James Norton to lead Battle of Hastings drama series ‘King and Conqueror’

The BBC has announced details of a new TV series about the Battle of Hastings!

King and Conqueror will star James Norton as Harold, Earl of Wessex, alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William, Duke of Normandy.

Norton is one of our favourite English actors, famous for his roles in Grantchester, Happy Valley, War & Peace, and McMafia.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones fans will recognise Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in HBO’s hit fantasy series.

King and Conqueror is set to begin filming in Iceland next year.

Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) is directing the first episode, while actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau will be one of the show’s directors too.

The upcoming eight-part historical drama has been written by Michael Robert Johnson, who wrote the first of Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes movies.

He’s also penned Kit Harington’s 2014 movie Pompeii, and three episodes of Sean Bean’s period drama series The Frankenstein Chronicles in 2017.

The official synopsis describes King and Conqueror as “the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, 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.”

“Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown,” the synopsis reveals.

A late 2024 premiere date is expected on BBC One and streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

We’re not totally sure where it’ll be airing elsewhere, but the series is being distributed outside of the UK by Paramount Global Content Distribution, so Paramount+ or CBS seems likely for international viewers.

As well as acting in King and Conqueror, James Norton will also be an executive producer through his own production company, Rabbit Track Pictures.

This is the second project Norton has announced this month for Rabbit Track Pictures!

He’s also currently filming Playing Nice in Cornwall with former Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay.

Based on the best-selling novel by JP Delaney, the four-part psychological thriller series will air on ITV next year.

2009’s Sherlock Holmes movie is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.