The Last Kingdom’s Alexander Dreymon says he doesn’t mind making the love scenes
When Game Of Thrones became a smash hit, it was inevitable that other epic series would follow – but no one expected them to be anywhere near as good.
So it came as something of a surprise when, in 2015, BBC2 drama The Last Kingdom won rave reviews.
Based on Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling novels The Saxon Stories and telling the story of ninth-century warrior Uhtred and his regal ally King Alfred the Great of Wessex, the series has all the action, romance and political intrigue of Westeros – even if the violence is less eye-watering.
“You’ll always be compared,” admits David Dawson, 34, who plays King Alfred.
“If Game Of Thrones hadn’t been made, I don’t think The Last Kingdom would have been, but this is more grounded in real life.”
TV Magazine has joined David and Alexander Dreymon (Uhtred) on the show’s impressive set just outside Budapest in Hungary as they film the second series – there are cathedrals and muddy alleys, prisons and stables, plus a roaring log fire and a straw mattress where Uhtred has made one or two conquests of a decidedly less military kind…
“As long as there are furs around, I don’t mind the love scenes,” smiles Alexander, 34.
Despite most of this series being shot at the height of summer, we’re having to huddle for warmth in Alexander’s trailer.
“I think you really benefit from seeing people’s breath, being cold and miserable in the mud,” grins Alexander.
“The make-up artist keeps putting on more dirt all the time because you can’t see it in the sunlight.”
Outside, meanwhile, wind and rain arrive before a key rescue scene that will see much of the set go up in flames.
“Uhtred has to make quite a few sacrifices,” says Alexander of his character’s fate this year.
“He pays a high price to achieve his objectives. It’s a rocky road, but his allegiances always lie with his friends.
"It’s important to keep the moments where he’s playful and still a little boy, but there’s a lot less messing about this series.
"It’s more political and serious and dramatic – but we have some huge battle scenes as well.”
The eight-part second series sees Uhtred heading north to reclaim his birthright, while Alfred consolidates power in the south, securing Wessex against invasions from Viking Danes and establishing the rule of law in a chaotic age.
“I haven’t seen half the story,” admits self-confessed “history geek” David, “so I can’t wait to watch it myself – I don’t know what Uhtred’s been up to!
“You see Alfred’s skill as a political leader this year.
"He’s trying to play England like a chessboard. It’s not just about him taking land, but about him trying to create an identity for his people morally, spiritually and culturally.
He wants to achieve his goals through peace. Alfred’s this frail intellectual who achieves so much and, as a skinny lad, I appreciate that!”
There will be sieges, battles and one gruelling sequence in which Uhtred is taken as a slave on a Viking longship.
"It’s probably fair to say a series that wasn’t short on epic ambition has expanded its scope even further.
“Sure, the show’s grown,” agrees Alexander. “People expect it to be bigger and better. Why would you watch it otherwise?”
The story so far
In the year 878, warrior Uhtred – born a Saxon but raised a Dane – sought revenge for his father’s brutal death and hoped to reclaim his ancestral lands in Northumbria. Joining with King Alfred, Uhtred helped the English to defeat the marauding Danes at the Battle of Ethandun, and the real fightback against the Viking invaders began…
NEW! The Last Kingdom Thursday 9pm BBC2