The Last Kingdom fans were treated to scenes of drunken women fighting and a warrior contemplating the “rotten” air as the hit Netflix series' final season arrived in middle ages Runcorn.
Episode one of the fifth season of the Saxon drama kicked off with an aerial shot of a small river-side outpost, guarded by a watchtower as villagers milled about the muddy ground among thatched, wooden huts, baskets of wares, all close to a jetty at the water’s edge.
The village’s name is revealed as “Rumcofa”, which is quickly clarified as meaning Runcorn in its historical form.
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Opening the scene is Uhtred, series protagonist and warrior leader, born Saxon but raised Norse, as he gazes out from a tower across the River Mersey from Runcorn towards the neighbouring wooded shore, of what in reality would one day become Widnes, whose own name is believed to derive from Norse.
Uhtred, played by Alexander Dreymon, plants his hands wide on the parapet and contemplates the water, the air, the silent woods on the opposing bank, before being approached by friend the Irish warrior Finan who asks if he is troubled, which Uhtred replies: “Something's changed, (sniffs) the air is rotten.”
Finan quips that he might have been “eating too much cabbage!” to which Uhtred says: "Something feels wrong. I don't like it"
The scene moves to the base of the watchtower where a disgruntled trader complains that “sea raiders robbed me”. This prompts a sceptical Uhtred to sarcastically remark that the man has fallen prey to the “Great Rognvaldr” before affirming that if “he wants to trade the border, he pays the Mercia a toll”.
Events then drift to the centre of Rumcofa, where two drunken women are fighting and Uhtred clears them off, reminding everyone they have other responsibilities. The women exchange blows but leave on his command.
The episode then reveals that villages are celebrating Blood Month, and to cheers of “Blood Month! Blood Month!”, a handful of lead characters and jubilant Rumcofans head to the forest to slay a swine in a coming-of-age ritual for young Aethelstan, the future first king of England and whom Uhtred has vowed to protect.
The Last Kingdom is based on Bernard Cornwell’s series of novels of the same name and follows tensions between Saxons and Vikings in the late ninth and early 10th centuries. Runcorn's inclusion in the series is based on real history and Lady of the Mercians Aethelflaed’s order for a fortress to be built at Rumcofa to keep the Norse at bay on the other side of the river.
The town, believed to be a small settlement at the time, sat on the north west corner of the start of the Danelaw border between Saxon and Viking territory. Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, is reputed to have been a capable leader and to have assailed the Norse warriors with an order to assail them with bees and beer.
Her legacy is marked in the area including in the alternative name for the Runcorn Railway Bridge as the “Queen Ethelfleda Viaduct”. Some TV viewers were left stunned by Runcorn’s appearance in the show and did not hesitate to poke fun, while others expressed pride in seeing the town and its history mentioned.
One Twitter user joked: “‘What brings you to Runcorn?’ The eternal question.”
Another said: “The opening scene to the new season of the Last Kingdom is set in Runcorn in about 920AD and the first line is about the rotten stench in the air.”
One Twitter user was more upbeat: ”Last Kingdom season 5 lad. They’re defending Runcorn!” Another beamed: “Runcorn was central to the first episode of season 5 of the Last Kingdom. 10th century Runcorn anyway!!”
Season five, episode one, was based on the Bernard Cornwell novels and written by screenwriter Martha Hillier, whose credits include Holby City, Eastenders, Vera and Casualty. All five seasons of The Last Kingdom featuring Runcorn are available to watch on Netflix.
