Jamie from the British History Podcast (http://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com) liked the first episode of BBC's The Last Kingdom. I have been a fan of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories (http://www.bernardcornwell.net/series/the-saxon-stories) and didn't realize they had started a TV mini-series based on these books. First, if you don't already subscribe to the the British History Podcast (http://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com), do so immediately. It's fantastic. Second, you can see the first episode here (http://www.bbcamerica.com/the-last-kingdom/extras/series-premiere-full-episode) (at least in the U.S., I am not sure if the link will work in other countries). It's sort of a more historical take on the History Channel's Vikings. It isn't perfect, but it may be the best representation of Anglo-Saxon and "dark age" Norse culture that I have seen on TV.

I quite enjoyed the first episode. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it plays out as the episodes progress. My only complaint is that the impression I had of Uthred in the books was a pretty large man, and the star is definitely not a person who really fits this description.

Agreed. Also not sarcastic enough but there is at least still time for that! Overall, if my nitpicks are limited to those things and the size of the horses, they did a very good job. 8)

History Channel's Vikings gone wrong after several seasons, imho, so now I'm leaning more towards the BBC series that's claiming most focus on facts..