Television series

Knightfall

Name: Knightfall
Genre: Drama, Adventure, History
Released: 2017
Cast: Tom Cullen, Ed Stoppard, Julian Ovenden, Pádraic Delaney, Simon Merrells

Period drama

Knightfall follows the Knights Templar through their final days, blending historical intrigue with adventure-serial drama. It's sweeping and violent, invested in both battlefield spectacle and palace politics. If you love that mixture of crusading idealism and moral compromise—where faith collides with power—this is solidly made entertainment that takes itself seriously without pretension.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love long, scheming medieval dramas where loyalty between soldiers gets tested by court politics, and you don't mind a show that trusts its intrigue more than its swordplay.

Skip it if you want battles every week, since the fighting arrives in bursts and much of the running time goes to talk in rooms, plotting and brooding over oaths.

What it asks of you: Eighteen hour-long episodes across two seasons, so it asks for patience and a willingness to let loyalties and political pressure accumulate slowly rather than pay off in one scene.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Kingdom of Heaven2005

A predecessor that shares Knightfall's fascination with the Crusades as both spiritual quest and brutal military campaign. Raw, unflinching, and genuinely interested in faith and doubt.

But Only one season, and it's abrupt. The pacing is uneven and some storylines feel abandoned.

Barbarians Rising2016

Germanic tribes resisting Roman expansion with the same blend of tribal brotherhood, tactical intrigue, and desperate warfare. Well-shot, intelligently written, and genuinely tense about colliding worlds.

But Subtitled (original German). Darker and grittier in tone—less romanticism about the fighting.

Vikings2013

Follows warriors bound by oath and mythology through conquest and spiritual crisis. Excellent at depicting both the exhilaration and the cost of that life, with sharp political scheming alongside the action.

But Runs five seasons and becomes inconsistent. The later arcs lose focus and some beloved characters don't land their exits well.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Knightfall

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Black Prince2017

Both examine warriors caught between loyalty to institutions and loyalty to conscience. Both ask what faith actually means when power is in the room.

A literal historical oddity: an Ottoman prince imprisoned in Rome, where a charismatic soldier becomes his keeper and confessor. It's about power, faith, and intimate betrayal—a chamber piece where the stakes are civilizations. Shot with austere beauty.

But Slow, dialogue-heavy, and philosophically dense. If you want knights fighting, this is entirely internal warfare.

The Name of the Rose1986

A monastery in medieval Italy where faith, power, and dangerous knowledge collide. Intellectually rigorous, gorgeously shot, and completely committed to its world. Ralph Fiennes and Sean Connery are superb.

But Deliberately paced and cerebral. If you came for sword fights, you'll find philosophy lectures instead.

Outlaw King2018

Robert the Bruce's resistance against English occupation; visceral battle choreography, political betrayal, and a protagonist forged through suffering. Chris Pine is excellent as a man driven by both principle and survival.

But Deliberately brutal and unglamorous. Some find the relentless bleakness exhausting rather than involving.

The Last Duel2021

Medieval France, chivalry as performance, patriarchal violence, and a judicial duel that settles nothing. Ridley Scott's direction is immaculate and the script has real bite about how honour masks corruption.

But Heavy thematic weight slows the narrative. The structure—retelling the same events three times—frustrates some viewers.

Ivanhoe1997

The Crusader returning home to Saxon England; adventure, romance, and the collision between idealism and medieval ruthlessness. Perfectly executed as what it is: intelligent adventure television.

But Somewhat dated aesthetically. Plays its romance straight in a way that feels earnest to the point of quaintness now.

The Pillars of the Earth2010

Cathedral builders, clerical politics, and sprawling 12th-century intrigue. An ensemble cast carrying multiple storylines through ambition, faith, and conspiracy. Genuinely immersive world-building.

But Eight hours across two seasons feels bloated to some. Multiple plot threads mean not all pay off equally.

The Borgias2011

Renaissance Italy where the Church is a throne and morality is negotiable. Gorgeous production design, lurid plotting, and Jeremy Irons as a Machiavellian pope. Trashy in the best sense.

But The dialogue sometimes oversells its own intrigue. Cancelled on a cliffhanger that was never resolved.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army2008

Both deploy historical/legendary aesthetics to tell stories about warrior cultures bound by honour and oath. Both are fascinated by the weight of inherited duty and what happens when it collides with the present.

An elf prince commands an ancient army of golden warriors; a secret magical war hidden beneath the modern world. Guillermo del Toro's visual imagination is staggering, and it takes its mythology—and its melancholy—genuinely seriously.

But Superhero film language, occasionally arch humour, and the plot is straightforward. Not historical or grounded in any conventional sense.

A Prophet2009

Strip away the swords and it's the same story: how men survive and advance through faction, loyalty, and the careful performance of honour. Both understand that brotherhood and betrayal are neighbours.

A young man rises through a prison hierarchy via intelligence, will, and strategic alliance-making. Absolutely gripping, morally complex, and obsessed with codes of conduct and brotherhood in a closed, violent world. Jacques Audiard is a master.

But It's set in a modern French prison, not medieval France. Bleak, unglamorous, and demands active watching—nothing is explained for you.