King & Conqueror

tbjgolden

Every Englishman learns of this story in school. Given that it is such an excellent tale, and one with so many open questions and mysteries, that on one hand it does feel that it is a huge shame that it should have taken this long to create a high quality, major production about 1066. Fortunately though, having watched it through, I can finally say that the itch has been well and thoroughly scratched. It's excellent, if not quite perfect. I would certainly have preferred the languages to have been in their actual languages, or at least their modern equivalents. And as such, I'm partly conflicted on the role of non-white actors in the production. Even ignoring the fact that there were clearly more non-white characters than could be reasonably placed in these regions in 1066, it does feel further out that it is never addressed. On the other hand, I do feel glad that young kids born in England who aren't white can hopefully feel like they can engage with it more; i.e. that the England they are seeing isn't at least unrecognisable. And given that they chose storytelling over historical accuracy by this point, with their choice of spoken languages, I suppose it doesn't matter much. Just felt like an elephant in the room I suppose. Yet, the telling of this story came with some pretty major hurdles to clear - how would you tell the grey areas of the story. Would you tell the Normans version of history, or would you look past it? As detailed as the Bayeux tapestry is, it's unfortunately not detailed enough for this series' needs. So at some point, the story would need some invention and creativity, and to that end the writer has told a captivating and believable series of events. It also doesn't take some of the most debated details of history at face value. It could easily have been a total mockery, but has been well thought through, and that deserves much credit. The actual production has some great battles and occasionally some grim gore and blood but nothing especially gratuitous. The storytelling and character arcs were both faithful to the limited historical records we have in most places and reflect the extraordinary nature of the story with realistic consequences. It all largely adds up. So all in all an excellent production, and a strong recommendation for those of an English persuasion. The only shame is that the kids learning this in school might be too young to watch it, and won't be able to benefit from getting to watch the TV show in class. With a few careful edits it could potentially even be shown to the kids learning this in school.