A large international cast has been announced for the upcoming big-budget historical drama series "The Last Kingdom" for BBC America, BBC Two and Carnival Films. The eight-episode series, an adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's best-selling books "The Saxon Stories," will combine real historical figures and events with fictional characters during the 9th century reign of Alfred the Great, the Wessex king who united many separate kingdoms to fight off a Viking invasion. Rutger Hauer, Alexander Dreymon ("American Horror Story: Coven"), Matthew Macfadyen ("Ripper Street"), Ian Hart ("Boardwalk Empire"), David Dawson ("Ripper Street"), Emily Cox ("The Silent Mountain"), Tobias Santelmann ("Kon-Tiki"), Thomas W.