The series covers the years 866–878 where the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in England led by Guthrum and Ubba Ragnarsson redefines the relationship between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons.

Following the establishment of Danish rule, Uhtred, a Saxon raised by the Danes, comes to the aid of the kingdom of Wessex and its ruler King Alfred with the hope of eventually retaking his home of Bebbanburg as ongoing Viking incursions attempt to conquer the whole of England.

The series covers the years 879–886 and deals with Uhtred's quest in Northumbria to defeat his old enemy Kjartan the Cruel whilst the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia combat the invading Norse brothers Sigefrid and Eric.

The series covers the years 892–902 and deals with the end of King Alfred's reign while the conflict between the Saxons and the Danes grows after the arrival of the Second Great Danish Army led by the coalition of Viking warlords including Ragnar the Younger, Cnut, Sigurd Bloodhair and Haesten.

[citation needed] The series was filmed primarily in Hungary,[6] with most scenes at the eight acres near Budapest owned by Korda Studios[7] with its Medieval Village Set and surrounding mountains, forests and lakes.

Richard Rankin, Gerard Kearns,[9] Thure Lindhardt, Millie Brady, Erik Madsen,[10] and Peter McDonald joined the cast.

Also that month, it was reported that Stephen Butchard would return as the sole script writer and that Netflix had signed on as an international co-production partner for the second series.

[14][15][16] In April 2018, Netflix confirmed that a third series was in production, based on the books The Lords of the North and Sword Song,[17] which would air exclusively on the streaming service, and Bernard Cornwell indicated that he had been offered a cameo appearance.

[36] It was added to Netflix on 28 December 2015 in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

[39] The second and third series were released on Netflix in the US, Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Japan, Australia, and Portugal.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Last Kingdom fuses beautiful cinematography and magnificent action sequences to create highly gratifying historical drama".

[47] Charlotte Runcie gave the opening episode four out of five in The Daily Telegraph, writing that the series had "satisfyingly high production values, a bloodthirsty appetite for violence and a proper cliffhanger.

Club gave the first series a grade of B+, writing: "BBC America's sprawling, arresting eight-part historical miniseries The Last Kingdom proves that there's room enough on television for more than one Viking invasion.

"[50] Sean O'Grady in The Independent found that some of the language gave the series "a satisfyingly earthy quality", but he thought that the plot was "a little convoluted".