takes more than that to kill me Arseling!" Gutted

There are a few things that really annoy me about this show now.

One of which is the music. What does Mongolian throat singing have to do with Britain? And when it is not throat warbling it some bizarre 1970s soundtrack with electronic chords.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I think the music is supposed to evoke the mystical ancients but it sounds more to me like everyone's having an asthma attack.

 

[DotCommunist]

Spartacus: Blood and Sand had it right for the fight scene music. Shredded guitar sound heavy metal

 

[Teenage Cthulhu]

They blatantly saw Marco Polo and thought they'd have some of that.

 

[trabuquera]

I should have been bang in the bull's eye middle of the target audience for this one and yeah um no. It just came over as pound-shop second-best substitution - not even ersatz Game of Thrones (as no fantasy element) - but a slightly neutered version of every medieval pic ever. Even on a smaller budget than cable/amazon/whatever other nu-telly productions can rustle up, it could and should have been darker, fiercer and MUCH MORE DRAMATIC than it was. Also I booed it for the unceremonious deflowering (and loss of second sight) + almost immediate swift and grisly death for seer woman, who was more interesting than anyone else around tbh.

 

[Belushi]

It was shit, knobhead son of knobhead.

Shame as there's a great series to be made about Alfred the Great.

 

[Teenage Cthulhu]

It started off promising.

 

[Artaxerxes]

It started off promising.

First episode was ok but it took a steep nose dive when grown up Uthred showed up.

 

[Teenage Cthulhu]

Looking very like Jon Snow. I wonder why!

 

[Pingu]

 

[Teenage Cthulhu]

.

That was like a video of my internal dialogue.

 

[Pingu]

he does an interesting piece on the shield wall too. which totally makes sense. I never understood the logic behind the closeness.

 

[Cid]

I never noticed the mini-cart...

 

[Gromit]

he does an interesting piece on the shield wall too. which totally makes sense. I never understood the logic behind the closeness.

I refer the right honourable gentleman to my post of the 3 December where I already called bullshit on it.

 

[Cid]

I refer the right honourable gentleman to my post of the 3 December where I already called bullshit on it.

You said:

When I saw them making out that the Vikings knew how to use shield walls and the Britons didn't I was like ah it's going to be one of these is it. Oh and using round shields to form tortoises.

It was at that point I was able to classify the whole thing as just fiction as enjoy it as such rather than thinking of it as historical fiction.

Which added nothing to the already extensive discussion of shield walls mostly emanating from the right honourable gentleman you just mentioned. The video Pingu mentioned discusses how the shoving match version of shield wall tactics doesn't actually make a lot of sense, thus adding to the discussion in a way that you did not.

 

[gosub]

Burning through the series 1 on BBC2 at mo, presume second series is imminent

 

[bi0boy]

Looking at the IMDb first episode of season 2 synopsis I thought for a moment that Uthred had left the show, but alas I see from some celeb gossip site that this is not the case.

 

[Sprocket.]

There are eleven books in the Uthred series, he might be around for a bit longer.

 

[bi0boy]

There are eleven books in the Uthred series, he might be around for a bit longer.

Oh dear, I'd assumed it was a King Alfred series.

Maybe they'll do the fashionable thing and diverge from the book plot.

 

[gosub]

Oh dear, I'd assumed it was a King Alfred series.

Maybe they'll do the fashionable thing and diverge from the book plot.

not while there is a vacancy on bake off.

 

[bi0boy]

Apparently season 2 has started. Was the first episode promising?

 

[trabuquera]

More of the same really.

 

[DotCommunist]

Uttred is still a cock
Alfred is still the cleanest man in westeros. I mean middle earth. Olden days.

Schemes to get back parts of the danelaw

Not sure where the hot nun came from but there is one, travelling with utredd son of etc

 

[A380]

Good only slightly mindless stuff. I like the books which have more to them than some of Cornwell's other stuff ( which I also like).

As always the program is very pretty, not just Uthhred and Hild but most of the others too, plus lots of ok-ish CGI.

I'll even accept why the need to change the Saxon/English shields to non round so the shield wall battles make sense to all viewers.

I'll keep watching.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Man-bun male model protagonist just doesn't work for me.

 

[Spod]

Its decent. I dont mind the stuff pissing others off like stirrups and shield shapes as im not that knowledgable on history to notice. The only thing that bugs me the intro/out-tro sound track. Sounds more Middle-Eastern than Middle-England.

 

[DotCommunist]

alfreds loyalty to his liege men appears to be about as sincere as his baking efforts.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I've just started watching series 2 and am sorry to say I'm finding it a bit dull. Really enjoyed the 1st series but it's just not grabbing me this time.