For those people who can't get enough of television series based on medieval history (you know who you are, Game of Thrones and Vikings fans), BBC America plans on bringing its own version of history to television later this fall.
In The Last Kingdom, BBC America plans on telling the story of King Alfred the Great and his efforts to unite England into one country. During his time as monarch, Alfred successfully defended England from the Vikings and became the dominant ruler of the country. He's also one of two kings given "the Great" title.
The inspiration for the series comes from Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories series of novels, which are a fictional account of Alfred's accomplishments in the time period in and around 850 A.D.
"Cornwell's Saxon novels combine historical figures and events with fiction in an utterly compelling way," said one of The Last Kingdom's executive producers, Gareth Neame, in a statement. "In part the epic quest of our hero Uhtred, it is also a fascinating retelling of the tale of King Alfred the Great and how he united the many separate kingdoms on this island into what would become England."
BBC America recently released the first trailer for the series, which makes it seem like a toned down version of Game of Thrones, but let's hope the series finds enough to keep viewers interested without all the brutality (and rape) that the HBO series offers.
The Last Kingdom comes with some serious talent behind the scenes, too. Executive producing the series is Downton Abbey's executive producers Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant.
The cast for The Last Kingdom includes American Horror Story's Alexander Dreymon, along with Emily Cox, David Dawson, Rune Temte, Matthew Macfadyen, Rutger Hauer, Ian Hart, Tobias Santelmann, Peter Gantzler, Adrian Bower, Joseph Millson and Henning Valin Jakobsen.
The Last Kingdom premieres on BBC America on October 10.
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