The Letter for the King (TV series)

The Letter for the Kingis a coming-of-age fantasy adventure television series developed by Will Davies andFilmWaveforNetflixinspired by the classic 1962Dutch novel of the same namebyTonke Dragt. The six-episode series was released on Netflix on 20 March 2020.
A young aspiring knight Tiuri (Amir Wilson) finds himself on a perilous mission to deliver a secret letter to the King who lives across the Great Mountains.
In July 2018, it was announcedNetflixhad ordered an original series based onTonke Dragt'sDe brief voor de Koningwith Will Davies as showrunner and executive producer. This is the first Netflix adaptation of a Dutch book, although it will be adapted in English; the series is titled after the English translation, which was published in 2014.FilmWaveacquired the international rights in a deal withLeopold.Paul Trijbitsof FilmWave is executive producing, Chris Clark is producing, and Alex Holmes and Felix Thompson are directing.
The cast was announced in December 2018 withAmir Wilsonin the lead role.
Principal photographytook place in New Zealand andPrague, Czech Republic.
Brandon Campbellcomposed the music for the series. "It’s an orchestral, adventure score, but we wove in a lot of Western elements. There are acoustic guitars, some vocals, the fiddle, and trumpet. Our approach to this project, and our vision as it came together, was a Western that takes place in the middle of this magical adventure," he toldAwards Daily.
Jussipo uses the score of "In Hell, I'll Be in Good Company" from the band "The Dead South" as music for his songs, this music is also sung for his burial.
First-look promotional pictures were released in January 2020 followed by a teaser and trailer in February.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 20 critics, with an average rating of 6.69/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Letter for the King aspires for greatness, but poor pacing stretched across too many episodes hinder what could be an epic journey."On Metacritic, the series has a score of 55 out of 100 based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Jack Seale ofThe Guardian, in awarding the series 3 out of 5 stars, wrote: "But while The Letter for the King doesn’t feel like an adults’ show that kids can get away with watching, it's also not a kids’ show that's fun enough for adults to enjoy, with its bowdlerised fights and romance."David Opie ofDigital Spygave it 2 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Unfortunately, The Letter For The King is not the new fantasy smash we were hoping for, so you can toss out any high expectations you might have like a coin to your Witcher. In fact, it's not even that great for fans of the book either.".
The Letter for the Kingwas frequently dubbed as aGame of Thronesfor children. Patrick Cremona ofRadio Timesgave it 2 out of 5 stars and wrote: "The show is watchable enough, and might serve as a useful way into medieval fantasy for younger audiences who aren’t yet ready for the more adult-orientated series that have recently dominated the genre, which is by no means a bad thing. It seems unlikely, however, that this is the next big fantasy series that Netflix might have hoped for. The hunt for the next Game of Thrones goes on…".
Although the series topped the Netflix ratings in the Netherlands,it also received very mixed critical reviews, mostly directed towards the execution of the series based on the book by Dragt. Mark Moorman ofDe Volkskrantawarded the show 3 out of 5 stars and commented: "With nice young actors, beautiful cinematography and a strong quest, The Letter for the King is a reasonable success. But it does feel a bit like Netflix has crushed our favourite children's book with a steam engine."Belinda van de Graaf ofTrouwalso awarded the series 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: "In their dedication to inclusivity, the creators went even further. Tiuri's most important companion is no longer a boy (Piak) but a girl, Lavinia. And near the end, there is an intimate kiss between two trainees. Sweet, that kiss between two guys, but that scene just appeared out of thin air. The same counts for all the hocus pocus that the creators added. It's understandable why Tonke Dragt prefers talking about literary adaptions of her book, rather than visual adaptions."