Smallscreen News
History's 'Vikings' a ratings pillager, meet the cast
By April Neale Mar 12, 2013, 13:50 GMT
Scandinavian sex and war circa 8th century is resonating with the TV hordes: This morning it was announced that History\'s first scripted series "Vikings" reaped solid ratings in its second outing on Sunday at 10pm capturing 4.6 million total viewers, making it the most-watched cable series in the hour.
Scandinavian sex and war circa 8th century is resonating with the TV hordes: This morning it was announced that History's first scripted series "Vikings" reaped solid ratings in its second outing on Sunday at 10pm capturing 4.6 million total viewers, making it the most-watched cable series in the hour.
It was TV’s #1 show among Men 25-54, with 1.19 million. It also delivered 1.9 million Adults 25-54 and 1.7 million Adults 18-49.
The series airs Sundays at 10PM ET, and tells the extraordinary tales of the lives and epic adventures of these warriors. The drama portrays the world of these Dark Age raiders, traders, explorers – not from an outsider’s view, but, through the eyes of Viking society.
There's warfare and bloodshed – for these were extreme times – it is a family saga at heart. It follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), a curious, compelling man who is always looking to break through barriers and discover new worlds to conquer. Ragnar is held back from exploring West by his greedy yet complex local chieftain, Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne), who continues to send his Vikings raiders east every summer, to the Baltic states and Russia, whose populations are as materially poor as themselves.
Joining Fimmel and Byrne are Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha, a fierce shield maiden and Ragnar’s wife; Jessalyn Gilsig as Siggy, Earl Haraldson’s beautiful wife; George Blagden as Athelstan, a young, innocent Christian monk captured by Ragnar on his first raid on England, Clive Standen as Rollo, Ragnar’s impulsive, wild, care-free brother and our favorite, eccentric Gustaf Skarsgard, a ship builder who designs the new generation of Vikings ships.
Created and written by Michael Hirst – one of the premier historical story-tellers in the industry (Academy-Award winning film Elizabeth; and the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated series The Tudors), Michael serves as Executive Producer along with Morgan O’Sullivan of World 2000 (The Count of Monte Cristo; The Tudors), John Weber of Take 5 Productions (The Tudors; The Borgias), Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn (The Tudors; The Borgias) and Sheila Hockin (The Tudors; The Borgias). Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs are the Executives in Charge of Production for HISTORY.
This effort is an international Irish/Canadian co-production being co-produced by World 2000 and Take 5 Productions.
