Fans were eagerly waiting for The Last Kingdom Season 5 for so long, finally, the wait is over and The Last Kingdom Season 5 will be released all over the world on 9th March 2022.
What makes our blood more boiled than a series of hour-long episodes about characters coming out of the pages of history book engaging in war, conspiracy, invasion, politics in a historical era in a historical setting? Nothing.
However cold-blooded today’s heinousness might be, it can never surpass the royal cruelty of the past age. Keeping in mind the entertainment media every now and then present is historical series that takes us far back at the time.
Such a popular series is BBC’s ‘The Last Kingdom’ (premiering on October 10, 2015) which is based on ‘The Saxon Stories’ of Bernard Cornwell.
The series is set in the Anglo-Saxon era beginning from the year 866 covering around 45 years which makes it to the year 912 at the end of Season 4. The Great Heathen Army has arrived in Britain which leads to the reformation of the relationship between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons.
Danish rule has been established in East Anglia and Jorvik. In this situation, the show features the resistance of Wessex to the Viking invasions.
Let’s have a look at the series you must watch before The Last Kingdom Season 5
Versailles-
Number of Seasons: 3
This French historical TV Series is set in the year 1667 in the wake of the Fronde. France is going through a disturbing political situation as a silent clash between the nobles of France and the monarchy has been boiling up to the surface.
To resist the disobedience of the nobility and make their submission clear, Louis XIV moves the court to Versailles building the new Palace of Versailles. His decision is not accepted very welcomingly by the nobles as they become forced to accompany the king leaving their usual place which further intensifies the tension.
George Blagden plays as Louis XIV. The series ran from November 16, 2015, to May 21, 2018.
Marco Polo-
Digital SpyNumber of Seasons: 2
Based on the famous Italian merchant Marco Polo’s early years in the court of Kublai Khan, this series is created by John Fusco with The Weinstein Company as the producer. Kublai Khan was the Khagan of the fierce Mongol Empire. He founded the Yuan dynasty that lasted from 1271 to 1368.
The series shows some fantastic and iconic moments involving the two legendary figures Marco Polo and Kublai Khan.
Lorenzo Richelmy and Benedict Wong play the roles of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan respectively. Though the series was not very successful in the box office it nevertheless received several nominations winning an Australian Production Design Guild Awards and an American Society of Cinematographers Awards. The show ran from December 12, 2014, to July 1, 2016.
Troy: Fall of a City-
Digital SpyNumber of Seasons: 1
One of the most well-known and celebrated mythological histories is the Fall of Troy. Co-produced by BBC One and Netflix, the series features the original Greek myths. The story opens with the prince of Troy Paris falling in love with the heavenly beautiful Helen of Sparta. Helen is the wife of Menelaus, the king of Greece.
After Paris takes Helen with him to Troy, the Greek force attacks the city and sieges it for ten long years creating the most legendary war of history between Greece and Troy.
Bella Dayne portrays the character of Helen with Louis Hunter as Paris, David Gyasi as Achilles, Joseph Mawle as Odysseus. The series ran from 17th February to 7th April of 2018 on BBC One in the UK and on Netflix internationally.
Vikings-
Entertainment WeeklyNumber of Seasons: 6
This historical drama TV Series was created for Canada’s History channel. ‘Vikings‘ focuses on the life of Ragnar Lothbrok who was a legendary Viking best known among the Norse heroes. Ranger’s early life as a farmer and his raid to England which eventually contributes him to be a Scandinavian king is portrayed in the series. It also focuses on his son’s adventures through England, Kievan Rus’, Scandinavia, North America, and the Mediterranean.
Ragnar Lothbrok is played by Travis Fimmel. The show premiered on March 3, 2013, and ran till December 30, 2020. Owing to the immense popularity that the show gained, Netflix launched a spin-off series named ‘Vikings: Valhalla’s that it set to release on February 25, 2022.
Barbarians-
Den of GeekNumber of Seasons: 1
Last but not least is the German historical war drama ‘Barbarians‘ focusing on the Germanic tribes’ rebellion against the Roman Empire’s occupation of Germania.
After remaining oppressed under the heavy taxes of the Roman empire, the Germanic tribes are now fuelling with a chance of rebellion. But any unified rebellion is being hampered by the petty fights inside the tribesmen. In this situation, Arminius who was made hostage to Rome in his childhood and is now an eques to the Roman Imperial army comes back to Germany.
After seeing the atrocities of the Roman soldiers and the oppression which is strangling the people of the tribes, he decides to unite all the tribes to form a systematic rebellion which eventually culminates in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
In the role of Arminius, Laurence Rupp stars. The first season of the series premiered on October 23, 2020, with a second season renewed on November 10, 2020.
