In an interview, Cornwell said he did not believe that the success of "Game of Thrones" led to the decision to produce "The Last Kingdom". "I don’t think so, ["Game of Thrones"] is fantasy, unless the appeal is brutal men in chain mail and leather beating the shit out of each other ... I can’t see anything else we have in common. This is rooted in reality. And even though Uhtred didn’t exist as I have written it, there is always that big story ... in the background". The big story, in Cornwell's terms, refers to the history of Alfred and the start of England.