10 TV Shows That So Badly Wanted To Be Game Of Thrones
3. The Last Kingdom
In Westeros, the Andals arrived from overseas and established what became "The Seven Kingdoms". Meanwhile, in early medieval England, the Angles (and Saxons) arrived from overseas and established their own seven kingdoms, which were then (like Westeros) the subject of further invasion. What an ideal time period, then, for a Thrones-alike story of big beardy men with big swords.
Based on the novel of the same name by Bernard (Sharpe) Cornwell, The Last Kingdom is set during a time in which King Alfred's Wessex is the only one of the former seven Saxon kingdoms holding out against the Vikings.
It focuses on the Theon Greyjoy-style dilemma of Uhtred, a man raised in captivity by his family's enemies, now having to pick a side between the people of his ancestors and the people he grew up with, as, of course, a war and a struggle for political power rages.
The Last Kingdom sits in a limbo of being moderately popular enough to continue being produced, but not popular enough for any individual network to stick with it. The first season was a co-production of the BBC and BBC America, but was dropped by the latter for low US viewing figures. The BBC itself cancelled The Last Kingdom in 2018 after saying that it could not compete with high budget dramas on Netflix. But then it was Netflix that stepped in and picked up the show for a third season.
A fourth season is due on Netflix this month. So, despite being shuffled around a lot, The Last Kingdom can actually count itself as one of the more successful Game Of Thrones pretenders.