Icelandic landscapes stand in for eleventh-century England in this eight-part BBC chronicle of the events that culminate at Hastings. James Norton plays Harold Godwinson, the earl's son elevated to the throne, while Nikolaj Coster-Waldau embodies William, Duke of Normandy, the exiled ally turned claimant. Between them stand Emily Beecham as Edith Swanneck, Harold's Danish-recognised consort, and Clémence Poésy as Matilda, William's steely duchess. The cast is rounded out by Geoff Bell and Clare Holman as Harold's parents, and Ingvar E. Sigurðsson as Fitzosbern, William's war council voice.
The production reunited Kormákur with cinematographer Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson after Trapped, shooting fjord battles and beachheads in Hvalfjörður. Scripts by Michael Robert Johnson and David Mar Stefansson frame the conflict as personal vendetta as much as succession crisis, with brothers Sweyn and Tostig, played by Elliot Cowan and Luther Ford, fracturing the English line long before Norman arrows fly. HBO contract clauses famously forced Norton to switch from William to the doomed Harold, a restriction the writers folded into an arc that sees the king-elect wrestling with fatalism.
Co-produced by CBS Studios and RVK Studios, the series aired weekly on BBC One from 24 August, with Amazon Prime Video handling US streaming rights. Högni Egilsson's score blends Norse strings with Anglo-Saxon chant, cementing the sound of a nation about to be redrawn.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 8 Episodes / 2025 - Present
Created by: Michael Robert Johnson
Showrunner(s): Dave Clarke, Robert Taylor, Baltasar Kormákur
Writer(s): Michael Robert Johnson, David Mar Stefansson, Rachel Kilfeather
Producer(s): Robert Jones
Cinematography: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson
Main Cast
James Norton as Harold Godwinson
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William of Normandy
Emily Beecham as Edith Swanneck
Clémence Poésy as Matilda of Normandy
Jason Forbes as Thane Thomas
Indy Lewis as Margaret
Léo Legrand as Odo of Bayeux
Geoff Bell as Godwin
Clare Holman as Gytha
Ingvar E. Sigurðsson as Fitzosbern
Elliot Cowan as Sweyn
Luther Ford as Tostig
