After the last season of the tv series Vikings ended, I began to miss having those wild Europeans in my house. The show is graphic, honest, and full of intriguing characters so I was happy to finally watch all 4 episodes of the History Channel’s Real Vikings. This 4 part series explores the history and growth of actual vikings and also heavily references the tv show. Two of the lead vikings on the show are based on people who really lived but that series (season 5 coming soon) does make some artistic choices and this mini-series makes a point to distinguish the two. Each episode has a solid pacing to it, never indulging too long in one spot for dramatic effect, a trait of a well produced documentary. Traveling across Europe the production interviews experts in the fields of viking history, weaponry, religion, and archeology, as well as has actors from the show appear. Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha), Clive Standen (Rollo), Maude Hirst (Helga), and Alyssa Sutherland (Aslaug) each take part in different segments exploring what is known about real vikings. Topics such as how were they able to invade, what were their beliefs and culture, viking women, and Ragnar and his sons are all discussed with scenes from the show’s first 4 seasons. The experts were interesting, the actors seemed to really care about the history, and the visuals simulating what viking buildings would look like were great. Check out the History Channel website (link below) to watch the full episodes for free. Thanks History Channel!

2016, (PG)
4 episodes
History Channel

Links
IMDB – 8.0
History Channel