Major spoilers for The Last Kingdom series 3.
Politics is key to Stephen Butchard’s TV adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories novels. It’s right there in the title: The Last Kingdom is the story of ninth century Wessex, a kingdom defending itself against Viking onslaught while its king Alfred tried to unite the country into one undivided England. Treaties, battles, allies and foes are the stuff of this thrilling story.
Series three, out now on Netflix, charts the chaos into which Wessex was thrown by the death of its king. Alfred’s worsening health destabilises the kingdom and emboldens his enemies, Danish and Saxon alike. Armies assemble and schemes are put in motion to seize power and undermine Edward, Alfred’s son and potential heir (whose succession is reliant on approval by Alfred’s council or Witan).
A nation divided, the ire of its people whipped up by xenophobic whispering campaigns, vulnerability cynically exploited by ambitious politicians to further their own ends… It all sounds spookily familiar. While telling a gripping story of witch’s curses and souls trapped in icy Viking hell, The Last Kingdom series three has also drawn powerful parallels with modern-day UK politics.
The Last Kingdom’s Sophie Petzal, a writer on series two and three, told Den Of Geek that was exactly the plan from the writers’ room. Creator Stephen Butchard told the team, “I want this to be the Brexit series.”
The actions of Alfred’s scheming nephew Aethelwold (played brilliantly by Harry McEntire), perpetually dissatisfied at having been denied the throne, feels as though he has more than a couple of real-life political influences this series. Were his actions intended to represent those of Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson?
“Basically yes,” says Petzal. “Michael Gove… Impotent and leaning in to divisiveness and harnessing it for his own nefarious aims, absolutely.”
The death of Beocca’s Danish wife Thyra, who suffered a campaign of racist abuse from bigoted, manipulated Saxons that eventually led to her tragic ending, was “a big Brexit moment,” Petzal tells us.
Before masterminding The Last Kingdom, series creator Stephen Butchard was known for writing state-of-the-nation drama, says Petzal, citing 2012’s Good Cop and 2010’s Five Daughters. In series three, he and his team have made a state-of-the-nation drama out of a ninth century saga, deftly telling a ripping yarn while also passing shrewd comment on the present day.
Sophie Petzal’s excellent family drama Blood comes out on DVD on Monday the 3rd of December.