EARLY LOOK AT BBC AMERICA'S NEW DRAMA "THE LAST KINGDOM" COMING IN 2015

From Emmy(R) Award-winning producers of Downton Abbey and based on Bernard Cornwell's best-selling novels

Caption: Eleven year-old Uhtred (Tom Taylor) watches from Bebbanburg Fortress as invading Viking ships approach.

Credit: Kata Vermes (C) 2015 Carnival Films for BBC TWO and BBC AMERICA

BBC AMERICA will broadcast its first teaser for new drama series, The Last Kingdom, this Saturday during the season premiere of Orphan Black (9:00pm ET). The Last Kingdom is an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's best-selling series of novels "The Saxon Stories", by award-winning writer Stephen Butchard, and will premiere later this year on BBC AMERICA.

Set in the 9th century, the separate kingdoms which once made up England have fallen to the invading Vikings. Only the great Kingdom of Wessex - the last kingdom - stands defiant under its visionary King Alfred the Great. Against this turbulent backdrop, Uhtred, who loses his Saxon father in battle, is kidnapped by the Vikings and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. Is he Saxon or Viking?

The international cast includes Alexander Dreymon (American Horror Story), Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner), David Dawson (Ripper Street), Emily Cox (The Silent Mountain), Matthew Macfadyen (Anna Karenina), Ian Hart (Boardwalk Empire) and Rune Temte (Ulykken). The eight part series is currently filming in Hungary and the UK.

Gareth Neame, Nigel Marchant and Stephen Butchard are executive producers with Nick Murphy co-executive producing and directing multiple episodes. Chrissy Skinns is producer. The Last Kingdom is a Carnival Films (Golden Globe(R) and Emmy(R) award-winning producers of Downton Abbey) co-production with BBC AMERICA for the BBC.

BBC AMERICA delivers U.S. audiences high-quality, innovative and intelligent programming. Established in 1998, it has been the launch pad for talent embraced by American mainstream pop culture, including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, and successful programming formats including ground-breaking non-scripted television like Top Gear and top-rated science-fiction like Doctor Who. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and AMC Networks, BBC AMERICA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including four Emmy(R) Awards, five Golden Globes(R) and 12 Peabody Awards. The channel attracts one of cable's most affluent and educated audiences and is available on cable and satellite TV in nearly 80 million homes. It broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, with content available On Demand across all major digital platforms. Online, www.BBCAmerica.com is the place to go to dig deeper into pop culture with a British twist.