The Last Kingdom – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
After another incredible season of The Last Kingdom, Netflix has left us wanting even more of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his adventures around Anglo-Saxon England. Despite the series not yet renewed by Netflix, we’re keeping track of everything to do with season 5 of The Last Kingdom, including what to expect, returning cast members, book adaptations, and more.
The Last Kingdom is a Netflix Original historical-fiction drama, based on The Saxon Stories by author Bernard Cornwell. The series was once a co-production between the British broadcaster BBC and Netflix, but since the third season, the series production has been entirely handled by Netflix.
Has Netflix renewed The Last Kingdom for the fifth season?
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Pending (Last Updated: 28/05/2020)
We’re just over a month removed since the release of The Last Kingdom season 4 on Netflix, and we’re still waiting for news on renewal.
In a Q&A with the RadioTimes, executive producer of the series, Nigel Marchant, has expressed how much interest there is in doing a fifth season:
We’re very hopeful, we’d love to do a season five. I think all of us want to tell a story and it’s always much more satisfying if you can tell a complete story throughout all the various seasons. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we really do love making it.
How popular has The Last Kingdom season 4 been on Netflix?
Since its release, The Last Kingdom season 4 has done incredibly well with subscribers on Netflix.
The series has traveled well internationally, appearing in numerous top ten lists around the globe, in particular, Germany and France.
While the series never peaked at number one in the United Kingdom, and the US, it was only beaten by equally great shows such as After Life, and Never Have I Ever, respectively. The Last Kingdom remained in the top ten for just over three weeks, with its last appearance on May 18th, 2020.
We still believe that the excellent fiction historical-drama will receive a well deserved fifth season, it’s just a matter of when it’s announced.
Expect to learn more in the coming months!
When is the Netflix release date for The Last Kingdom season 5?
With a series like The Last Kingdom, every aspect of the production is an incredibly lengthy process, which means we won’t be seeing the fifth season until the very end of 2021, potentially even the start of 2022.
Even since Netflix took over the series from the BBC, and added two extra episodes, it’s added an extra month or two between season releases. It took a total of 18 months between the release of the second and third season, it then took a further 17 months between season 3 and season 4.
If we go by the earliest possible date, 17 months from the release of season 4, then the fifth season would arrive in October 2021, and as it stands the longest time in between seasons, 18 months, would push the release date to November 2021.
We also don’t know what impact the COVID-19 Pandemic will have on the production of the fifth season.
Potential Netflix Release Date: Late 2021 / Early 2022
What can we expect to see from The Last Kingdom season 5?
Uhtred to be torn between loyalty and love
In the fourth season, we finally got to see Uhtred interact with his children far more than any of the previous seasons. Both his children, Uhtred the Young and Stiorra have inherited traits from their father such as his stubbornness, and the desire to follow their own path.
To negotiate peace between the Danes and Saxons, Stiorra was happy to be used as the bargaining chip and chose to join Sigtrygger and go to Eoferwic. Meanwhile, her brother Uhtred the Young has decided to continue his path with the church and will continue his studies.
Millie Brady as Aethelflaed – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Now that East Anglia is under the control of Wessex and Mercia, Northumbria is the last kingdom to be held by the Danes. Despite the truce, it won’t last as Edward and Aethelflaed want to fulfill their father’s ambition of a unified England.
Eoferwic is in Dane territory, which means if Mercia and Wessex were to go into conflict, Stiorra will be in danger. So what will Uhtred decide? Will he fight for the woman he loves, Aetheflaed, or will he side with his daughter Stiorra and the Danes?
Alexander Draymond as Uhtred – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Will Uhtred attempt to retake Bebbanburg?
Fate continued to deny Uhtred from reclaiming his ancestral home of Bebbanburg after his failed attempt at securing the fort. Uhtred’s cousin, Whitgar, is now the lord of Bebbanburg after killing his own father during Uhtred’s attack, and in the process killed Father Beocca.
Regardless of how Uhtred felt after his failed assault, he will want revenge upon his cousin for the death of Father Beocca. Whitgar has also made it clear that he won’t allow anyone who can lay claim to Bebbanburg to be left alive, which means he may go after Uhtred’s family to draw him out into the open.
Uhtred’s ancestral home of Bebbanburg – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Another time skip?
Like we predicted for fourth season, we’re also expecting to see another time skip for the fifth season. We’re not expecting many of the characters to alter their appearances too much, but the largest change will be between King Edward’s sons Aethalsten and Aelfweard, who will require new actors to reflect their growth.
Aelswith is murdered
The scheming and ambitious ealdorman, Aethelhelm the Elder, wishes to see his grandson, the second-born son of King Edward, Aelfweard, take the crown upon his father’s death. Unfortunately for Aethelhelm, King Edward’s mother, Aelswith plots to see her eldest grandson, Aethalstan, on the throne instead.
Edward (center) surrounded by scheming Ealdorman – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Sadly, it doesn’t look like Aelswith has much longer to live after being poisoned by Aethelhelm during the siege of Winchester. Even if she were to make a recovery, it’s likely Aethelhelm will find a way to dispose of his political opponent and ensure that Aethalstan does not have a strong ally in court when Edward eventually dies.
If Aethelhem’s schemes are discovered, it could have disastrous repercussions for him and his family.
Aelswith (left) and Father Pyrlig (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
New threats from the North and East?
The Danes have lost a huge amount of territory to the Saxons, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see more Danes arrive from abroad to try and reclaim lost land. Brida, who was last seen giving birth to Ragnar’s baby, still wants revenge on Uhtred and the Saxons. Vengeful, and full of pride, Brida is likely to surface again, and maybe with another army behind her. There’s also the matter of Haesten surviving the siege of Winchester, and the slippery snake is bound to find his way into the inner circle of some Danish lord.
Haeston (left) and Cnut (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
As for the North, the Scots have begun turning their attention southward. The Danes may be willing to give up land in the North if it means reclaiming control of East Anglia and potentially conquering Mercia and Wessex once and for all.
Brida (left) and Eardwulf (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
How the books will influence the fifth season of The Last Kingdom
The fourth season continued the trend that we noticed from the previous seasons of The Last Kingdom, that being each season covers roughly the events of two books from The Saxon Stories novels. Season 4 covered the events of The Pagan Lord and The Empty Throne.
With each passing season, the series deviates from the novels more and more, but upon researching the plot of the books there is still major story beats that the series continues to follow. Such discussions like Uhtred’s age aren’t discussed as extensively in the series like it is in the novels, to which, by the events of the fourth season, in the books, Uhtred is over 50 years old.
The fifth season of The Last Kingdom will cover the events of the ninth and tenth novels, Warriors of the Storm and The Flame Bearer.
Season 5 Will Cover the events from of least 3 books of The Saxon Stories: Copyright – HarperCollins
How many more seasons of The Last Kingdom can we expect to see?
Judging by the number of books covered per season, we estimate that The Last Kingdom will go on for of least another 3 seasons, that number includes the fifth season.
| Season | Books Covered |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Last Kingdom |
| 1 | The Pale Horseman |
| 2 | The Lords of the North |
| 2 | Sword Song |
| 3 | The Burning Land |
| 3 | Death of Kings |
| 4 | The Pagan Lord |
| 4 | The Empty Throne |
| 5 | Warriors of the Storm |
| 5 | The Flame Bearer |
| 6 | War of the Wolf |
| 6 | Sword of Kings |
| 7 | War Lord |
The seventh season would be the first in the series to only cover the events of one book, but as the last novel of The Saxon Stories, it would be right to focus one season entirely on the book. There’s every chance that the final season wouldn’t require ten episodes.
Which cast members will return for the fifth season of The Last Kingdom?
We’re expecting to see the following cast members to reprise their roles for the fifth season of The Last Kingdom:
| Role | Cast Member |
|---|---|
| Uhtred | Alexander Dreymon |
| Brida | Emily Cox |
| Aethelflaed | Millie Brady |
| Aelswith | Eliza Butterworth |
| King Edward | Timothy Innes |
| Young Uhtred | Finn Elliot |
| Stiorra | Ruby Hartley |
| Sihtric | Arnas Fedaravicius |
| Finan | Mark Rowley |
| Osforth | Ewan Mitchell |
| Eadith | Stefanie Martini |
| Haesten | Jeppe Beck Laursen |
| Father Pyrlig | Cavan Clerkin |
| Æthelhelm the Elder | Adrian Schiller |
| Sigtryggr | Eysteinn Sigurðarson |
| Whitgar | Ossian Perret |
There’s no news on any potential new cast members for the fifth season of The Last Kingdom but we’ll be keeping track of all the latest casting news and rumors.
What is the production status of The Last Kingdom season 5?
Taking into consideration that renewal hasn’t happened yet, production for the fifth season will be minimal. By now we’d have expected the writers to of drafted the story of the fifth season, and it’s just the matter of waiting for renewal before production can go underway for season 5.
It’s not clear when production can be expected to start as it’s unclear how much of an impact that the COVID-19 Pandemic will have on production. The pandemic has already lead to countless productions being delayed, which means there could be potential scheduling conflicts between various different series and movies.
Just like the fourth season, we’ll be keeping a log of everything to do with the production of The Last Kingdom season 5.
How many episodes can we expect from the fifth season of The Last Kingdom?
We fully expect to see a further ten episodes in the fifth season.
Would you like to see a fifth season of The Last Kingdom on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!
