The Last Kingdom (BBC, BBC America)

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Set in the year 872, when many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Vikings, the great kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred the Great.

Against this turbulent backdrop lives our hero, Uhtred. 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?

The Last Kingdom is an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s best-selling series of books by BAFTA-nominated and RTS award-winning writer Stephen Butchard.

The Last Kingdom, a new historical 8x60 drama series launches on BBC Two and BBC America in October. Made by Carnival Films, the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning producers of Downton Abbey, the show airs on BBC America on 10 October 2015 and later the same month on BBC Two.