At the top end of TV this year, it’s been a pretty good showing. Andor, Murderbot, Severance, Adolescence, and The Studio all duly made a splash and earned critical and audience acclaim. However, what’s been missing across the board and what the viewers continue to gravitate to is a historical or fantasy drama. Luckily, later this year, the BBC will release its ambitious new show, King & Conqueror.
Continued Draw of Historical Settings
The two headline acts of the historical and fantasy genres on TV are either currently in the works or have concluded. House of the Dragon Season 3 is now filming in Wales and Vikings: Valhalla has been cancelled. Plus, the shows that amped up the genres have now ended. Game of the Thrones crashed or burned in 2019, while The Last Kingdom rounded out nicely with film Seven Kings Must Die.
Elsewhere in entertainment, the draw of historical, fantasy, and mythology-based content is still going strong. You only have to look as far as the slots UK players can spin to see this. The Daily Jackpots section is loaded with the likes of Mask of Amun, Masters of Valhalla, and Thunderstruck Stormchaser. Meanwhile, more have been added to the new slots section, including trending hits like Avalon III and Elysian Gold.
In another corner of gaming, the setting have also continued to be a huge draw and top sellers. One of the best-selling US games of 2025 so far has been The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which is about as high fantasy as you can get. Meanwhile, Civilization VII has continued to do very well on the sales front. It all combines to showcase a continued appetite for fantasy and historical entertainment pieces.
Even when we look at the stories of fantasy that draw heavily from a historical setting, everything’s much more grounded and devoid of modern distractions. Smartphones, the internet, social media, pop-up ads, cars, planes and the like are all absent, leaving characters to focus on what’s at hand and to do so within a longer timescale. The stakes are incredibly high, there isn’t tech to assist judgements, and it all makes for great escapism.
What We Know About King & Conqueror
King & Conqueror is set to release on BBC One in 2025 and – as far as we can tell – will run for a single eight-part series. Described as a historical epic, it follows Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy who would eventually meet in the era-defining Battle of Hastings in 1066. Neither has designs on the throne, but both are continually carried towards conflict by outside forces.
The first look images released show the aftermath of battles for both leads, Norton looking particularly kingly on his throne, and the two meeting in what looks to be a pivotal moment before a priest.
It’s a welcomed move to offer such a potentially rich story in the form of a one-shot series over eight hours, rather than making fans wait years between instalments. Still, without an announced release date just yet, the droves of viewers craving another bit of historical escapism will likely have to wait for the backend of 2025.
