The year was 2015. Game of Thrones was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and every network on the planet was desperately clawing at the dirt to find "the next big thing." Enter BBC Two. They didn't have dragons, and they certainly didn't have a massive HBO budget. What they had was a grizzled, mouthy Saxon-born warrior raised by Danes, a mountain of source material from Bernard Cornwell, and a gritty, mud-caked vision of 9th-century England. Honestly, looking back at The Last Kingdom season 1, it shouldn't have worked as well as it did. It was messy. It was fast-paced to the point of whiplash. But it was also brilliant.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Even the name sounds like a mouthful of gravel. He starts the show as a bratty kid watching his father get slaughtered outside the walls of their ancestral home, and by the end of the first eight episodes, he’s essentially the only reason England exists. That’s not hyperbole; that’s the plot.
The Brutal Setup of The Last Kingdom Season 1
Let’s get one thing straight: the pacing in the first season is absolutely relentless. Most shows would spend an entire year covering Uhtred’s childhood. Not this one. Within the first half-hour, we see him captured by Earl Ragnar, grow into a man, fall in love with his surrogate Viking family, and then watch that family get burned alive in a hall by the treacherous Kjartan. It’s a lot. If you blink, you’ve missed a decade of character development.
This speed was actually a necessity. The writers had to adapt the first two books of Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories—The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman—into just eight hours of television. Because of that, the show has this frantic, heartbeat-skipping energy that modern "prestige" TV often lacks. There’s no filler. No "breather" episodes where characters sit around talking about their feelings for an hour. Every scene is either a betrayal, a battle, or a very tense negotiation in a cold, damp room.
Destiny is All (And Other Catchphrases)
"Wyrd bið ful aræd." That’s the Old English phrase Cornwell used, which the show translated to the iconic "Destiny is all." It’s the driving force behind everything Uhtred does. But in The Last Kingdom season 1, destiny feels less like a guiding light and more like a cruel joke. Uhtred is a man without a country. To the Saxons, he’s a "heathen" who smells like ale and horse sweat. To the Danes, he’s a "Saxon dog" who can’t be fully trusted.
Alexander Dreymon’s portrayal of Uhtred in these early episodes is fascinating. He’s arrogant. He’s annoying. He makes terrible decisions because he thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. You kinda want to slap him, but you also can’t look away. It’s a far cry from the more somber, seasoned leader he becomes in later seasons. This is Uhtred at his most raw.
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Alfred: The King We Loved to Hate
While Uhtred is the engine, King Alfred is the soul. David Dawson’s performance as the sickly, pious, and incredibly shrewd King of Wessex is, frankly, a masterclass. Most historical shows portray kings as either noble warriors or decadent tyrants. Alfred is neither. He’s a man who spends half his time praying and the other half suffering from what we now recognize as Crohn’s disease, yet he’s the most dangerous man in Britain.
The dynamic between Uhtred and Alfred is the best part of The Last Kingdom season 1. It’s a forced marriage of convenience. Alfred needs Uhtred’s sword and his knowledge of Danish tactics; Uhtred needs Alfred’s resources to reclaim Bebbanburg. They despise each other. Alfred thinks Uhtred is a soul-less pagan headed for hell; Uhtred thinks Alfred is a weakling who hides behind priests.
There’s this specific scene—one of many—where Alfred forces Uhtred to penance. It’s humiliating. It’s frustrating. But it highlights the central conflict of the series: the clash between the old world of Viking glory and the emerging world of law, literacy, and "England."
The Women of Wessex and Beyond
We have to talk about Brida. Emily Cox plays her with this feral, uncompromising intensity. Unlike Uhtred, who constantly fluctuates between his two identities, Brida chooses the Danes and never looks back. Her relationship with Uhtred in the first season is the emotional anchor. They are two orphans against the world, right up until the world forces them to pick sides.
Then there’s Mildrith. Poor, pious Mildrith. Her marriage to Uhtred is one of the show’s first major "gut punches." Uhtred thinks he’s getting a win—land and a beautiful wife—only to realize he’s inherited a massive debt to the church. It’s a very grounded, very "real" problem that makes the show feel less like a fantasy and more like a gritty historical drama. The tragedy of their son’s death later in the season is one of the few moments where the show actually slows down to let the characters (and the audience) bleed.
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Why Season 1 Hits Different
If you go back and watch The Last Kingdom season 1 today, the production values might seem a bit lower than the Netflix-funded later years. The battles are smaller. The armor looks a bit more "costume shop" than "museum grade." But there’s an intimacy here that gets lost later on.
The stakes feel incredibly personal. It’s not about the fate of "England" yet; it’s about Uhtred trying to find a place to belong.
- The Battle of Reading: A disaster that humbles the Saxons.
- The Great Heathen Army: A genuine threat that feels overwhelming.
- The Marshlands: Where the show turns into a survival thriller.
When Alfred is forced into the marshes of Athelney, the show hits its peak. You see a King at his absolute lowest point, watching his dream of a unified country literally sink into the mud. It’s the turning point for both him and Uhtred. Without the humility learned in those swamps, neither of them would have survived the season finale.
The Battle of Ethandun
The climax of the season is the Battle of Ethandun (or Edington, if you’re a stickler for modern names). This is where all the threads come together. Uhtred, finally accepting his role as a leader of Saxons, helps Alfred summon the "fyrd"—the local militias from the various shires.
The shield wall. Man, the shield walls in this show are something else. They aren't the clean, organized formations you see in big-budget movies. They are sweaty, terrifying, and claustrophobic. You can almost smell the rot and the iron. When the two walls meet, it’s not about flashy swordplay; it’s about shoving, stabbing feet, and screaming until your lungs give out. This battle set the standard for how the show would handle combat for the next four seasons. It’s visceral. It’s ugly. It’s perfect.
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Realism vs. TV Magic
It’s worth noting that while the show is based on real history, it takes massive liberties. Ubba (played with terrifying unpredictability by Rune Temte) was a real Viking leader, but he probably wasn't killed in a single-combat duel with a Saxon-born wanderer. Guthrum was indeed the leader of the Great Summer Army, and his eventual baptism was a massive political turning point for England.
The show balances these "big history" moments with the fictional journey of Uhtred remarkably well. You get the sense that you're watching the "secret history" behind the textbooks. It’s the stuff the monks who wrote the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were too embarrassed or too biased to include.
Moving Forward: What to Do Next
If you've just finished rewatching or are diving in for the first time, don't just stop at the credits. The experience of The Last Kingdom season 1 is actually deeper if you look at the context of the era.
First, check out the actual history of King Alfred. He is the only English monarch to be called "The Great," and it wasn't just because he won a few battles. It was because he realized that to beat the Danes, he had to beat them at the "culture game"—education, law, and a unified identity.
Second, read the books. Bernard Cornwell is a master of the "battle scene." The first novel, The Last Kingdom, gives you Uhtred’s internal monologue, which explains so much of his bratty behavior in the show. You get to see his thought process, his genuine love for the Danish way of life, and his deep-seated resentment of the "nail-god" (Jesus).
Lastly, pay attention to the music. John Lunn and Eivør Pálsdóttir created a soundscape that defines the show. That haunting, throat-singing vocal that kicks in whenever Uhtred does something cool? That’s the "voice" of the show. It bridges the gap between the Saxon and Danish worlds perfectly.
The Last Kingdom season 1 isn't just a setup for a long-running series; it’s a self-contained story about the death of a boy and the birth of a reluctant hero. It’s about the moment a bunch of fractured tribes started thinking of themselves as "English." And it’s about a guy named Uhtred who just wanted his house back.
Actionable Insights for Fans
- Compare the Adaptation: Watch the first three episodes and then read the first 50 pages of the first book. Notice how the show combines characters like Leofric and Steapa to keep the narrative tight.
- Historical Map Tracking: Look up a map of 9th-century Britain. Seeing where Edington, Winchester (Wintanceaster), and Reading are located makes the troop movements in the finale actually make sense.
- Focus on the Supporting Cast: On a rewatch, ignore Uhtred for a second and watch David Dawson's eyes during his scenes with the clergy. He’s playing a completely different game than everyone else on screen.