When I first posted about the series “King and Conqueror“ several months before it appeared on television, and again after it did become available, I linked to a video by the Welsh Viking which offered a devastating critique of the costuming and armour in the series. This can be watched at The Costuming in "King and Conqueror" Looks Terrible. Like, Really Terrible.
The same presenter has now produced another video which further deconstructs what is offered to the viewer and makes many searching and informed criticisms of this production.
His video can be seen at We Need To Talk About King and Conqueror
The one point where I would raise a question or two is in respect of ‘colour blind’ casting. As the Welsh Viking’ demonstrates we do have evidence of some people from Africa, or of African descent, both from north of the Sahara and also from sub-Saharan Africa, in Anglo-Saxon England. The questions about this need to include numbers and percentages, and also at what times, as well as their social status. That people of such ancestry or origins were present in trading communities there could not perhaps surprise us, but their presence in elite society or on the battlefield may be seen as doubtful.
I will return to this topic in coming days with another video that does not stint in its criticisms on this and many other aspects of this lamentable series.
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