---
title: "The Last Kingdom"
year: 2015
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-last-kingdom"
fi1m_id: "the-last-kingdom"
imdb_id: "tt4179452"
tmdb_id: 63333
wikidata_id: "Q18085820"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 64
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-09-24T22:01:32.426051+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-24T22:02:31.439057+00:00"
region: "ID"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Last Kingdom (2015)

Created by Stephen Butchard · 1h 00m · Action & Adventure, Drama, War & Politics

## Identity

The Last Kingdom

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/the-last-kingdom
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** the-last-kingdom
- **IMDb ID:** tt4179452
- **TMDB ID:** 63333
- **Wikidata ID:** Q18085820
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4179452/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/63333, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18085820

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 64 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* The hero keeps changing sides and the sick, praying king wins every argument anyway

> Stephen Butchard’s adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s novels is muddy, brisk and better acted than it needed to be. David Dawson’s Alfred is the reason to watch; the hero’s habit of changing sides is the reason the plot goes round in circles.

## Synopsis

Northumbria, the ninth century. Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon), boy heir to the coastal fortress of Bebbanburg, sees the Danes kill his father and is carried off by the men who did it. Raised in a Danish hall beside another Saxon captive, Brida (Emily Cox), he learns to fight and pray as a Dane, while his uncle keeps Bebbanburg for himself. When the hall he grew up in is lost, Uhtred rides south to Wessex, the last Saxon kingdom left, where Alfred (David Dawson), pale, devout and calculating, needs a warrior who knows how Danes think. Alfred’s wife Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth) wants the pagan gone, the Dane Guthrum (Thomas W. Gabrielsson) is gathering an army, and Uhtred wants his fortress back more than he wants anyone’s England.

## Review

Stephen Butchard’s series turns Bernard Cornwell’s novels about the making of England into 46 hours of Saxons and Danes going at each other in the rain. This is the story of Alfred of Wessex trying to make one country out of several, told through a man who belongs to none of them. Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) is a Saxon lord’s son raised by Danes, and across five series, from 10 October 2015 to 2022, he is pulled one way by blood and the other by upbringing. *The Last Kingdom* is good rather than great, and good in the way that has you starting another episode at eleven at night.

It looks like hard work, which is a compliment. Seven cinematographers share the run, Ashley Rowe among them, and settle on a look and mostly hold it: low grey skies, wet ground, firelight indoors. The shield walls are shot from inside, the camera wedged between shoulders, so a battle is a wall of painted wood a foot from your face and a spear coming through the gap. The first time the show did this to us we flinched, which television swordplay almost never manages. Martyn John builds Alfred’s Winchester out of timber, thatch and one stone church, and Ros Little puts the Danes in fur and braids and the Saxons in dun wool, so you can read a room’s loyalties before anyone speaks.

David Dawson’s Alfred is the reason to keep going. He plays the king thin, pale and bent double with stomach pain, a man who prays with his eyes open and is always the only one in the hall thinking about next year. He never raises his voice, and he wins every argument. Eliza Butterworth gives Aelswith the permanent expression of someone who has smelled something, and it gets funnier and sadder the longer it goes on. Harry McEntire’s Aethelwold, the drunk nephew who thinks the crown should be his, starts as comic relief and stops being funny at the right moment.

Dreymon has the harder job. Uhtred is handsome, quick with a sword and mostly required to be wronged, and for the first series he is a set of grievances with a haircut. He grows into it. By the later series, in which Dreymon also directs, he has found a weariness that suits the man. Emily Cox’s Brida is fierce, funny and unforgiving, and the one person in the cast who visibly changes as the years pass; their arguments about which side they are on are the best writing in the piece. Mark Rowley’s Finan, when he arrives, gives Uhtred someone to be at ease with. We were moved, more than we expected, by how the losses pile up on these people over five series and how the show lets them stay lost rather than tidying them away.

The trouble is the plot, which goes round. Uhtred swears an oath, breaks it, is banished, is needed, comes back, swears again. That is faithful to the books and also the same episode several times over. John Lunn’s score, strings over a slow drum, is stirring the first dozen times and after that is simply there. Four editors and fourteen directors share the run and you can feel the joins: some episodes are lit and cut like a film, others are murky and slack. Now and then a character says the word England as if underlining it.

Most critics landed close to where we do, and the complaint that it is a smaller, cheaper version of the big sword-and-throne shows is fair as far as it goes. It is smaller. It is also less silly, has no dragons and far fewer speeches, and it has a plot, which one or two reviews held against it. What it most resembles is a long political serial with axes in it.

Start with the first series: eight episodes, an hour each, a 15 certificate earned mainly with edged weapons. If Dawson’s Alfred has you by the third episode, there are 38 more waiting. Nobody in it keeps his word for more than two hours of screen time, and that turns out to be how you build a country.

*Fi1m score 72, published 24 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics take to The Last Kingdom as a lively, grimy adventure that holds its own against the obvious comparison with Game of Thrones rather than copying it. Six of eight reviews are positive. The praise gathers around the battle scenes, which several find inventive and brutal, and around the cast: Emily Cox’s Brida is singled out more than once for her earthy humour and her rapport with Uhtred, and Rutger Hauer is said to steal the show. The collision of pagan and Christian cultures is noted as one of the series’ more thoughtful strands.

The two dissenters are firm rather than lukewarm. The Independent finds it less silly than Game of Thrones but also less exciting, faulting a convoluted plot and genre clichés, while The i Paper, reviewing the second series, thinks it too polished and bloodless to land the gritty impact it wants. Between those and the warmest notices there is a wide spread, though nobody sits in the middle.

## Straight answers

**Is The Last Kingdom worth watching?**

*The Last Kingdom* is worth watching for anyone who wants a long, muddy political serial with axes in it, and we scored it 72. David Dawson's Alfred is the reason to keep going; the plot, in which Uhtred swears an oath and breaks it several times over, is the reason it goes round in circles. Try the first eight episodes and see if the king has you by the third.

**How long is The Last Kingdom, and what is it rated?**

*The Last Kingdom* has episodes of about 1h 00m. It is an action & adventure and drama series.

**Where can I watch The Last Kingdom in Indonesia?**

*The Last Kingdom* is streaming on Netflix in Indonesia. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Last Kingdom, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Last Kingdom* carries a 15 certificate in the UK and TV-MA in the US, earned mainly with edged weapons, and it is not for children. Shield walls are shot from inside, with spears coming through the gaps a foot from your face, and the losses pile up on the characters over five series. Teenagers of fifteen and over who can take sustained battle violence will be fine.

**Is The Last Kingdom based on a true story or a book?**

*The Last Kingdom* is based on Bernard Cornwell's novels about the making of England, adapted for television by Stephen Butchard. The review calls the hero's repeated oath-swearing and oath-breaking faithful to the books, so readers of Cornwell will recognise the shape of the story, but you do not need to know the novels to follow it.

### Reviews we read (8)

- **The AV Club**, Dennis Perkins (B+): The AV Club finds the miniseries gripping and human, with a vivid, grounded portrayal of its brutal historical world. Emily Cox’s Brida stands out for her earthy humor and formidable presence. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-epic-but-human-the-last-kingdom-proves-there-s-alwa-1798185158)
- **The Guardian**, Sam Wollaston (80/100, inferred): Wollaston finds the series a lively, enjoyable historical drama rather than a British imitation of Game of Thrones. He praises the inventive battle scenes and says Rutger Hauer steals the show. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/23/last-kingdom-vikings-game-of-thrones)
- **Variety**, Brian Lowry (75/100, inferred): Lowry finds the series a worthy, absorbing variation on familiar Viking-era drama. He praises its strong supporting cast and its compelling portrayal of cultures in collision. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/tv/reviews/the-last-kingdom-review-bbc-america-vikings-historical-drama-1201607879/)
- **Radio Times**, David Craig (70/100, inferred): Craig’s available description is positive about the season’s shift into a new era. It singles out the changing state of Wessex as the season’s strength. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-last-kingdom-season-four-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Keith Uhlich (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the series an engaging, enjoyable adventure with plenty of grimy action. He praises the rapport between Uhtred and Brida, which offsets the show’s macho combat focus. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/last-kingdom-tv-review-830965/)
- **The i Paper**, Mark Butler (35/100, inferred): Butler finds the season-two opener earnest and atmospheric, but too bloodless and polished to deliver the gritty impact it seeks. He especially praises the tense ransom exchange and the show’s nuanced portrayal of religious conflict. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-last-kingdom-series-2-episode-1-review-52928)
- **The Independent**, Sean O'Grady (30/100, inferred): O’Grady finds the series less silly than Game of Thrones but also less exciting, and ultimately calls it a disappointment. He praises its earthy language, while faulting its convoluted plot and genre clichés. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-last-kingdom-tv-review-this-viking-saga-is-less-silly-than-game-of-thrones-and-less-exciting-too-a6705071.html)
- **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (75/100, inferred): The critic calls the premiere a promising, bloody start and gives it a thumbs up. They single out the brutal battle scenes and praise the episode’s efficient setup and striking landscapes. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-last-kingdom-episode-1-review/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Stephen Butchard
- **Creator:** Stephen Butchard
- **Director:** Peter Hoar, Andy Hay, Edward Bazalgette, Paul Wilmshurst, David Moore, Jamie Donoughue, Richard Senior, Anthony Philipson, Ben Chanan, Sarah O'Gorman, Anthony Byrne, Jon East, Nick Murphy, Alexander Dreymon
- **Writer:** Martha Hillier, Stephen Butchard, James Smythe, Jamie Crichton, Alexander Stewart, Peter McKenna, Laura Grace, Alex Straker, Charlotte Wolf
- **Novel:** Bernard Cornwell
- **Cinematography:** Chas Bain, Tim Palmer, Ashley Rowe, Sergio Delgado, Dale Elena McCready, Mike Spragg, Richard Donnelly
- **Editor:** Paul Knight, Mike Phillips, Adam Green, Catherine Creed
- **Music:** John Lunn
- **Production design:** Martyn John
- **Costume design:** Ros Little
- **Producer:** Howard Ellis, Adam Goodman, Chrissy Skinns
- **Cast:** Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred of Bebbanburg; Emily Cox as Brida; David Dawson as Alfred; Eliza Butterworth as Aelswith; Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Guthrum; Mark Rowley as Finan; Ruby Hartley as Stiorra; Harry McEntire as Aethelwold
- **Runtime:** 1h 00m
- **Release (Indonesia):** 10 October 2015
- **Genres:** Action & Adventure, Drama, War & Politics
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxPApTGWwas

## Where to watch in Indonesia

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-24.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Vikings* (2013): The same century from the other side of the longship, louder and stranger.
- *Rome* (2005): Empire-building at street level, with sharper dialogue and considerably more sex.
- *Alfred the Great* (1969): David Hemmings plays the same king as a neurotic; worth setting beside Dawson.
- *The Northman* (2022): A Viking revenge story taken with complete seriousness and a great deal of mud.
- *Shogun* (2024): Another outsider learning a court’s rules while its factions sharpen their knives.

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-last-kingdom