Beloved Netflix Series Delivers Massive Numbers With Final Season Debut

This past week, fan-favorite historical drama The Last Kingdom came to an end on Netflix. The streamer renewed the series for a fifth and final season, bringing the story of Uhtred to a close. The acclaimed series may be over, but it's going out on a high note, delivering massive viewership numbers for Netflix in the days following its debut.

The Last Kingdom was one of the most-watched shows on all of Netflix last week, despite only being available for a few days. According to the streaming service's new Top 10 weekly report, the final season of The Last Kingdom was viewed for more than 63.5 million hours in the first five days after its premiere. The buzz from the new season was enough to get new fans excited, as the first season of the series also made it into Netflix's Top 10 for the week.

The Last Kingdom is a historical action drama based on Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories novels, following the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Originally a BBC series, It found huge streaming success with Netflix before becoming a full streaming original. 

The fifth season of The Last Kingdom will follow the ninth and tenth books in Cornwell's series, The Warriors of the Storm and The Flame Bearer. The final season will consist of 10 total episodes. There are 13 total parts to the original Saxon Stories book series, so it's unclear if the final season of The Last Kingdom will touch on any plot points from the last three novels.

"With such a loyal fanbase, we're excited to give viewers a chance to follow Uhtred on the next stage of his epic quest, where not everyone survives," executive producer Nigel Marchant said when the final season was announced.

The Last Kingdom was produced by BBC Two in its first season, before Netflix joined as co-producer in Season 2. Beginning in Season 3, Netflix took over as the sole producer and distributor of the series. The Last Kingdom also stars Emily Cox, Ian Hart, Eliza Butterworth, Arnas Fedaravičius, Mark Rowley, Millie Brady, Timothy Innes, Eva Birthistle, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Toby Regbo, Finn Elliot, Ruby Hartley, and James Northcote.

Have you been watching the final season of The Last Kingdom? Let us know in the comments!