Elander Moore (Kaos, Interview with the Vampire) and Jason Forbes (My Lady Jane, A Gentleman in Moscow) have joined the cast of the BBC and CBS‘ joint period project King & Conqueror, about the Battle of Hastings.
They join a previously confirmed star-studded line-up including James Norton as Harold, Earl of Wessex, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William, Duke of Normandy, Emily Beecham as Edith Swan-neck, Harold’s wife, and Clémence Poésy as Matilda, William’s spouse.
As the series officially wraps filming in Iceland, the latest cast news also includes Indy Lewis (Industry, La Fortuna), Ines Asserson (Royalteen, Skam), and Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson (Heartstone, Summerlight…And Then Comes The Night) alongside the already-announced Eddie Marsan, Juliet Stevenson, Jean-Marc Barr, Luther Ford, Geoff Bell, Elliot Cowan, Bo Bragason, Bjarne Henriksen, Olivier Masucci, and Clare Holman.
Moore stars as Morcar, the son of the Earl of Mercia, one-third of England’s power, and heir to the Mercian Earldom, while Lewis is Margaret, a sheltered young woman from Mercia, who must find her voice in order to survive in an exploitative world. Forbes takes on the role of Thane Thomas, a loyal servant to the Godwins who protects the family fiercely, and Asserson stars as Judith. Cousin of Matilda and niece of Baldwin, Judith is paraded around the marriage market of Europe, until she meets and falls for an eligible man. Gunnarsson is the fearsome warrior and infamous Viking leader Hardrada. The role of Fitzosbern will now be played by Ingvar Sigurdsson (The Northman, Godland)
William’s protector since he was a boy.
Written by Michael Robert Johnson (Sherlock Holmes), the eight-episode series will see Norton also serve as an executive producer through his production company Rabbit Track Pictures. Coster-Waldau is directing an episode and also serves as executive producer. Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, 2 Guns, Trapped) will direct the premiere episode and, as executive producer, steer the creative across the series. The series is produced by The Development Partnership, Rabbit Track, Shepherd Content, RVK Studios and CBS Studios, in association with the BBC. It is created and executive-produced by Johnson.
“King & Conqueror is the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea,” a plot synopsis reads. “Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.”
The BBC has acquired broadcasting rights for the series on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K. The series will be distributed outside of the U.K. by Paramount Global Content Distribution.