History Channel’s ‘Barbarians Rising’ Cast Includes ‘Vikings’ And ‘Game Of Thrones’ Alum


If you are a fan of History Channel’s Vikings and don’t know what to watch while filling your time until the second half of Season 4 returns, why not check out another new program from History Channel, Barbarians Rising?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 3 of History Channel’s Vikings and Season 5 of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

Barbarians Rising, while not a scripted drama like Vikings, will tell some pretty amazing stories from history about several groups of people who rose up against the Roman empire in continuing battles that lasted 700 years. The show will run for four episodes, and it premieres on June 6. While Barbarians Rising will only feature four episodes, these episodes will cover nine different barbarians and their tribes: Hannibal, Spartacus, Boudica, Arminius, Attila, Alaric, Fritigern, Geiseric and Viriathus.

According to the press release, the official synopsis for Episode 1 of Barbarians Rising is as follows.

“The battle for supremacy begins as the ancient world divides in two: Roman vs. Barbarian. Hannibal of Carthage (Nicholas Pinnock) builds the first great barbarian alliance to defeat Rome before it becomes unstoppable. The general launches an audacious and unprecedented campaign to strike at the heart of the Republic, conquering the Alps and leaving a trail of death across Italy as he aims for the capital city. But while Hannibal wins the battles, he loses the war. With no viable adversary remaining to stop its advance, Rome marches across the barbarian world, pillaging the land and its people, and reaping a bloody revenge on the tribes that fought alongside Hannibal. When Lusitania comes under the Roman sword, one man emerges to drive them back. This time it’s not a military strategist but a simple shepherd, Viriathus (Jefferson Hall), who unites his people to fight against Rome’s overwhelming might, the first wave of resistance in an epic 700-year struggle for freedom.”

Jefferson Hall stars in History Channel's Barbarians Rising
[Image via Elena Nenkova/History Channel]
And, for Vikings fans, the above synopsis has supplied a very familiar name: Jefferson Hall. Jefferson started as the popular Torstein up until his demise in Episode 3 (entitled “Warrior’s Fate”) of Season 3 of Vikings. Ian Beattie is also another Vikings star (he briefly played King Brihtwulf, the uncle of Queen Kwenthrith) who will appear in Barbarians Rising. But, if you are a Game of Thrones fan, you will have hit the mother-lode with Barbarians Rising. According to Entertainment Weekly, four previous cast members from HBO’s Game of Thrones will star in Barbarians Rising.

Ian Beattie, after he was killed off in Vikings, went on to star in Game of Thrones as Meryn Trant. In Barbarians Rising, he will play a character called Varus. As opposed to the character on Game of Thrones called Varys, Varus was a nobleman who went on to lead the three Roman legions that were defeated by Germanic tribes at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

Kerry Ingram played the ill-fated Shireen in Game of Thrones. In Barbarians Rising she will play a character called Hilde. This character will be a supporter of Boudica (also known as Boudicea), the Celtic warrior Queen who led an uprising against the Roman empire.

Boudica (Kirsty Mitchell)- the avenging Celtic warrior Queen
[Image via October Films]
Ian McElhinney played Barristan Selmy on Game of Thrones. In Barbarians Rising he plays a character called Targus. The final Game of Thrones actor to be appearing in Barbarian’s Rising is the actor who originally played the Night’s King, Richard Brake. He will play the character called Geiseric, who was King of the Vandals and Alans.

You can check out the exclusive Entertainment Weekly images of these Game of Thrones characters starring in Barbarians Rising here.

Barbarians Rising is produced for the History Channel by October Films. Adam Bullmore is executive producer, Simon George (History’s World War II From Space) is executive director, and Michael Waterhouse (History’s The Bible) is series producer for October Films. Executive producers for History are Kristen Burns, Russ McCarroll and Sally Habbershaw.

Will you be tuning in to watch Barbarians Rising? Let us know by commenting below!

The first episode of Barbarians Rising airs on History Channel on Monday, June 6 at 9/8c.

[Image via History Channel]

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