If you love period dramas and James Norton, you’re in for a treat! The actor, one of the UK’s most beloved stars, is never far from our screens, and now he’s set to return in King & Conqueror, a ‘brutal’ new BBC show that promises to captivate audiences.
The period drama will centre around Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy, two powerful figures whose fates collided at the legendary Battle of Hastings in 1066.
"Two allies with no design on the British throne these men found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown", says a statement from the BBC.
Does King and Conqueror have a release date?
The BBC has announced the release date for King & Conqueror! The hotly anticipated drama will air on the August bank holiday weekend, and all episodes will be available to watch from Sunday, August 24th, on BBC iPlayer.
What is King and Conqueror about?
Taken from the official synopsis, King & Conqueror is the story of "a clash that defined the future of a country, and a continent, for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea".
King & Conqueror trailer
“Power is like a fire. Unchecked, it will destroy everything,” the trailer for King & Conqueror opens with this gripping line.
We then see the two kings meeting and shaking hands, exchanging long, piercing stares. William declares, “Harold, we’re bound together. Normandy and Wessex together.” Their close allies exchange tense glances and concerned looks - you could cut the tension with a knife.
The goose-bump inducing music thickens with unease, hinting at the brutal conflicts that lie ahead. An ailing figure whispers, “The devil is coming," before cutting to scenes of the invasion, with bows and arrows, men on horseback, and the famous shield wall.
Who's in the cast of King and Conqueror?
It's a pretty star-studded drama! Leading the cast of King & Conqueror is James Norton (Happy Valley, Grantchester) as Harold Godwinson and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones, The Last Thing He Told Me) as William the Conqueror.
Clémence Poésy (The Essex Serpent, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) will portray Matilda, wife of William I, while Emily Beecham (Daphne, Hail, Caesar!) will play Edith, wife of Harold, bringing the two queens of England to life.
Acting greats Eddie Marsan (Back to Black, Ray Donovan) and Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply) have also been cast as King Edward and Lady Emma, respectively.
Jean-Marc Barr (Rivages) will portray King Henry I of France, and Luther Ford (who was a young Prince Harry in The Crown) will play Tostig.
James Norton also serves as an executive producer alongside series creator Michael Robert Johnson (who previously wrote 2014's Pompeii and 2009's Sherlock Holmes) and his business partner Kitty Kaletsky. James and Kitty recently produced Playing Nice with their company Rabbit Track Pictures, where he also played one of the main characters.
In an interview with Radio Times, James said "Bizarrely, (this story) has never been told on film. We've never seen a Battle of Hastings drama. So, yeah, so exciting, so exciting. I'm so proud."
Since the show's lead writer, Michael Robert Johnson, brought the idea to his attention six years prior to filming, the actor said that it has been amazing going "from that one meeting with one sheet of A4 pitch, to then being on the mountain in Iceland with the Saxon army facing off the Norman army".
Arabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who is passionate about TV, film and theatre. She enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, playing board games and going on walks with her three dogs.