The Last Kingdom returned for its fifth and final season on Netflix today (March 9), dropping all the episodes in one go as opposed to weekly, as streaming services seem to more frequently be doing nowadays.
We're not going to spoil what happens in this article, but one thing that we think is worth pointing out is that the show has introduced a deaf character in a major role.
The character we're talking about is Hella, a loyal servant working for Stiorra. The two are close friends who communicate in sign language with each other, and while modern sign language wasn't used back in the time the show is set in, it's something that we are sure viewers will appreciate.
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Hella is portrayed by deaf actress Lara Steward, who you might recognise from 2010 BBC drama The Silence, which also starred Hugh Bonneville.
This casting comes as part of a wave of big name projects including deaf actors in big roles, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe leading the charge with both the film Eternals and the Disney+ TV series Hakweye at the end of last year.
Let's hope more big productions follow suit.
Despite an improvement in representation on screen though, the recent release of Spider-Man: Far From Home proved that deaf and hard-of-hearing cinema goers are getting the short end of the stick.
Meanwhile, The Last Kingdom may have come to an end with this final season, but a spin-off movie titled Seven Kings Must Die has already been confirmed. While details are thin on the ground, we do know that Uhtred and other familiar faces will return.
All five seasons of The Last Kingdom are available to stream now on Netflix.
Netflix/Left Bank Pictures The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
