James Norton (Happy Valley) has had a busy time of it recently, and he's returning to our screens yet again very soon with a new BBC series titled King & Conqueror.
This period drama revolves around Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy, two men who were destined to clash at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The official synopsis describes the pair as "two allies with no design on the British throne" who nonetheless are forced to fight "for possession of its crown" in a battle "that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years."
Beyond the battle itself, King & Conqueror promises to chart what led to this historic confrontation, "the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea."
As well as playing Harold, Earl of Wessex, Norton is also serving as an executive producer on the project alongside Kitty Kaletsky and series creator Michael Robert Johnson (who previously wrote 2009's Sherlock Holmes).
Baltasar Kormákur (Netflix's Katla) will direct the first episode as well as overseeing creative for the series while Norton's co-star, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), will direct episode five.
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Filming has already begun in Iceland, so Norton had plenty to talk about at a recent London Screenings event where he teased what's sure to be one of the BBC's biggest shows this year.
"It was a brutal shoot," explained Norton (via Deadline). "I was covered in mud and blood and layers of leather," which it turns out was integral to Johnson's approach." He had a very clear vision around the tone and the aesthetic – from the very beginning he wanted to avoid this being a clean, cozy period drama," said Norton.
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"It took me hours every day to get ready," he added, "because I had layer after layer of leather and chain mail. It paid dividends because you can see everything is so authentic. That was something [Kormákur] was very stubborn about and it was so worth it in the end."
Beyond the bloodshed and heavy-duty action, Norton promises that there will also be a big emphasis on character development, especially when it comes to the central relationships that the two protagonists share with their wives.
"One of the things we were really keen to avoid was for it to become this butch beat-me-up testosterone filled kind of journey. We didn’t want it to just be battle after battle and fight after fight. One of the big things [producer] Kitty [Kaletsky] brought in was focusing on the domestic, it is a story about William and Harold, but it’s really a story about couples."
Alongside Norton and Coster-Waldau, who's playing William, Duke of Normandy, King & Conqueror also stars Emily Beecham (Netflix's 1899) and Clémence Poésy (The Tunnel) in key roles as the wives, Edith Swan-neck and Matilda.
Other principal actors already attached include Eddie Marsan (Back To Black), who will play King Edward, and Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply) who has been cast Lady Emma.
Luther Ford (Black Doves), Jason Forbes (Prime Video's My Lady Jane), Industry's Indy Lewis, Elander Moore (Interview with a Vampire) and Elander Moore (Netflix's KAOS) round out the show's expansive cast.
So when will King & Conqueror arrive on our screens? While we're still waiting on an exact release date, a 2025 release window has been confirmed – so keep a close eye out for all eight hour-long episodes to premiere soon on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
If you're not in the UK, King & Conqueror will be internationally distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
That's not all though. Norton is also set to star in Steven Knight's upcoming Netflix project House of Guinness, and he recently fronted ITV's Playing Nice. It's safe to say then that fans of James Norton will be fed very well this year.
In the meantime, you can also check out his starring role in the British film Joy, which trended on Netflix. Or grab a history book to swot up on The Battle of Hastings if you're super keen. But beware of millennia old spoilers!
King & Conqueror will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer and BBC One later in the year.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
