Ryan Lavelle stars in a six-part Viking docudrama, exploring Viking ambitions in England, Denmark, and Norway around 958 AD.
Ryan Lavelle is in a new TV show. He’s a professor of early medieval history, and the show is called Vikings – the Making of a Dynasty. It has six parts.
Agnès Buthion directed it, and Pernel Media produced it. Canal+ in France will show it. Ryan worked on The Last Kingdom too.
Pernel asked Ryan to join in 2023. They filmed the show last year, and it’s already on Canal+ in French. An English version may come to the UK.
The Last Kingdom showed Alfred’s fight versus Vikings. The new show covers a later time when, by 958, Vikings wanted land and power.
Harald, Sweyn, and Cnut made an empire that included England, Denmark, and Norway. They united Scandinavia, and Emma of Normandy played a role.
She wed Æthelred, a Saxon king, and later, she married Cnut. Emma had two kings as sons; one was Viking, one Saxon.
Ryan says the show connects Scandinavia to Britain and France. It shows links in the early Middle Ages, a period people once called the Dark Ages.
Viking conquest changed England’s politics and set the stage for Normans. Ryan is in the last two episodes, and one scene is near Sandwich in Kent.
Cnut’s invasion fleet landed there. Winchester is in the Emma episode; she lived there at God Begot House, which is now a pizza place. The building dates to 1050.
