The Last Kingdom season 5 filming to begin this year

The series stars Alexander Dreymon as warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg, in a fictional story set against the backdrop of the early days of England, exploring how it was formed from four disparate kingdoms.

Season four was released on the service in April, to the delight of fans, and The Last Kingdom was renewed for a fifth outing just a few months later.

In a Q&A with RadioTimes.com to celebrate the release of Bernard Cornwell's final book in The Last Kingdom series, Dreymon confirmed that filming is to get underway very soon.

"We're going to start shooting towards the end of this year under very strict COVID-19 guidelines, of course," he said. "We're very lucky to be able to work at the moment."

Previous seasons have been filmed in Hungary and the production is expected to return there for the imminent shoot, where several other movies and television shows have resumed work since July.

Aside from the obvious concern over the spread of coronavirus, Dreymon revealed to RadioTimes.com another logistical challenge the team are having to overcome.

"We're faced with that problem now, getting into season five where Uhtred is technically... I think he starts at 54 and ends up at 60 in the books," he said. "That's a problem right now because how do we make it look like Uhtred has aged without it looking comical? We're working on it."

Season five of The Last Kingdom will be based on the ninth and tenth books in Cornwell's fiction series, titled Warriors of the Storm and The Flame Bearer respectively.

The Last Kingdom is streaming now on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, visit our TV Guide, or find out about upcoming new TV shows 2020.