The Winter King is a TV series based on a series of novels. The series of novels are the Warlord novels, the first of which is Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. Bernard Cornwell’s novels are historical fiction, and they’re always great fun, page-turners, and characters you love to hate and hate to love. And gosh darn it, if you don’t want to do with yourself, this series is no different.
I read the War Lord Series and absolutely loved them. I read through them, and they are really good. You have all your favorite characters, like Arthur and Marvin (in the books, he is Merlin rather than Mervin). You have some of the Knights of the Round Table and various other people as well. The main character and the narrator of the novel is Darvel.
Darvel is this aging warrior who becomes a monk, and he writes down the stories that are the narrative arc of the novels, and it’s great fun.
Here is The Winter King Filming Locations:
The Winter King Review
A TV series has been made on the novel, and I wasn’t aware of this TV series. There are some scenes set in the winter, and hence the Winter King. But there, I kind of go from the positive bread of the sandwich to the negative meat. Because I went in open-minded, I went in really hoping that it would have some real depth to it, that it would be an honest adaptation of the novels.
A lot of Cornwell fans were hugely disappointed with The Last Kingdom TV series. I understand why because I’ve read the series myself, and it does not respect the books. It diverges from the books hugely. Do you think lessons would have been learned from Game of Thrones? Oh, it’s not faithful to the material in the books at all, neither in plot nor in character.
We have scenes, for example, between Arthur and Merlin in Armorica in modern-day Brittany, where Merlin’s character is shown to be extremely different from how he is in the books. In the books, he is this luscious, lecherous, weird antihero of a character.
He has his own games that he’s playing, and he meddles in politics if he gets his way. He is portrayed as this honorable, mystical character so far in the first season. He seems a lot less fun, and he kind of fulfills an unfortunate trope in certain ways, which is disappointing.
There’s also a disappointment here because we’ve lost the Darvell narrative. This is very much Arthur’s story. It’s called The Winter King, and it’s set in Arthurian Britain. Therefore, we’re following King Arthur, and that’s boring now.
The Winter King Filming Locations
The entire series appears to have been filmed in the UK, which makes sense given the lore surrounding King Arthur and the location of the films. Set construction took place at Patchway Studios, located at 1 Highwood Road.
Bristol, an English city, is well-known for its Clifton Suspension Bridge, Wapping Wharf, Harbourside, Brunel’s SS Great Britain, Cabot Circus and Tower, and Bristol Museum. Based mostly on the River Avon, this southwest English city has a long history of marine trade.
Bradford on Avon
The town of “Bradford-on-Avon” in England is well-known for its wool industry, and the series was filmed here on September 15, 2022. West Wiltshire is home to this town and civil parish, which is mainly situated close to the Somerset border.
In addition to being a popular vacation spot, its historic buildings, stores, bars, and restaurants make it a great place for filming, serving as the ideal backdrop for TV shows and movies.
Blaise Castle Estate
In order to film The Winter King, a portion of the Blaise Castle property in Henbury was shut down around September 30. Specifically, sets were built there to create the look of a settlement. The castle, which is a part of the Blaise Castle Estate along with Blaise Castle House, was mostly constructed in 1766 as a folly defense next to Henbury.
Lydney
Situated in the Forest of Dean district, this breathtaking location, Lydney, is perfect for a historical drama and was effectively utilized in the production.
The English town of Lydney, located in Gloucestershire, is well-known for its production and delivery of stone, coal, tinplate, and lumber. Beyond the places mentioned above, Lydney was another filming location for the show. It is mostly located in the Forest of Dean region on the west side of the River Severn.
