6 December, 2018 - 08:01
Historys breakthrough drama Vikings has made the likes of Travis Fimmel (Ragnar Lothrok) and Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) household names, but in many ways the true hero of the series is creator Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors), who has single-handedly written every episode, bar one, delicately balancing the competing demands of entertaining TV and historical accuracy.
Renewing the hit drama for a sixth season, Eli Lehrer, HISTORYs executive vice president of programming, hailed Michael as one of the greatest writers in this era of Peak TV.
The second half of season five is now streaming first and only on Showmax, with new episodes coming weekly every Thursday, express from the US, so we caught up with the legendary writer to find out more about his process.
What attracted you to writing historical dramas like Vikings and The Tudors?
History and English are the only two subjects I was really good at in school, so I cleverly combined them. I like reading footnotes to books; I find those interesting bits of information, the personality and details about people. Im always looking for things that contradict assumptions and prejudices.
How has this series challenged our prejudices about vikings?
The whole idea we had about vikings was a cliche. We didnt know much about them because the attitude towards them was established by and large by their enemies in the Western world. To make matters worse, the vikings didnt write anything down themselves, so we dont have personal accounts of their culture. We just think of them as grubby dirty hippies only interested in pillage.
In making Vikings, I wanted to show, through Ragnar, that the vikings were driven by curiosity and they had the necessary technology with boats and sunstone to facilitate that curiosity, to go places. And it goes beyond adventure and curiosity, their attitude toward women was much more enlightened than societies around them - England, France, Spain - they were more democratic than most other societies. I dont want to teach people, but can put out there, in drama, the things that challenge our assumptions and prejudices.
What is the common theme in season five?
How political allegiances are constantly shifting, treaties and allegiances are being made and broken, and everyone is following their own agendas.
How did you bridge seasons four and five?
Season five starts with the beginning of the disintegration of Ragnars family and The Great Army. The characters become much more ambitious and venture out to the Mediterranean and Iceland. Brothers split up and form different allegiances and begin absorbing more of the world around them.
I always said from the beginning that Vikings was not just about Ragnar, but about Ragnar and his sons. In fact, in many ways his sons became more famous than Ragnar.
Bjorn did actually go to the Mediterranean and Tunisia and Ivar the Boneless was a very famous viking. I seem to have waited a lifetime to get Ivar the Boneless into the script - who knew the most important viking leader was a cripple, considering what the assumptions are about vikings? Ivar was one of the cruelest and most successful vikings. We are very lucky to have Alex Hogh Andersen playing Ivar; he is a brilliant actor.
Get More Film Business South Africa
Select your Membership
Tell us about Bishop Heahmund, a new character this season played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Vikings were the last pagans, so part of the brief I gave myself was to try to not explain, but to dramatise and show what paganism was and how real the clash between paganism and Christianity was.
Weve seen levels of belief in Vikings. Floki is a complete fundamentalist and I wanted to show the same for Christianity, that it was driven by people like Bishop Heahmund - passionate Christians coming up against equally passionate pagans.
So I spoke to my historical advisor and said we need to find someone who can represent the Saxons and he suggested a warrior bishop. These were men who were the precursors to the Knights Templar, genuinely religious men who often were bishops, but also fighters. When we found Bishop Heahmund, a historical figure who was a warrior bishop, I had found a Saxon warrior that could theoretically stand up to Ivar and Bjorn and other vikings.
Someone suggested Jonathan Rhys Meyers, which was brilliant because, like Bishop Heahmund, he is passionate and intense and I wanted someone in this role that had that intensity.
What attracted you most to the idea of expanding the show into other countries?
If theres anything real, then I want to use it. Considering how small these countries are, the impact they had on the world is staggering. Thats why the show is so meaningful to people around the world, because viking influence reached so many places. The Christians borrowed so much from pagans; most of our ceremonies are based on pagan ceremonies.
Did you find any scene particularly difficult to write?
Quite a few. Vikings is about life and death and all the area in between, so we have had a lot of significant deaths and extraordinarily emotional moments. Im the only writer on the show and I live with these characters for years and get very attached to them. If and when I have to kill them off, it is a huge moment for me. For instance, Travis [Fimmel] and I spent a long time together talking through the death of Ragnar Lothbrok. We talked about what he would say and how that would happen. We talked and fought about it - it was a passionate engagement. The most emotional moment for me however was in Season 1 when Ragnar is on a beach lamenting the death of his daughter Gyda. I have daughters and I imagined giving that speech myself. Travis has no children but nevertheless was wonderful, lyrical and full of feeling and emotion when delivering that speech.
What was it like filming that last
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
6 December, 2018 - 08:01 
