‘The Last Kingdom’ Producers Reflect on ‘An End of an Era’ as Netflix Series Wraps

Christopher Vourlias
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On a recent Saturday night in Hungary, just days before the official start of spring, principal photography wrapped on “Seven Kings Must Die,” the feature-length spinoff of the Netflix historical drama “The Last Kingdom,” which ranked among the most popular shows on the streaming service when its fifth and final season was released in March.

Nigel Marchant, managing director at Carnival Films, the NBCUniversal-owned production house behind “The Last Kingdom” as well as global hit “Downton Abbey,” described an “emotional” scene as cast and crew parted ways for the last time. “It was the first time we didn’t have another show that we were putting into production in Hungary,” says Marchant, who has been part of the series since production on season one began in 2014. “It really is an end of an era.”

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The award-winning historical drama, which tells the story of British-born and Danish-raised warrior Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) in ninth-century Europe, began its life as a BBC America series before Netflix came on board as a co-producer for the show’s second season.

Though not initially an “overnight hit,” according to Carnival’s executive chairman, Gareth Neame, the series became a “slow burn” phenomenon through word of mouth and a wildly dedicated fan base. Season five was viewed for 63.5 million hours in its first five days after launching on Netflix in March, ranking second that week among English-language shows on the streamer.

Such success might have been hard to predict a decade ago, when Carnival began developing the series.

To both recreate medieval Wales and mount a production of its size, the producers needed to find “a green belt of unspoiled countryside quite near to a hub of crew,” says Marchant. Carnival had recently produced a season of “Dracula” in Hungary for NBCUniversal, so the producers were already familiar with some of the country’s key selling points, such as its world-class studio facilities, low production costs, and skilled, English-speaking crews. Its rich and varied landscapes could also be easily accessed from Budapest, making the decision “fairly automatic” once those factors were taken into account, according to Marchant.

A cash rebate that currently stands at 30% was also a crucial consideration for a production that didn’t have the deep pockets of other historical dramas, such as Netflix’s “The Witcher” or HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” “We have done this on a price,” says Neame. “We didn’t have peanuts – we had a sizable budget – but not on the same level as those other shows.”

Neame says Hungary’s financial incentives hit “a real sweet spot” when it came to the show’s “big-ticket budgetary demands,” such as the construction of a medieval village on a parcel of land outside Budapest owned by Korda Studios.

“The state of Hungary was quite pioneering in its tax credit for high-end television productions,” he says. “It’s among the most effective [rebates in Europe] and, at the same time, relatively low cost, so you’re really maximizing all your money on the screen.” That was also a factor that pushed Carnival to return to Hungary to shoot three seasons of the historical drama series “Jamestown” for PBS and Sky.

The government’s confidence in – and support of – the production industry can be felt across the board, says Marchant, praising its streamlined approach to the “day-to-day running of production,” from facilitating permits and entry visas to being one of the first countries to develop rigorous COVID-19 protocols. (Production on season five of “The Last Kingdom,” which lasted for 26 weeks, did not have to stop during the pandemic.)

The nearly decade-long relationship has been a boon for both partners. “We brought a massive amount of inward investment into Hungary,” says Neame, estimating that “The Last Kingdom” has contributed more than $160 million of production spend to Hungary over the past decade. “We’re really proud of that commitment.”

What was already world-class infrastructure when the production arrived in Hungary has steadily grown, particularly as the local crew base continues to gain experience working on international productions such as “The Last Kingdom.” Local set builders, stunt coordinators and art department HoDs have been an integral part of the show from the start; by the time production wrapped on “Seven Kings,” says Neame, the production’s below-the-line talent was almost entirely drawn from the Hungarian crew base.

That relationship contributed to the feeling that cast and crew “had become a real family,” says Marchant. “The local crew there felt ownership,” adds Neame. “We didn’t just come in, and all the heads of departments are English-speaking, and it’s our show and they just work on it. This was a full total partnership between the Brits in the crew and the Hungarians, [and] we feel very proud of what we all achieved.”

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