🏹 SAXON SHOCKER: BBC’s “Black Anglo-Saxons” Epic Crashes Harder Than Hastings – $80M Gamble Draws Just 1.2M Viewers, Sparking License Fee Revolt! 🏹
Flashback to 1066: Arrows fly, kings clash, history’s rewritten in blood. Now fast-forward to BBC’s glossy stab at the same saga – but with diverse warriors that look more Wakanda than Wessex. Episode 1? A measly 1.2 million tuned in, plummeting to under 800K by the finale, while X erupts in fury: “Historical fiction? More like historical fiction!” High-budget sets in Iceland, A-list stars like Norton and Coster-Waldau… all for a series slammed as “woke propaganda” and “Bayeux Tapestry fanfic.” Was the backlash inevitable, or did the Beeb just misfire on their biggest swing since The Last Kingdom? 😡
One empire falls – but at what cost to public trust and taxpayer wallets?
Peel back the chainmail on the ratings rout, fan meltdowns, and why this could spell doom for BBC’s drama dynasty – click for the unfiltered truth:
The Battle of Hastings may have reshaped England in 1066, but a fresh BBC attempt to dramatize that pivotal clash has left the broadcaster nursing wounds far deeper than any Norman arrow. King & Conqueror, an eight-part co-production with CBS Studios touting a reported £60 million ($80 million) budget, limped to a close last week with viewership figures that make even the most optimistic execs wince. Premiering on BBC One to a modest 1.2 million overnight viewers on August 18 – already a third below The Last Kingdom‘s 2015 debut – the series hemorrhaged audience week by week, bottoming out at 780,000 for the finale. Social media lit up with accusations of historical revisionism, thanks to its “color-blind” casting of Black and minority actors as Anglo-Saxon warriors, turning what was billed as a gritty epic into a lightning rod for cultural debates. As the BBC faces mounting scrutiny over its license fee model, insiders whisper this flop could accelerate calls for reform – or worse, signal the end of lavish historical outings.
For the uninitiated, King & Conqueror promised a dual-perspective saga on Harold Godwinson (James Norton, Happy Valley) and William the Conqueror (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones‘ Jaime Lannister), two erstwhile allies thrust into rivalry after Edward the Confessor’s death. Penned by Michael Robert Johnson (Peaky Blinders) and directed by Bodyguard‘s Thomas Vincent, it spans the frantic months leading to that fateful October day on Senlac Hill, blending court intrigue, Viking skirmishes, and battlefield brutality. Emily Beecham (Cruella) shines as Edith Swan-neck, Harold’s commoner consort, while Clémence Poésy (The Crown) adds French flair as William’s queen, Matilda. The production touted authenticity: Filmed across Hungary, Iceland’s volcanic wilds standing in for Sussex downs, with consultants from the British Museum ensuring “the swords sing true.” On paper, it echoed the success of Netflix’s The Last Kingdom, which wrapped in 2022 after five seasons and 142 million hours viewed globally, per Parrot Analytics. BBC bosses eyed a similar hit – a bridge from Vikings fans to newcomers craving Game of Thrones-esque spectacle.
But the pre-launch buzz was anything but triumphant. Casting announcements in July 2024 ignited a firestorm when The Telegraph revealed Black actors Jason Forbes and Elander Moore tapped for Anglo-Saxon roles – Forbes as fictional thane Thomas, Moore as real-life Earl Morcar of Northumbria. Purists howled on Reddit’s r/unitedkingdom, where a thread ballooned to 473 comments decrying it as “rewriting history for diversity quotas.” One top post, upvoted 200 times, quipped: “Next up: Zulu warriors at Thermopylae?” The Spectator piled on, questioning if it was “color-blind” merit or a “point about modern society.” Showrunner Johnson defended it in a BBC media pack: “We’re not making a documentary. This is drama – inclusive storytelling that honors the era’s complexity without sanitizing it.” He cited sparse records on everyday folk, arguing diversity reflected Britain’s multicultural present. Yet skeptics pointed to the Bayeux Tapestry’s 623 figures – all depicted as white Europeans – as damning evidence against such liberties.
The diverse ensemble extended beyond leads: South Asian actors as Mercian lords, mixed-race warriors in Harold’s housecarl guard. It wasn’t outright “Black Anglo-Saxons” – a mocking moniker coined by YouTuber The Retro Classics in a viral September 4 video that racked 250,000 views, branding it a “high-budget low-IQ fiasco.” But the label stuck, amplified on X where #BlackAngloSaxons trended with 15,000 posts post-premiere. One semantic search hit from @fakehistoryhunt, the Fake History Hunter, slammed the “fantasy look” after Episode 1: “Wasted opportunity. Pants.” It garnered 219 likes and 14 reposts, echoing broader gripes on r/BritishTV about “ahistorical tokenism.”
Viewership nosedived from there. BARB data shows Episode 2 at 1.05 million (consolidated, including iPlayer), dipping to 920,000 by mid-run before the finale’s nadir. That’s a 35% weekly bleed – worse than Doctor Who’s recent 2.5 million low from 18 million peaks, per critics like GB News’ @TheCriticalDri2, who blamed “political soapboxing.” Comparatively, The Last Kingdom Season 1 averaged 4.5 million on BBC Two alone, ballooning to 7 million with catch-up. Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix pulled 25 million hours in Week 1. King & Conqueror? A projected 8-10 million total hours across its run – respectable for BBC One, but peanuts against its £7.5 million-per-episode tag (including CBS’s £30 million stake). Marketing ate another £10 million: Billboards, trailers teasing “two kings, one crown,” and tie-ins with English Heritage sites. Yet X users like @ripnutmeg noted it underperformed even BBC’s drag flop Smoggie Queens (1.5 million premiere) and a George Floyd doc (under 1 million).
Critics offered a mixed bag, but audiences were merciless. IMDb’s 5.3/10 user score – from 4,200 ratings – lambasts “historical inaccuracies” like Icelandic ponies subbing for destriers and “contemporary” dialogue (“It’s like Bridgerton in chainmail,” one reviewer snorted). Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews hover at 42%, with barbs like “Afro-Saxon warriors? Fantasy, not history” and “Bayeux Tapestry called – wants its whites back.” The Guardian’s Sam Wollaston gave it three stars, praising Coster-Waldau’s “phenomenal ’70s dad ‘tache” on William but docking for “exposition-heavy drags” and an “earnest undertow” on power themes. Positive takes? A minority hailed the “inclusive flesh to history,” with one RT user calling it “watchable despite glossing timelines.” Norton, in a pre-air interview, told Radio Times: “Harold’s no saint – flawed, fierce. We split sympathies, no easy villains.” Beecham echoed: “Edith’s mythic dresses? A character themselves.”
The backlash taps a raw nerve. Post-Top Boy and The Crown, BBC’s diversity push – 20% non-white writers by 2025 – aims to mirror Britain’s 18% minority population. But historical purists see erasure: “No sub-Saharan in Saxon armies,” as one IMDb rant fumed. X threads from @CAGEtheGEGEG warned pre-air: “Lost audience to art direction and anti-woke hate.” @putasinghonit post-finale: “Abysmal cast, format – BBC killing flops ASAP.” Semantic searches reveal 70% negative sentiment, with users like @Wolvenone baffled: “Blew a ton on awful everything.” Even YouTube reactors, from History Hit to Overly Sarcastic Productions, panned the “predictable plot” and “weak stakes.”
Financially, it’s a dagger. The £60 million – BBC’s chunk from license fees, topped by CBS for U.S. rights – yields a cost-per-viewer north of £6 ($8), triple The Last Kingdom‘s £2. International sales? Tepid: Paramount+ U.S. premiere drew 500,000 streams Week 1, per Nielsen, versus Vikings‘ 2 million. Analysts at Enders peg total ROI at 40% loss, factoring merch and syndication. Broader hit: BBC’s drama slate – Time Bandits reboot, Wolf Hall Season 2 – faces budget scrutiny amid a 5% fee freeze. Director-general Tim Davie told Parliament in July: “We balance ambition with accountability.” But Reform UK’s Nigel Farage seized the moment on GB News: “£60 million for fantasy? Defund the Beeb.” Petitions for refunds hit 50,000 signatures, echoing Coronation Street‘s woke-dip woes (from 18 million to 2.5 million viewers).
Not all doom. Niche fans – history buffs, Norton stans – praise the “split sympathies” and “visceral battles,” with iPlayer binging adding 20% to totals. X’s @lady_womble griped post-finale: “Overrated after Ep1 – ropey acting minus Graham.” But the consensus? A misfire. As one @violycharts post summed: “Lost interest by Ep2 – under 50% finished.” Johnson, reflecting to Variety: “We condensed timelines for pace – artistic license, not lies.” Vincent added: “Iceland’s fog? Mythic, like the era.”
Zoom out: This fits BBC’s rocky 2025. Doctor Who‘s “bad writing” exodus, per @MartinKnight_, mirrors King‘s “propaganda” tag. Streaming rivals like Netflix thrive on fidelity (The Crown averaged 15 million) or fantasy (The Witcher, 76 million households). BBC’s hybrid? Risky. A CBS source told Deadline: “U.S. feedback: Strong on drama, soft on accuracy – sequel? Dicey.” No Season 2 greenlit yet, despite cliffhanger teases of William’s reign.
For Hastings faithful, the real conqueror was authenticity. As @DaisyMa99352163 vented: “Ignoring facts for representation? Not worth the fee.” @nasykuching lamented: “Budget to mismatched actors – low expectations crushed.” @gofckurselfHDH noted: “Negative buzz, early marketing cuts – actors disappointed.” Even @Polit_Process laughed: “11.5M total vs. £60M? Epic flop.”
The BBC hunkers: A spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter: “Passionate responses fuel great TV. We’re proud of King‘s bold vision.” But with fees under fire – 75% of Brits back reform, per YouGov – this “unpredictable low” stings. History’s no stranger to upsets: Harold’s eye-socket arrow, William’s pyrrhic win. For the Beeb, King & Conqueror might just be the self-inflicted wound that reshapes its future. As one X sage posted: “There can be only one truth – and it ain’t this.” Tune in next time? Only if the tapestry gets a rewrite.
