I love this show. It’s an eight-episode epic with love, intrigue, action, and fun.

But in my not-so-scientific survey of people I know, 0 percent of people have heard of this show, let alone watched it.

That is a travesty. “The Last Kingdom” is a ton of fun. It’s a great adventure where the main character goes around doing crazy stuff with boyish glee and sarcasm, and even when it gets heavy, it sucks you in with the constant movement and sheer momentum of the narrative.

In eight episodes, this first season covers a lot of ground.

The show, produced by BBC with Netflix getting in on the second season, is set in ninth-century England, which is a long, long time ago. Also, this show is based on a series of novels based very loosely on historical records. Also also, there are no dragons or ridiculous stuff like in “Game of Thrones.” Also also also, the visual appeal of the show is astounding.

So here’s the story: the kid is the son of a king in Northumbria (an area in the United Kingdom) who gets attacked by the Danes (Vikings from Denmark). The Danes win the battle pretty easily and kill the kid’s dad.

Because the kid is a 10-year-old punk, he tries to pick a fight with the Danes. They think he’s kind of cute, so they take him as a captive to be a servant in this local Dane chieftain’s house. Some stuff happens and the kid becomes part of the family and grows up as a Dane, falling in love with a girl, also captured as a kid and also raised as a Dane, and generally happy with life.

Then some people come and kill the family. (Well, the parents; the sister is taken captive by the dudes, the brother is off in Ireland pillaging, and the kid and his girlfriend watch from a distance as they all die.)

It becomes clear shortly thereafter that the Danes think the kid, not a natural-born Dane, was the one who killed them. So they go and see the head Dane, who is crazy, and the kid tries to plead his case and dispel the rumor that he is the killer.

They are unconvinced.

So, out of options, the kid and his girlfriend go to Wessex (which is the only part of the United Kingdom that hasn’t gotten conquered by Danes) and meet the king, who is a medieval nerd. The kid agrees to work against the Danes in exchange for being recognized as a nobleman.

And that’s just the first episode.

The kid, played by Alexander Dreymon, is kind of a jerk. He’s stubborn enough that you want to beat some sense into him by the second half of the third episode, and he’s pretty much only concerned with getting land and money for himself so he can go retake Northumbria. But his jerk-like tendencies are fun, because he constantly gets himself into trouble and he totally deserves the crap that happens to him.

The writing is fantastic. The narrative flows smoothly over all eight episodes and never gets slow or boring.

The plot is tight; characters are true to themselves and pretty much across the board have real and interesting development through the series, and there are basically no plot holes but a lot of twists you did not see coming. It’s also funny, playful, and kinetic.

Third, they shot it with skill and high production value. And with the assistance of the costumes and sets, the environment feels real and engrossing as you get sucked into a time that is radically different than ours.

And the action, oh boy, don’t get me started on the action. I can’t say too much without dropping spoilers left and right, but I’ll tell you that it is awesome. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you go “what?!”

This show is great, and all episodes are on Netflix and Amazon Video. Go watch it now.

“The Last Kingdom,” available for streaming. Runtime 60 minutes per episode. Produced by British Broadcasting Company. Starring Alexander Dreymon, Emily Cox, and David Dawson.