James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau historical drama sets filming date

A new historical drama, King and Conqueror, will begin filming in Iceland in 2024.

The eight-part drama stars James Norton (Little Women, Happy Valley) as Harold, Earl of Wessex and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) as William, Duke of Normandy. The series creator is Michael Robert Johnson (Sherlock Holmes), who also executive produces. 

Norton and Kitty Kaletsky will executive produce under Norton's banner Rabbit Track Pictures. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also serves as executive producer and will direct an episode. 

Icelandic production services will be provided by RVK Studios.

The synopsis reads: "King and Conqueror is the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. 

"Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown."

Alongside Coster-Waldau and Norton, executive producers include Robert Taylor for TDP Development Partnership (Rogue Agent), Dave Clarke and Richard Halliwell for Shepherd Content, Ed Clarke (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain), Robert Jones, Baltasar Kormákur and CBS Studios’ Lindsey Martin.

Kormákur will direct the premiere episode and, as executive producer, will oversee the series.