In April last year I
complained about the History Channel and it's refusal to broadcast the channel's cool scripted shows that are available on the channel in America.
At the time I mentioned the series Vikings - which the channel refused to air here. Nothing's changed between then and now because it's nowhere to be seen on the channel
but the M-Net Series channels have thankfully taken pro-active action and acquired the rights to it.
It premieres on M-Net Series Showcase on Thursday, 13 March at 22h00 and it's a must-see because it's the bomb. There are loads of reasons it's so cool but these are my top five:
Ragnar Lodbrok and his rival Earl Haraldson.
1. The lead character Ragnar Lodbrok and the pronunciation of his name. He's based on the real life Viking hero of the same name and his name's brilliant to say. It's written and pronounced as Lo
thbrok in the series.
You need to roll the "r's" in it and say it with a sense of great grandness and drama in the vowels. Give it a try.
Rrrrrrrrraaaaaagnar Lothbrrrrrrrrok.
Brilliant!
Gabriel Byrne plays Ragnar's rival, Earl Haraldson - listen out for his pronunciation of it. I have no doubt you'll be hooked on the show when you hear it.
2. Ragnar Lothbrok and how hott he is. He's played by Aussie actor Travis Fimmel and looks like this:
3. It's a true story so it's got that trippy I-can't-believe-that-really-happened-but-at-the-same-time-I-can! factor.
4. It's set in the mid-9th century ... 800 and something. A very under-represented time in TV generally. It's the sort of time that fries your brain when you think about it.
5. The opening sequence. The only way to describe it properly is that it's magnificent.
Between the music and the footage it perfectly captures the vast oceans of time that have passed between Ragnar's time and now. You'll see what I mean when you see it.