This has been a great replacement for Game of Thrones. It was very easy to follow, and exciting and kept me interested from the first episode. I cannot wait for season 3.

This bbc-netflix serie has moments of brightness, but it's a bit dissapointing. In my opinion it gets the worst of both; BBC's dullness and netflix's shallowness. I'm gonna do a short list of the reasons i think this. Positives: 1) Alfred, and a couple more characters that save the show. 2) BBC is usually very faithfull to history and facts. Though plenty of mistakes is still pretty accurate. 3) the plot is very entertaining. A half dane half saxon boy torn by loyalties lying on both shores, and betraying his other half every time he takes action, decides to support Alfred's cause against the people who raised him. Negatives: 1) The main character is very hard to like. How can i enjoy the serie when i think Uthred is a complete turd? (Yes, he likes calling other people turds constantly). Too arrogant, with that half smile cocky attitude all day long, making not-funny-at-all jokes. He is really annoying. 2) Bad acting. As there is Alfred, Sigfrid, and Hild, there is, on the other hand, many more bad acting-writing than good. Some dialoges and scenes are too forced. 3) political correctness is ruining everything. I won't spoil anything, but i'm sick of XXI century thinking in historic dramas. Women where beaten, they always stayed behind in silence, and tha was OK. Not believing in god didn't make you cool, they would kill you for that. I think that this is killing historical TV. Well produced shows fall into pieces because of this. Instead of having 9th century characters, we just have a bunch of normal people in costumes. I wonder if we'll have a black dude and the gay scene next season... 4) getting that actor from "Reign" (aka crappy gossip girl in carton castles) drives it even lower. It's a real shame, i has wverything to be good but somehow ot manages not to be. Netflix doesn't find the way of making a good hostoric show yet (marco polo was a fiasco aswell). They'd better leave BBC on it's own doing what they know best.

I love stories set in this period, especially covering political and battle episodes of the age. I found overall the series mediocre, compared especially to Vikings, not because of the adherence to history or costumes or acting, but simply because the whole storytelling is mediocre, similar to a B-rated TV show like Hercules or Xena could be. The protagonist, Uthred, is probably the most unlikable protagonist of a TV show. And not because we can characterize him as good or evil (we don't care, we enjoy watching protagonists with gray areas, or even villains) but simply because he seems like a spoiled brat. Each episode we don't know what he is going to do but most disturbingly we don't understand why he is doing something. "now I want to be an earlderman, now I am a Dane, now I kill people, now I am a loving father, now I hate my 2 months old son, now I love God, now I hate him, now I plunder, now I enforce the law. And the same goes for other characters, but obviously Uthred is the most annoying. We need consistent storytelling, we don't care if he is good or bad!

(Flash Review)To preface, I have not yet seen Game of Thrones, so this may feel similar in many ways I assume. It takes place in 872 A.D. so there's your backdrop, and there are many Kingdoms that made up what is today's England which are populated by the Saxon's. Many of the Kingdoms have been invaded by the Danes and one major Kingdom remains, the Kingdom of Wessex. The series follows the main protagonist Uhtred, born a Saxon and raised a Dane. He must choose an allegiance as he becomes a man. There is of course much pillaging and plundering (I had to work those words into my review – ha) and some good battles. Many warriors challenge, partner and try to trick Uhtred and his soldiers throughout. There is ample blood but not as much as I hear is in GoT yet several slashings of men's Achilles heals. Religion and pagans are a big theme with many disagreements at times. The show did not politicize that topic and it struck a good balance as each perspective had important impacts. There was detailed character development as I was able to keep track of the many characters and their purpose and how they effected the various story lines. Solid, high quality, engaging and I grew more interested as the show progressed.