''King and Conqueror'' is an upcoming historical television drama series for

BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

from Michael Robert Johnson, starring James Norton as

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the ...

and

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor and producer. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film '' Nightwatch'' (1 ...

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, ...

. Production started in 2024.

Premise

In 11th-century Britain, the King of England, Harold, faces a threat to his throne from an ambitious Norman,

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

Cast and characters

Production

The project was announced in November 2023. The season premiere is set to be directed by

Baltasar Kormákur Baltasar Kormákur Baltasarsson (born 27 February 1966) is an Icelandic actor, theater and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films ''101 Reykjavík'', ''The Sea'', '' A Little Trip to Heaven'', ''Contraband'', ...

. Other episodes will be helmed by Erik Leijonborg and Bálint Szentgyörgyi. James Norton is an executive producer through Rabbit Track Pictures and stars as

. Other executive producers include Kormákur for

RVK Studios RVK Studios is an Icelandic film production company. It superseded Blueeyes Productions by making all future productions from now on. The company's director and chairman of the board is Baltasar Kormákur who is a highly acclaimed director, write ...

, Robert Taylor for the Development Partnership, Dave Clarke and Richard Halliwell for Shepherd Content, Ed Clarke, Robert Jones, and CBS Studios' Lindsey Martin. Also in November 2023,

was announced to appear as

. Norton initially wanted to portray William the Conqueror, but due to contract restrictions from his role in HBO's ''

The Nevers ''The Nevers'' is an American science fiction Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Go ...

'', he took the part of Harold, as HBO only permitted him to take on a character written to die. In March 2024,

Clémence Poésy Clémence Guichard (born 30 October 1982), known professionally as Clémence Poésy (), is a French actress and fashion model. After starting on the stage as a child, Poésy studied drama and has been active in both film and television since 19 ...

and

Emily Beecham Emily Beecham (born 12 May 1984) is an American-British actress and singer. She is best known for her role in the Coen Brothers film ''Hail, Caesar!'', the AMC series ''Into the Badlands'', and the title role in the 2017 film ''Daphne''. She sta ...

joined the series. Later that month, the cast was rounded out to include

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has featured ...

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadi ...

, Bo Bragason,

Luther Ford Luther Ford is a British actor. He played a young Prince Harry on the Netflix series ''The Crown''. Career Ford attended Arts University Bournemouth. He co-wrote, co-directed and starred in, with Eleni Ordans, the short films ''Dream Between'' i ...

, and

Joseph Mawle Joseph Daniel Turner Mawle (born 21 March 1974) is an English actor. Mawle is best known for his roles as Benjen Stark in ''Game of Thrones'', Detective Inspector Jedediah Shine in ''Ripper Street'', Firebrace in ''Birdsong'', Jesus Christ in ' ...

, amongst others. In July 2024, it was announced that

Ingvar Sigurdsson Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi. He is reported to have ...

had taken over the role of Fitzosbern from Mawle. Further cast members were revealed, including Elander Moore, Indy Lewis,

Jason Forbes Jason Forbes (born 27 October 1990) is a British actor, writer, comedian, impressionist, and TV presenter. He is best known for the CITV series ''Horrible Science''; '' The Mash Report'' on BBC Two; as PC Peasey in the ''Professor Branestawm'' ...

, Ines Asserson,

Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson is an Icelandic stage and film actor who starred in and co-wrote 2011's ''Either Way'', Ragnar Bragason's '' Metalhead'' and Baltasar Kormákur's '' The Deep''. Career Gunnarsson stars in the film Rams which premiered ...

, and

Léo Legrand Léo Legrand is a French actor. He is best known for playing the role of Thomas in ''Trouble at Timpetill'' and playing the role of Thomas Verniaz in ''A Distant Neighborhood''. The latter film earned him a Young Artist Award nomination in the ca ...

. Filming began in March 2024 in Iceland, at locations that included

Heiðmörk Heiðmörk () was proclaimed a municipal conservation area of Reykjavík in 1950. It is located southeast of Elliðavatn, Iceland, and is about from the city of Reykjavík. Its name is derived from its namesake in Norway, Hedmark ( is, Heiðmörk ...

and around

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a pop ...

. It wrapped up in July 2024.

Broadcast

The series will air on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

and BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom in 2025.

Paramount Global Content Distribution Paramount Global Distribution Group or Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution divis ...

will handle worldwide distribution.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King and Conquerer 2025 American television series debuts 2025 British television series debuts Upcoming drama television series Upcoming British television series Upcoming American television series BBC television royalty dramas Cultural depictions of William the Conqueror Cultural depictions of Harold Godwinson Cultural depictions of English kings British English-language television shows Fiction about monarchy Television series about the history of England Television series set in the 11th century Television shows set in England Television shows filmed in Iceland