So this week I have swapped from podcast to TV, and all I can say is, I am not missing out. I was asked to review the new BBC2 TV programme The Last Kingdom. Now the premise of the program is that Saxon-born Uhtred is stolen as a child by the Danes and then brought up by them, and now he has to choose sides. That is a very basic overview. The story is based on the writer Bernard Cornwell’s book of the same title.
Now, I really wanted to like this show. I love fictional history and am excited whenever a show like this comes out. Plus the fact that the BBC invested 10 million pounds to produce it meant that I was intrigued to see the end result. Basically, I hated it; I mean really hated, and if I was not reviewing it I would have turned it off after the first 10 minutes. What I would like to know, is where this 10 million went?! Was it invested in putting GoPros on swords, so we the audience can really see what a sword sees as it is plunged into another man’s leg (‘cause if I am honest, I have always wanted to know), or in all the fake blood that was needed for the first fight scene? The programme covers savage fights and scenes of abuse to women, and that is all I could really take from it. The plot was haphazard and seemed like something they tried to fit in after the rape and pillaging had finished. I would like to add that I am fully aware that these times in history are not supposed to be pretty, and that these events most likely occurred and probably in a lot worse a fashion. But REALLY, is this a story worth investing in? Do I really need to see how vile and abusive men were hundreds of years ago whilst I am eating dinner? It is not even a family-styled programme; you could not watch it with children as it is just too brutal. The show for me aims to be too much like Game of Thrones. I mean, English history is really interesting without needing to watch a man be stabbed in the throat. I am not asking for a rose-tinted view of the past, but one that maybe focuses on the story instead of the blood and gore.
