Happy Valley's James Norton and Game Of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau wage war as BBC drops action-packed first trailer at period drama King & Conqueror

Daily Mail​

24-07-2025

Happy Valley 's James Norton and Game Of Thrones ' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau wage a bloody war in the BBC 's first trailer for blockbuster period drama King & Conqueror.
The upcoming eight-part series is set to hit screens this August, and tells the story of the Battle of Hastings, one of the most famous in English history.
On October 14, 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, defeated England's Saxon army, killed King Harold II and seized the throne - becoming William the Conqueror.
Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two allies who were forced to turn on each other after they found out that King Edward the Confessor had promised both of them the crown.
In King & Conqueror, James Norton plays Harold of Wessex and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrays William the Conqueror.
The trailer shows snippets of gripping drama, and offers a glimpse of the deft exploration of the two men.
Emily Beecham plays Edith Swanneck who was one of the wealthiest magnates in England before the battle, and may have been Harold's first wife.
William the Conqueror's wife, Matilda of Flanders, is played by Clemence Poesy.
Other stars in the series include Eddie Marsan as King Edward, Juliet Stevenson as Lady Emma, Jean-Marc Barr as King Henry and Luther Ford as Tostig.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is known for his role as Jamie Lannister, Knight of the Kingsguard, in the hit TV series Game Of Thrones.
He also starred in the 2013 horror Mama, The Other Woman, Shot Caller and Nightwatch.
Meanwhile James Norton played the notorious criminal Tommy Lee Royce in British crime drama Happy Valley.
Other TV shows and films he has starred in include Grantchester, War & Peace and McMafia.
It was previously revealed that the makers of the programme shunned England and shot all of its King & Conqueror scenes in Iceland.
They used the unlikely locations of a campsite and nature reserve in Iceland, with Film In Iceland, the country's film commission, offering the production generous financial incentives.
Productions that shoot in the country can claim a rebate of up to 35 per cent of total costs.
Historians accept that the battle could not be filmed there because it was wooded then, but now comprises fields and hedgerows.
However, they say that it could have been filmed in an area such as the New Forest.
Instead, producers – who include Norton – chose Hjallaflatir, a campsite in the Icelandic nature reserve of Heiomork.
The campsite's rocky appearance could hardly look more different to the terrain of the historic battlefield, both now and in the 11th century.
From a series spokesperson: 'King & Conqueror is set across multiple European territories – including Normandy, France, Flanders and Norway, alongside England.
Iceland was chosen for a multitude of reasons including its variety of landscapes that can represent these different parts of Europe from 1,000 years ago.'