Now that “Sons of Anarchy” has gone out in a blaze of gory, creator Kurt Sutter is taking his distinctive storytelling back in time to the late Middle Ages with the new FX series “The Bastard Executioner.”
FX announced this week it has ordered a 10-episode first season of the show after seeing the pilot filmed in Wales. Production will begin there this summer before the show debuts this fall on the network.
“The Bastard Executioner” is a period drama, but I doubt it’s going to be a gentile story of proper manners and upper-crust society ala PBS’ “Masterpiece.”
“I love history. I love theology. I love blood,” Sutter said in an FX press release. “It’s been very satisfying weaving fact and fiction to create a new mythology that combines all these elements.”
Set during the reign of England’s King Edward I (he ruled from 1272 to 1307), “The Bastard Executioner” tells the story of a broken knight who vows to give up his sword and never fight again. “But when that violence finds him again he is forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all,” the release says.
Lee Jones will play the knight at the center of the series. Other cast members include Sutter, Stephen Moyer, Katey Sagal, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Sam Spruell, Darren Evans, Danny Sapani, Timothy V. Murphy, Sarah White, Sarah Sweeney, Elen Rhys, Ethan Griffiths and guest star Matthew Rhys.
Sutter will serve as executive producer along with producers Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and Paris Barclay. Sutter wrote the pilot script, which was directed by his longtime collaborator Barclay. The project is being produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions.
“I love working with FX and Fox21TVS. They’ve been my family for 15 years,” Sutter said. “They not only tolerate me, they embrace my extremely disturbing storytelling sensibilities.”
As do viewers. Can’t wait to see this one. Here are several fun, short videos from the set in Wales.
https://youtu.be/hV-4iDCt4BE