Stephen Butchard

While I'm sure there were some fast and loose moments with actual history, this was a load of entertainment and many of the characters were easy on the eyes.

In 872 and most of the kingdoms of England have fallen to the Danes, all that is left is Wessex under the command of King Alfred. Uhtred, born the son of a Saxon nobleman, has been brought up by Danes and now has to face the past and his future and where he comes in the world, distrusted by both sides he has to carve a future in a world show more with complex politics, which are often at the end of a sword. show less

Enjoyed the 2nd series better than the first. Felt more comfortable with who was who and there was less sexual violence. In fact I was quite astonished by the soppy turn at the end.....

It probably would have been better organised if the Story So Far special was on Disc 1 rather than Disc 3. Still it was pretty easy to get back into the story which is a semi-fictional account of Dane versus Saxon with lots of politics and war. You can also see the building tensions between pagan and Christian and the occasional zeal of recent converts. Utred is finding his fate and the people around him are finding theirs and it is all interlinked and sometimes very complicated.
It was show more entertaining enough but I found myself able to do other things while it was on. show less

I coudn't bring myself to persist, in spite of the appeal of David Dawson as some devout Anglo-Saxon spymaster. There are so many national origin stories these days, and this one is as preposterous as all the rest. But "Arn, Templaridaren", the complete Swedish version, not the abbreviated-to-the-point-of-incomprehensibility English version, is a whole lot more enjoyable than this or "Birkiebeinerne" (english title "The Last KIng"). And at least Birkiebeinerne was somewhat redeemed by show more awesome ski stunts.

It _is_ historically inaccurate. When Alfred, became king he was hardly out of his teens, and his brother was only a few years older. Alfred's nephews were children, and simply would not have been considered as viable heirs. I'm sure life was interesting enough without any worries about insubordinate nephews. show less