‘Vikings’

Tully Mead

Purpose• Vikings is a violent action, historical drama made to entertain and

bring back an audience.• Vikings is broadcasted by the history channel.• Besides for entertainment purposes, Vikings also helps to teach

viewers a lot about the Vikings including their lifestyle and some key historic character’s from that period in time.

• These features of the show bring back audiences in order to generate money.

Form and style• There are 10 episodes in each season with each episode lasting

one hour. • There are three seasons so far with the fourth in production. • The narrative is portrayed through the character Ragnar Lothbrok

who leads a clan of Vikings. This leads to many battles which give the show a sad mood at times.

• The shows main theme is religion, as the narrative and events is based on the beliefs between the pagan Vikings and the Christian Englishmen.

Content• The show is full of bloody violence with battles in most episodes. • It is set on the Scandinavia cost as well as England and France at

points. • The show follows the main character Ragnar Lothbrok and focuses

on his family and friends within his Viking tribe. • Another key character is Athelstan, who is a Christian who

ultimately is the focus in season three.

Meaning• The show conveys messages on what is moral and immoral. • The society in the time the show is set were not afraid to kill for what

they wanted so it is hard for the audience to find a reason to like some of the characters.

• The morals of the main character are finally questioned towards the end of season 1 when the Vikings meet the Christians who have different views on what is right and wrong.

• We see this have a big effect on the characters actions especially in season 3 when the audience believes the head of the Viking clan will give up his days of glory and become Christian.

• This builds up the premise for season 3.

Genre• The show is a hybrid between action, history and drama. • Whilst the first season is based heavily on the Vikings campaign to

take over many parts of Europe, the second season is based a lot more on the relationship between the main character ‘Ragnar’ and his family.

• Whilst there is still action packed battles at this point, the shows focus is on the drama between characters.

• All of this is based on a non-fictional character named Ragnar Lothbrok who was a real Viking however many events where manipulated and changed for the purpose of entertainment.

• This gives the show its historical feel as the show focuses on the pagans’ beliefs and rules out any unrealistic or false stereotypes about the Vikings.

Target audience• The DVD for Vikings has an age rating of 18 for all three seasons. • It is aired on TV after the watershed. It contains strong bloody

violence and dark themes throughout. • It is targeted for an adult male audience as the lead character is a

father of many children and faces some problems that some fathers in the audience may face.

• This makes the character relatable for this audience. Younger males may also be the target as the show focuses on many young males and may be attracted to the show due to its exiting battles which occur commonly throughout.

• Women may be interested in the show for its drama between characters, however there only a few female characters throughout the show, and any drama in the show is between Ragnar and usually another male character who has a different opinion to Ragnar and questions his leadership.

• There is a romantic backstory between Ragnar and his wife however this is shown rarely and would not be enough to attract any fans of the romantic genre.

Frequency (p1)• 1 season will be aired every year until the narrative is finished. • Every season airs 1 episode per week until the season is over. • People will watch it when it is aired or will by the entire series box

set and binge watch it all at once. • The week gap is set so people have time to reflect on the episode

and get excited for the next one but the gap isn’t too big for the viewer to forget what happened on the previous episode.

• This keeps the audience exited and hooked when there is a cliff hanger.

• The narrative for this show is serial meaning the story is spread across the entire show and a problem is not resolved at the end of each episode.

Frequency (p2) • This will make it hard for the audience to join the show part way

through as they will not understand the context of what a character is doing or how they are behaving.

• Key plot points from early on in the show are referenced later on in the show.

• Any viewer who joined part way will not get these references will not understand may be confused.

• This may ruin the show for them as the payoff for a characters success or demise will not be as satisfying.

Production process (p1)• Most shows create the first season of a show and air it as a test to see

how successful it is. • If the show earns a large profit, then they may increase the budget

and production cost for the next seasons to help increase the shows quality.

• If a show is not successful, they may decide to scrap the show and not make another series.

• If a show is successful, then production on the next series will begin very soon after production of the previous series has finished.

Production process (p2)• They usually will aim to have the new series aired at the same

time as the previous one. • This limits the time they have to produce the new season to a year. • This is the case for Vikings however some shows such as ‘the

walking dead’ release half a season at a time and leave a half years gap between parts.

• This means the first half of a series is produced and aired within six months and the second is aired after another six months.

• This means that the audience only has to wait six months for the show to resume however there will only be half the amount of shows each time.