‘The Last Kingdom’ Season 3 Could Happen Without The BBC
The Last Kingdom Season 3 is all some people are talking about. The joint BBC-Netflix production tells the story of Uhtred, played by Alexander Dreymon, who was born a Saxon and raised a Dane. While the second season has only just finished, fans want to know if and when a third season will happen. It could, but it could be without the BBC.
The very first season of the show was purely a BBC production. However, Netflix came aboard in the second season, making the show available around the world on the streaming service almost right away. With this change in production, it is possible that the BBC could drop out. However, The Last Kingdom Season 3 could be produced exclusively by Netflix. It would then likely be released as all other Netflix Originals, with the entire season arriving on the same day.
There are plenty of stories of Uhtred and King Alfred to tell. The series is based on the Saxon series by Bernard Cornwall, with the title taken from the first book. So far, four of the books have been adapted and there are still six others available. The Express states that there is another book from the Last Kingdom series due for release in 2018, and Cornwall has previously said that he has a 12th book in the works.
Cornwall is more than happy for the BBC and Netflix to continue adapting his books. He has no input on the TV show version, making it clear that the show writers have no input in his novels. However, he has been extremely happy with the way the novels have been adapted so far.
The Last Kingdom Season 1 told the story of the first two novels, with the second season focusing mostly on the next two. The third season will likely cover the next two books in the series, titled The Burning Land and Death of Kings. These novels show Uhtred breaking away from King Alfred, whose ailing health is problematic for the people of Wessex, and focusing on reclaiming the lands that were stolen from him by his uncle. Claiming back the lands has been his main focus throughout the series, but his duty to Alfred and his fight against both Danes and Saxons has prevented him from this.
????Uhtred of Bebbanburg – I think we can all relate to how he feels!! ????#TheLastKingdom #Uhtred #UhtredOfBebbanburg #AlexanderDreymon pic.twitter.com/WyUvJJpfKQ
— Wendy (@wywk) June 10, 2017
BBC has yet to decide whether to take on The Last Kingdom Season 3. The good news is this doesn’t mean the show will come to an end if it doesn’t. Netflix is now a co-producer and could decide to take over the show entirely.
This would be similar to the way The White Princess was adapted by Starz, despite its parent show, The White Queen, being a joint BBC-Starz adaptation. BBC stated that the first show didn’t perform as well as hoped and decided not to continue the series, but Starz showed an immediate interest. It just took longer than fans hoped, with The White Queen airing in 2013 and The White Princess airing in 2017.
The Last Kingdom Season 3 isn’t expected until 2018 anyway. There was a 15-month wait between Seasons 1 and 2, partially due to filming and schedules. There are many fight scenes with excellent cinematography, which takes more time to film and edit.
Cornwall previously stated that Season 3 looked like it was going to happen by the BBC. There are talks about the production due to the worldwide interest in the series. However, there is no confirmation just yet.
The Last Kingdom has been dubbed Game of Thrones without dragons. That is something Cornwall has compared his novels to, saying that his books are more historical than fantasy compared to George R.R. Martin’s series.
[Featured Image from the BBC]
