King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxons

Michael Wood’s stirring trilogy concludes with a portrait of Aethelstan, the forgotten man of history, but one who put flesh on the bones of his grandfather Alfred’s dream: a kingdom for all the English.

The first monarch in British history to be depicted wearing a crown (at his coronation in 925), Aethelstan (“noble stone”) was politically shrewd, handsome, nerveless. Michael Wood and a range of scarves follow in the footsteps of a man keen to unite a nation through ideology, legislation and culture. But for this warrior king who was also a Christian man, intermittent shows of force – against the Vikings, Scotland, even perhaps his own brother Edwin – cost him peace of mind.

Extra par for app: This atmospheric series has let the facts create their own drama; fancy words are all well and good, but Wood simply tells the story, and extrapolates only where necessary. He still stands head and shoulders above his fellow TV historians.