The Winter King axed by ITVX after one season
The show's reign was short-lived.
The Winter King, the historical drama series based on Bernard Cornwell’s popular book trilogy The Warlord Chronicles, has been cancelled by ITVX after just one season.
Led by Agents of SHIELD’s Iain De Caestecker, the show followed King Arthur as he ruled over an unstable country and became the "lord of war" in the fifth century.
Despite having an established fan base from the novels, reviews for The Winter King were less than impressive, with The Guardian labelling it "medieval nonsense" and Forbes calling it a "crushing disappointment".
This sentiment seems in-keeping with the audience reception to the series, with Rotten Tomatoes' 'Popcornmeter', which provides a barometer for the positivity of reactions from viewers at home, sitting at a rather underwhelming 41 per cent.
The programme, adapted by executive producers Kate Brooke and Ed Whitmore, did pick up a nomination in the Best Drama category at the 2024 Broadcast Digital Awards, however.
The cancellation, revealed by TVLine, is likely to prove a shame for the team both in front of and behind the camera, with The Warlord Chronicles providing plenty more potential stories for the show to tell.
The cast was certainly star-studded - with the likes of Stuart Campbell, Ellie James and Nathaniel Martello-White joining De Caestecker - and the leading man even had the seal of approval from Cornwell himself.
Speaking on The Winter King podcast, the author revealed that he hadn't met the show's main star, but thought he worked "perfectly" in the lead role, while he also voiced his support for the diversity in the series (which had come under attack since its debut).
Cornwell further talked about how The Winter King compared to one of his other adaptations, The Last Kingdom, revealing how Arthur compared to that show’s main character, Uhtred: "One of the things that I tried to stress in the books is that there never was a 'King Arthur'. I mean, nothing in the records suggests he was ever a king.
"He was called a warlord, the leader of battles. And that's what Arthur is in the books and in the series. He's a warrior. But he's a very thoughtful warrior and a very responsible warrior."
Cornwell continued: "And he has responsibilities that Uhtred doesn't have. Uhtred's loyalties are towards Bebbanburg and his own people. He doesn't have to make decisions that affect the fate of the whole nation; Arthur does."
Unfortunately, The Winter King didn’t fare quite as well as the Netflix series, which ran for five seasons from 2015-2022.
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Authors
George White is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. He was previously a reporter for the Derby Telegraph and was the editor of LeftLion magazine. As well as receiving an MA in Magazine Journalism, he completed a BA in Politics and International Relations.
