My
Series
Login

Login

Email / username and / or password are not correct.
Behind the camera - Michael Hirst

Behind the camera - Michael Hirst

In "Behind the camera", we look at people who we may not see on screen, but who are important for series. Today we look behind the camera at the writer Michael Hirst.
The second season of Vikings: Valhalla kicked off on January 12. The Viking drama is a spin-off of the equally well-known Vikings. The spiritual father of Vikings is none other than Michael Hirst, a man who has a hand in making historical dramas. Time to see what this man has on his resume.

Michael Hirst

Michael Hirst was born in 1952 in Yorkshire and studied British and American literature at the University of Nottingham. Originally he wanted to dive deeper into literature, but later decided to become a scriptwriter. His predilection for history soon became apparent in his first film The Deceivers. This 1988 film is set in British India in 1825. His reputation as a writer of historical dramas only increased when he wrote the screenplays for two films about Queen Elizabeth I from 1998 and 2007 (we are talking about Elizabeth from the sixteenth century, not from The Crown).

The Tudors

Although these films were big hits, he made his breakthrough when his name was connected to The Tudors. This series ran on Showtime between 2007 and 2010 and Hirst wrote all 38 episodes. This series told the story of Henry VIII, King of England between 1509 and 1547. Henry VIII was known for his cruelty and his six marriages. The fact that one of Henry's children would eventually grow into the queen Hirst previously made two films about, makes for an interesting link. The series also formed a springboard for actors such as Natalie Dormer, Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Henry Cavill.

His next project was 2011's Camelot, an adaptation of the Arthurian legend. Hirst was mainly involved as a producer and creator of the series, but only wrote one episode himself. Most of the writing was done by Chris Chibnall (of Doctor Who and Broadchurch fame). The lead roles were played by Jamie Campbell Bower as the young King Arthur, Eva Green as his evil sister Morgan and Joseph Fiennes as the wizard Merlin. Unfortunately, channel Starz decided to stop the series after only one season.

Vikings

The series he made next dates from 2013 and you can probably guess which one it is: Vikings! The story about the legendary Viking king Ragnar and his sons started small on the History Channel, but grew bigger and bigger as the years went by. The world of the Vikings grew through expeditions to Great Britain, Eastern Europe, and even Africa. Thanks to Netflix, more and more viewers also got to know the fierce Scandinavians. But at the end of 2020, it was over for these Vikings. After six seasons and 89 episodes, Hirst felt the story had been told.

But the success was so great that Netflix wanted to see more Vikings, and so it happened. On February 25, 2022, the spin-off series Vikings: Valhalla premiered. Although Michael Hirst has not co-written this series (he himself was working on a series about Billy the Kid), he is involved as a producer. Vikings: Valhalla is set more than 100 years after the end of Vikings and follows names like Leif Erikson, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, and Harald Sigurdsson. This series is also a success and since the 12th of January, we've been able to enjoy the second season.
Video on youtube
Like?
View votes

Comments (0)

No comments have been posted yet.
Log in to leave a comment