Vikings Season 4 Part 1 has arrived on DVD and Blu-ray, and it’s kicking down your door and stealing your best jewellery. Following the adventures of Ragnar, Bjorn, Lagutha and the rest, this season promises bigger battles and more intrigue, sex and magic than ever before.
The story focuses on three main locations: in Scandinavia, the Vikings prepare for their second assault on Paris, in England, King Egbert’s schemes grow ever more complex, and in Francia, Rollo scrabbles to defend his new allies from his old friends. The political machinations in the Frankish and English courts are balanced by the sheer violent and aggressive nature of the Vikings’ attack on Paris.
What endears Vikings to history enthusiasts is that many of the characters and events in the show are plucked straight from sagas or Norse mythology. Floki’s torture parallels Loki’s torment by Odin (with a healthy dose of Christian irony, courtesy of Ragnar) and the show has set up Rollo to become William the Conqueror’s great-great-great grandfather. Even the celebrations for saints’ days are based on contemporary figures.
The costume design is excellent as always, if you ignore the few scraps of useless chainmail and bits of leather. The savagery of the Vikings is brought to the fore with whacky hairstyles and facial tattoos that give some characters such menace that you know they’ll be off committing atrocities the first chance they get. The show has grown in spectacle year on year, stepping up the set pieces and special effects with more brutal hand-to-hand combat, visceral naval battles and the entire Viking fleet being portaged over the mountains.
Packed with Medieval mayhem, this is a spectacular start to the season.
Vikings: Season 4 – Part One is available on Blu-ray™ and DVD from 24 October 2016, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. For more amazing tales from Medieval history, pick up the new issue of All About History or subscribe and save 40% on the cover price.