Television series

Vikings

Name: Vikings
Genre: Drama, Action, History
Released: 2013
Cast: Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård, Alexander Ludwig, Georgia Hirst, Alex Høgh Andersen

Vikings is a sprawling historical drama that follows Ragnar Lothbrok and his descendants from Norwegian farmstead to conquered kingdoms, mixing blood-soaked raids with family betrayal and mythic weight. It's pulpy, violent, occasionally silly, but rarely boring — big performances, gorgeous Irish-standing-in-for-Norway scenery, and a soundtrack that never lets you forget the stakes. Good for anyone wanting Game of Thrones' scale minus the dragons.

TVMaze rating

4.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like long historical sagas driven by restless ambition, shifting loyalties and cold-eyed political scheming, where battles matter because the people fighting them have clear reasons and real rivalries.

Skip it if you want tight, self-contained episodes or a fast plot; this one meanders between settlements and sprawls over six seasons, and its violence is frequent and unsparing.

What it asks of you: Around eighty-nine hour-long episodes, so it wants a commitment of many weeks, and it moves at a patient, grinding pace punctuated by sudden bursts of brutal action.

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

If you liked this

The Last Kingdom2015

Same era, opposite side of the axe — Saxons fighting off Viking invaders, with the same appetite for shield-walls, betrayal and slow-building empire. Uhtred is basically a Saxon Ragnar torn between two worlds.

But Lower budget, and it leans harder into one hero's journey rather than an ensemble saga.

Game of Thrones2011

The obvious step up in scale — political scheming, brutal battles, and characters you love who die anyway. If you responded to power shifting hands violently, this is the master class.

But No historical grounding at all, and the ending famously divides people.

Rome2005

Same producers' appetite for grime and politics, just centuries earlier — soldiers, senators, a city eating itself alive. Visceral, funny, and unashamedly horny in a way Vikings only flirts with.

But Only two seasons before cancellation, so it ends abruptly mid-story.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Seventh Seal1957

Vikings keeps circling fate, Valhalla and divine indifference; this is the film that asked those exact questions first, stripped of spectacle, in the same cold northern light.

Bergman's medieval knight plays chess with Death across a plague-ravaged Scandinavian landscape, wrestling with the same questions of fate and the gods' silence that haunt every Viking funeral pyre — just asked quietly instead of screamed over a shield-wall.

But Black-and-white, subtitled, glacially paced — nothing like the show's velocity, and that's rather the point.

Spartacus2010

Stylised, blood-drenched, gleefully over the top — slave revolt as opera. If you liked Vikings' battle scenes more than its politics, this turns that dial to eleven.

But The heightened dialogue and slow-motion gore take real getting used to.

Britannia2018

Roman legions meet druids and prophecy in a Britain that feels genuinely alien — closer to Vikings' supernatural fringes than most historical drama dares to go.

But Its trippy, hallucinatory tone might feel like whiplash if you came for straight history.

Marco Polo2014

Same appetite for lavish court intrigue and warrior spectacle, transplanted to Kublai Khan's empire — gorgeous production, brutal duels, a young outsider clawing for a place at the top.

But Cancelled after two seasons, and it never quite matches Vikings' emotional pull.

Barbaren2020

Germanic tribes versus Rome, told with the same underdog fury — outnumbered warriors, forest ambushes, and a real historical battle at its spine. Short, punchy, a weekend binge.

But Only six episodes a season, and the character work is thinner than Vikings'.

The Pillars of the Earth2010

Trades axes for cathedrals — medieval England, ambition and faith colliding across generations. If it's the sprawling family-and-power structure you love more than the raiding, this scratches that itch.

But Much slower, more talk than battle, and the miniseries format means less time to live in it.

Outlander2014

Different genre entirely, but the same clan loyalties, brutal Highland warfare, and a woman navigating a world of warrior men — with time travel instead of longships.

But Romance is the engine here, not conquest, and that shift might not be what you're after.

Vikingane2016

Literally the same setting and props, made by people who clearly love the genre enough to send it up — the tonal opposite of Vikings using the exact same tools.

Same village, same longships, same shield-walls — but played entirely for laughs, with office-politics humour dropped straight into the Viking Age. Deeply, stupidly funny once you've spent hours taking this world seriously.

But It's a genuine comedy, not a spoof with a wink — if you want more drama, this will feel like a betrayal.