Framed by the narration of an elderly Storyteller (Ian Holm), this serial recounts the seismic events of 1066. As news of King Edward’s death arrives, the ordinary lives of the inhabitants of a single English village are thrown into turmoil. The village leaders, Tofi (Mike Bailey) and Ordgar (Francis Magee), find their loyalties tested by the rival claims of Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy. The story follows the villagers as they are conscripted into King Harold’s army, marched north to fight the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, and then south to face the Normans at the Battle of Hastings.
This production approached the well-documented history of the Norman Conquest with a ground-level, revisionist perspective. Rather than focusing on the throne room politics of kings and nobles, the narrative is a work of historical reconstruction, imagining the impact of war and invasion on a small, anonymous community. The script, by Peter Harness, grounds the national crisis in the personal lives of a few key villagers, giving the drama a raw, intimate texture. Director Justin Hardy employed a docu-drama style, using handheld cameras and naturalistic performances to create a sense of immediacy and brutal authenticity, stripping the period of its usual costume-drama romance.
Broadcast: Channel 4, 2 Episodes, 18 May – 19 May 2009
Written by: Peter Harness
Director: Justin Hardy
Producers: Susan Horth, Lucy Bassnett-McGuire
Music: Richard Blair Oliphant
Main Cast: Ian Holm (Storyteller), Mike Bailey (Tofi), Francis Magee (Ordgar), Tim Plester (Leofric), Soren Byder (Snorri), Anthony Debaeck (Ozoud), Peter Guinness (Baron De Coutances), Kate Ambler (Ealfrith)
